It was a quiet week for the Pittsburgh Steelers in comparison to the start of free agency. Though there wasn't an influx of moves this week, Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan remained active on the pro day scouting trail.
As we begin the weekend, we get closure on the Terrell Edmunds saga while Pittsburgh's grass interesting skipped a big pro day on Friday. Here's the latest Steelers news.
Steelers news:
Yesterday, Penn State held its Pro Day and many NFL executives were in attendance. While the Steelers did send some representatives to State College, Mike Tomlin, and Omar Khan were not among them. This is very interesting, considering Joey Porter Jr. is the top prospect on hand and Pittsburgh happens to have a big need at cornerback.
Of note, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and GM Omar Khan are not at Penn State’s pro day.
— Cory Giger (@CoryGiger) March 24, 2023
Steelers do have several others here, including defensive coordinator Teryl Austin.
Historically, the Steelers don't draft players that their head coach/GM didn't meet with at their Pro Day. this has been a trend that has held true since at least 2010. It's worth noting that assistant GM Andy Weidl was one of the members in attendance at Penn State's Pro Day. Obviously, the Steelers know the Porter family well, so perhaps they are willing to break the trend if he happens to fall to them with the 17th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
More Steelers news:
In other Steelers news, Terrell Edmunds has officially found a new home. After waving goodbye to Pittsburgh on social media, Ian Rapoport reported Friday afternoon that Edmunds was signing a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles lost safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson in free agency, and Edmunds will help fill a hole on their roster. The former first-round pick by Pittsburgh in 2018 turned just 26 years old in January and could still have some of his best football ahead of him. Edmunds finishes his Steelers career starting 75 of 79 games in the Steel City over the past five years.
NFL news:
In a recent post-free agency mock draft, Chad Reuter of NFL.com has the Pittsburgh Steelers going in a very interesting direction with the 17th overall pick. He has Mike Tomlin's team taking Georgia edge defender, Nolan Smith. Smith is an outstanding athlete and a great football player but doesn't fill a big need at the moment with both T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith currently under contract.
In his mock draft, Reuter has three quarterbacks being selected in the first three picks of the 2023 NFL Draft with the fourth coming at pick 10 to the Vikings. Though Joey Porter Jr. and Paris Johnson are off the board, he has the Steelers passing on Georgia OT Broderick Jones for Smith.