Tag Archives: 2024 NFL Draft

Nick Herbig Extension Shows Steelers Drafting Has Turned a Corner

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Omar Khan kicked off minicamp by opening his checkbook as the Steelers re-signed Nick Herbig to a 4-year contract extension worth a reported 100 million dollars including over 40 million in guaranteed money.

The immediate focus of Steelers Nation is if and how Herbig’s new deal impacts the futures of T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, but the bigger picture behind Herbig’s extension is what it signals about the team’s direction.

Nick Herbig, Steelers vs Bengals

Nick Herbig strip sacks Joe Burrow. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Early Herbig Extension Signals End of Steelers Draft Drought

The Steelers drafted Nick Herbig in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He’s now entering the final year of his rookie contract, and Omar Khan opened the off season by listing Herbig as a player he wanted to re-sign before he reached free agency.

  • This is not something Steelers Nation is accustomed to — at least not in recent memory.

But once upon a time, things were different in Pittsburgh. In the spring of 1993, the NFL’s first year free agency, owners were tripping over themselves throwing money at players, trying to buy a Lombardi.

In Pittsburgh Dan Rooney and Tom Donahoe took a different approach, quietly extending players like Dermontti Dawson and Greg Lloyd who were entering the final years of their contracts.

  • That practice became standard Steelers operating procedure for the next two and a half decades.
  • But the maturation of the Steelers 2018 draft class marked a turning point.

Terrell Edmunds, Mason Rudolph, Chukwuma Okorafor, Diontae Johnson, Alex Highsmith and Pat Freiermuth were only the players from the Steelers 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 draft to get second contracts.

Alex Highsmith, Tom Brady, Steelers vs Buccaneers

Alex Highsmith strip sacks Tom Brady. Photo Credit: Barry Reeger, HJ News.com

Highsmith, Freiermuth, Johnson and Rudolph were the only ones to the Steelers re-signed while they were still playing on rookie contracts, and out of that group only Highsmith and Freiermuth got long-term starter deals.

In contrast, the Steelers have already re-signed Herbig, and want to ink new deals with Joey Porter Jr., Keeanu Benton and perhaps Darnell Washington this summer.

  • Word is they would have given Broderick Jones his 5th year rookie tender had he not been hurt.

Barring injury or an unanticipated regression, Omar Khan will likely take a similar approach with several members of the Steelers 2024 Draft class next spring.

The Steelers playoff drought started with the loss to the Patriots in the 2017 AFC Championship game. Their quality of their drafts dipped precipitously starting in 2018 and continued through the rest of Kevin Colbert’s tenure.

  • But Herbig’s early extension shows that the Steelers draft drought is over.

The Steelers not only have a draft pick going into his 4th year who is worthy of a long-term extension, hopefully Herbig is the first of many.

Let’s hope that Herbig and the rest of his draft class make some playoff rain with Mike McCarthy.

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Steelers 2026 Draft Needs at Inside Linebacker: Khan’s Work Isn’t Done

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If there is any one position that the Steelers have tied themselves up in knots trying to fill over the last decade, it is inside linebacker.

And no wonder why.  Jack Lambert, Levon Kirkland, and James Farrior were centerpieces of Steelers Super Bowl defenses, while David Little and Ryan Shazier took their teams to Conference Championship games.

The Steelers have made a plethora of moves at inside linebacker since losing Shazier. Some have been fruitful, others have failed.

So the question going into the 2026 NFL Draft is, must the Steelers address inside linebacker again?

This is the next article in our Steelers 2026 Draft series.

Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson on the sidelines of the Steelers 2025 win over the Vikings in Dublin.

Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson in Dublin. Photo Credit: Ian Walton, AP, via the Post-Gazette.

The Steelers Inside Linebacker Depth Chart Entering the 2026 NFL Draft – The Starters

The Steelers made a splash in the spring of 2024 when they made Patrick Queen the 4th highest paid outside free agent in franchise history (kudos to Chris Adamski of the Tribune-Review for this salary cap-inflation adjusted figure. BTW Wayne Gandy was first – ouch!)

No matter how you measure it, the Steelers invested heavily in Patrick Queen and the returns have been mixed. While he hasn’t been a liability, he hasn’t dominated at the level expected and needed of someone with his salary cap number.

