Steelers are making a ludicrous gamble on the future of the roster

While the focus of the Steelers is the end of the offseason and the start of the regular season, there is a concerning issue with the current roster. While there hasn’t even been a single snap played yet the roster makeup of the team is a big risk. In particular, with the offseason almost over, the team has yet to secure any extensions with any of their pending free agents.

While some teams work on extensions through the entire season, the Steelers don’t offer deals once the regular season begins. This can be down to the wire, there have been times when players signed their deals hours before the week one game, but once that first snap is played, long-term deal talks are on hold from Omar Khan and company.

For a year like 2023, this won’t be a huge deal. Miles Killibrew was the highest-paid player at 3.25 million dollars a year. Next year is a different story. The list of Steelers free agents is extensive, and a lot of starters and contributors are set to hit the open market.

Cameron Heyward headlines the list, and he has made his desire to stay with the team clear. Najee Harris, Pat Freiermuth, and Dan Moore are all set to finish their rookie contracts. Neither quarterback is under contract beyond this season. Even core veterans like Donte Jackson, James Daniels, and Elandon Roberts are set to see their deals expire.

What are the Steelers doing?

Every year teams make a choice on what players to keep and what players are allowed to walk. You aren’t going to retain all of your top talent due to the salary cap. That said, having seven starters (eight if you count Moore) leave in one offseason will be an insane turnover.

Sure, most fans expect Moore, Jackson, and Roberts to leave given their age and likely diminishing roles. While I think an extension makes sense, Daniels is also likely headed to a new team given what the team told him and the current state of the guard market. Quarterback is a question mark, but I think you could have gotten Justin Fields on a fair deal to at least give you something in that room for 2025.

This doesn’t even account for Heyward, Harris, and Freiermuth. All three figure to be major contributors this season, and while I am skeptical of a long-term deal for a running back, losing that much talent in one year is a tough pill to swallow.

Once the offseason begins next year, the Steelers lose a lot of leverage. Sure, the franchise tag looms large, but for most of those names, it makes little sense. While these are just projections from Over the Cap and aren’t final, the numbers seem unrealistic on top of only having one tag to give out.

Either quarterback would count towards nearly a 42 million-dollar cap hit and seems too rich. Equally rich is the offensive line tag, which would apply to Daniels, at a cost of nearly 24.5 million dollars. Defensive tackle sits around 22.5 million for Heyward, which could be in play, although again that comes with a hefty cap hit for the team. Harris would cost 13 million, and given the team declined his fifth-year option for almost 7 million on the extra year, that much of a jump is nonsensical.

If anything, the Steelers could be holding onto the tag for Freiermuth. The hope would be that he rebounds and has a breakout year and you tag him before working out a long-term deal. If he struggles or continues to mount injuries, you can cut bait with him instead. No matter what, you only have one tag as leverage, and it certainly isn’t cheap.

Once the offseason begins, these players would all be foolish not to at least test free agency. Bidding wars happen all of the time, and it can lead to a heftier payday than what Pittsburgh could offer. Unless the player has that strong of a desire to stay with the Steelers no matter what, seeing what the league has to offer makes the most financial sense.

So where does this leave the Steelers? Assuming no deal is struck, it could be the team seeing how the year works out before deciding on a path to continue. Maybe some of the pieces come together and you make some aggressive moves to retain some of these names (including new deals in the regular season). If the wheels come off, maybe you let a lot of names walk in a mass exodus to set up the future of the team. Expect a few lean years, try to draft a quarterback early, and rebuild from there.

That is very uncharacteristic for the Steelers though. Frankly put, I’m really not sure what the plan is here. An extension or two will help alleviate this question, but right now the future of the roster is up in the air. It could lead to a mass departure of talent next year though, and fans need to prepare themselves for that.