Surprise Markus Golden retirement leaves Steelers with thinner pass rush in 2024

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a good football team, but they will once again pride themselves on being a great defensive team in the 2024 season. Their pass rush, correctly heralded as one of the best in the league, will be their biggest asset heading into the season.

While headliners TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith get most of the praise, veteran Markus Golden was to provide some excellent designated pass rush snaps off the bench. Not even two weeks after agreeing to a contract with Pittsburgh, Golden has called time on his professional career.

The 33-year-old Golden, who did not practice in either of the last two days for Pittsburgh, was officially placed on the reserve/retired list by the Steelers. This comes after signing with the team on August 1. Apparently, Golden is content with his NFL career.

While this isn't going to derail Pittsburgh's entire defensive structure, it is a bit disappointing to see a player who is still productive in a very specific role leave the team right before the season is about to start. Still, Golden had a very solid career worth celebrating.

Steelers EDGE Markus Golden retires after nine-year career

Golden spent most of his career with the Arizona Cardinals, who drafted him in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. In his nine seasons with the Cardinals, Steelers, and New York Giants, Golden would tally 51 career sacks, including three seasons in which he hit double digits.

Goldne had played in Pittsburgh during the 2023 season, tallying four sacks and 10 QB hits in a very limited pass rush role. While he wasn't the reincarnation of Kevin Greene on the outside, Golden was able to use his trademark burst off the snap to get in the backfield on a fairly regular basis.

Watt and Highsmith will play the majority of the snaps on edge for the Steelers, so they will be unaffected by the loss of Golden. 2023 draftee Nick Herbig and camp standout Jeremiah Moon are the nominal backups behind those two, meaning they could see an uptick in snaps and responsibility with Golden hanging them up.

While he was never an elite run defender, offensive tackles always had trouble containing Golden's speed. The Steelers will largely be able to move on without him, but losing Golden will take just a bit of the sting out of one of the league's most ferocious pass rush units.