Queen is only 26 and would normally be a candidate for a contract extension this summer, but it would be surprising if Omar Khan targets him for one.

Playing alongside Patrick Queen is Payton Wilson.

Payton Wilson, Justice Hill, Payton Wilson interception, Steelers vs Ravens

Payton Wilson intercepts a Lamar Jackson pass. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

The Steelers drafted Peyton Wilson in the 3rd round of the 2024 NFL Draft. As a rookie, Wilson made his presence known fast, making Lamar Jackson pay when he tried to target him in the Steelers upset of the Ravens at Acrisure in 2024. He also recovered a strip-sack by Nick Herbig of Joe Burrow and took it to the house in the road win over Cincinnati.

Since then Wilson has worked himself into the defense increasing his snap count from 45% to 63%. Wilson’s second year was solid – he showed incredible heart and athleticism in running down Jordan Addison  during the Steelers win over the Vikings in Dublin and he authored an incredible game against the Colts, leading the team in tackles and securing his first interception, but his play leveled off after that.

The Steelers Inside Linebacker Depth Chart Entering the 2026 NFL Draft – The Backups

Leading the depth chart at inside linebacker behind the starters is Malik Harrison whom the Steelers signed from the Ravens last spring. Harrison played in 40% of the defensive snaps and overall was a solid contributor on defense.

Cole Holcomb, Davante Adams, Steelers vs Raiders

Cole Holocomb throttles Davante Adams. Photo Credit: AP via Tribune-Review

The Steelers opted to bring Cole Holcomb back. They signed Holcomb as a free agent in 2023, and Holcomb was beginning to make a name for himself when a brutal knee injury ended his season and ended up costing him the 2024 campaign as well.

Finally, the Steelers have Carson Bruener whom they drafted in the 7th round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Bruner, the son of former Steelers tight end and current scout made the final roster largely due to his special teams acumen.

If Pro Football Reference’s stats are to be trusted, Bruener only played 1 snap on defense, yet he played 64% of the special teams snaps where he was a demon, recording 17 tackles and winning 2nd team Pro Football Focus All Pro honors.

Steelers 2026 Draft Needs at Inside Linebacker

The Steelers have two solid starters at outside linebacker, two quality backups and a promising developmental prospect.

So they can ignore inside linebacker and focus on other needs, such as guard or tackle in the 2026 NFL draft right?

No, not so fast. The good news is that the Steelers roster at inside linebacker is relatively healthy. Unlike, say wide receiver, they don’t need to add a player with a premium pick in the draft. But they certainly can’t afford to ignore the position, and their experience in 2014 is instructive.

Going into the 2014 NFL Draft, Lawrence Timmons was still going strong, Vince Williams made great progress during his rookie year, Sean Spence was back and Terence Garvin was an interesting developmental prospect who was excelling on special teams.

Inside linebacker was the team’s deepest position and their lowest area of need entering the 2014 NFL Draft – Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert drafted Ryan Shaizer. How right were they? Well, three and a half years later, Shaizer’s injury closed the Roethlisberger Era’s Super Bowl window.

The Pittsburgh Steelers draft needs scale

Omar Khan and Mike McCarthy must take the same mindset at inside linebacker into this draft.

The Steelers don’t need to add an inside linebacker in this draft just as they don’t have anyone on their depth chart who screams “long term answer.” So they’d be wise to add a play maker if they can as their needs going into the 2026 NFL Draft at inside linebacker are Moderate.

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Steelers 2026 NFL Draft Needs at Offensive Tackle: Time to Keep Going Backwards?

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Judging by the logic of popular culture, the Pittsburgh Steelers have done things backwards in the NFL draft when it comes to offensive tackle. “Backwards? Haven’t didn’t they use consecutive first round picks on tackles?” you ask?

Well…, Offensive tackle might not hold a lot of sex appeal, but it is sexy enough to inspire a Hollywood movie. If we accept Leigh Anne Tuohy’s logic as handed down by Sandra Bullock in the opening monologue of The Blind Side, the first check an NFL team writes pays the mortgage, the second goes to the insurance.

  • The mortgage is of course, the quarterback and the insurance is offensive tackle.

Yet Omar Khan and Andy Weidl still haven’t made a mortgage payment in the NFL draft, but their first two first round draft picks brought offensive tackles to Pittsburgh.

Should the duo continue to take out insurance policies in the 2026 NFL Draft? Let’s have look.

This is the latest article in our Steelers 2026 Draft series.

The Steelers Offensive Tackle Depth Chart Entering the 2026 NFL Draft – The Starters

Broderick Jones became the first pick of the Khan-Weidl era when the Steelers picked him in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Although they traded up to get him, Jones was viewed as a bit of a project based on his limited experience starting at Georgia.

He did not crack the starting line up initially as a rookie, but he saw action in the debacle the Steelers suffered in Houston and made another start the following week in the upset over the Ravens at Acrisure.

Jones took over starting duties at right tackle when Mike Tomlin benched Chukwuma Okorafor in the Steelers Monday Night win over the Titans and, in some ways, the offense’s rebound began then.

Jones had a difficult summer in 2024 would have found himself behind both Dan Moore and Troy Fautanu, 2024’s first round pick. However, an injury cost Fautanu all but one game of his rookie year, so Jones continued to start at right tackle and struggled at times.

  • 2025 saw Jones move to left tackle, and the results were mixed.

Early in the season he had difficulties, and coaches openly schemed both to give him help and design plays that allowed Aaron Rodgers to get rid of the ball quickly.

Broderick Jones, Steelers vs Vikings, Steelers vs Vikings Dublin, Aaron Rogers, Isaac Seumalo

Broadrick Jones during the Steelers win in Dublin. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

However, the consensus is that Jones improved until an injury in the loss to the Bears cost him the rest of the season.

Jones’ injury was more serious than expected, and Omar Khan has indicated that the team cannot be sure that he’ll be ready for the start of the 2026 season.

As both hoped and expected, Troy Fautanu took over as the starter at right tackle in 2026 and played the entire year, as the right side of the Steelers lines began taking form as a team strength.

The Steelers Offensive Tackle Depth Chart Entering the 2026 NFL Draft – The Backups

Practice squad players are an interesting subset of NFL veterans. Oftentimes, they’re blips that you see come and go in a week or less. Sometimes you see come and go and return, on and off, over the course of a season, or several seasons.

And then there are the ones that reporters give shout outs to Q&A columns and on-line chats, reminding everyone to keep an eye on. Some of those players you never get to see. But others do make good on their shot at 15 minutes of fame, and Dylan Cook is one of those.

Cook signed with the Steelers and was on their practice squad in 2023, pegged by some as a “dark horse roster candidate.” He didn’t make the active roster in 2023, got injured in 2024 then was cut and resigned to the practice squad and then brought to camp in 2025.

Yet he didn’t make the final cut and had to come back for another stint on the practice squad, but got activated following Jones’ injury, and made his first start in the Steelers victory over the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

That win was the turning point in transforming what looked like a disaster into another AFC North title.

Was it a coincidence? Well, probably yes, but the turnaround would not have happened at Cook proved unable to withstand the heat of the kitchen.

The Steelers also have Jack Driscoll who has 18 starts under his belt, and Spencer Anderson can play tackle as well, but he is currently a candidate to start a guard.

Steelers 2026 Draft Needs at Offensive Tackle

Offensive Tackle should presents Mike McCarthy and Omar Khan with their most perplexing position challenge this off season. While Broderick Jones still has his critics, he did improve during the course the 2025 season. Well-sourced reporters have indicated that the team would likely have given him his 5th year rookie tender were it not for his neck injury.

And that’s the rub.

The Steelers aren’t even sure he’ll be ready to suit up by the time they arrive at St. Vincents. And while Steel Curtain Rising has no medical knowledge or specific insight into either situation, we’ll remind readers that a similar neck injury caused serious issues for Marvel Smith, ultimately forcing his retirement.

The Pittsburgh Steelers draft needs scale

Dylan Cook has been good in relief, but has he been good enough to count on as a season-long starter?

  • And even if he is, the Steelers still need a swing tackle.

The bottom line is that, unless the next Tony Boselli or Alan Faneca falls to them, the Steelers almost certainly won’t draft an offensive lineman in the first round.

But, depending on what they do with Spencer Anderson and their starting guard position, they almost certainly need to draft one with a premium pick because the Steelers need at offensive tackle going into the 2026 NFL Draft must be considered High.

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What to Make of the Steelers “Maginot” Offensive Line?

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The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to kickoff their celebration of the 1974 Super Bowl IX championship team at half time when the New York Jets come to Acrisure Stadium for Sunday Night football.

  • As Tony Dungy noted on Instagram, there’s a historical parallel emerging in real time.

In week 7 of the 1974 season Chuck Noll benched Joe Gilliam who was 4-1-1 in favor of the veteran Terry Bradshaw. And here in week 7 in 2024, all indicators point to Mike Tomlin benching Justin Fields, who is 4-2 as a starter, in favor of veteran Russell Wilson.

James Daniels, James Daniels guardian cap

James Daniels at Acrisure Stadium. Photo Credit: Kylee Surike, PennLive.com

That’s a great story and an awesome piece of historical symmetry that – God willing – will sustain itself through February.

But a tweet from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac has me reaching further back into history for another parallel.

 

Will we remember 2024 as the year the Maginot Line reached Pittsburgh?

The Maginot Line in 88 Words

World War I was fought in muddy trenches in Northern and Eastern France. Determined to avoid a repeat, France spent 3.9 billion dollars building the Maginot Line along the German border.

The Maginot Line featured the best weapons and best fortification that money could buy, including air conditioning and its own subway.

But for all its bells and whistles, the Maginot Line was a complete failure. When Germany attacked in 1940 it went around, over or otherwise ignored France’s border defenses, securing victory in a few short weeks.

The Backstory Behind the Steelers 2024 Offensive Line

For a good chunk of the teens the Steelers had the best offensive line in the business. Then a combination of age, injury and Salary Cap Armageddon forced them to rebuild overnight.

Between the playoff loss against Cleveland in 2020 and opening day 2021 the Steelers fielded 4 new starters on offensive line. But rebuilding on the fly on the cheap didn’t work. Dan Moore is the only starter from that 2021 opening-day offensive line that remains.

Since then, Mike Tomlin, Kevin Colbert and Omar Khan have invested heavily in the offensive line. And they’re playing the long game in both free agency and the draft

James Daniels, 2022 free agent signing
Nate Herbig, 2023 free agent signing
Isaac Seumalo, 2023 free agent signing

Broderick Jones, First round draft pick 2023 NFL Draft
Troy Fautanu, First round draft pick 2024 NFL Draft
Zach Fraizer, 2nd round draft pick, 2024 NFL Draft
Mason McCormick, 4th round draft pick 2024 NFL Draft

The plan was for the line was to be rock that offensive coordinator Arthur Smith built is Bill Cowheresque offensive around.

But the Steelers will take the field against the Jets with Daniels, Herbig, Fautanu on injured reserve, Frazier out with an injury, Broderick Jones playing with an injured elbow, Seumalo starting just his third game due to injury and McCormick starting for Daniels.

So yes it does feel like Khan and company have built the football equivalent of the Maginot line in Pittsburgh. But that feeling is where the analogy should end.

The Maginot Line is a textbook example of a country preparing for the last war instead of the next one. In contrast, investing in the offensive line is always a sound strategy in football, at any level.

The Steelers have just has an incredibly bad streak of luck in terms of injuries on the offensive line.

  • But that hardly dooms the Terry Bradshaw-Russell Wilson parallel.

The last time the Steelers had to rebuild their offensive line in season was 2008.  It did not go smoothly, but it did end with Ben Roethlisberger holding the Lombardi on the dais after Super Bowl XLIII asking, “Offensive line, who’s laughing now?”

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Training Camp Begins – So Are the Steelers Really in “Win Now” Mode?

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Steelers training camps is finally here. The excitement emanating out of St. Vincents is palpable.

And for good reason. Omar Khan authored another aggressive if unusual off season, which led to the draft… followed by 2 months of rumors, stories and scenarios about a Brandon Aiyuk trade that hasn’t and likely never will materialize.

  • In other words, finally something that matters is happening again.

Now that the Steelers have arrived in Latrobe and are practicing again, albeit without pads so far, let’s challenge one of the key narratives that has guided this off season.

Troy Polamalu, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Vincents

Two safeties @ St. Vincent’s. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

Namely, that the Steelers are in “Win Now” mode.

“The “Khan Artist” Revisited

One year ago today, Omar Khan has almost achieved cult hero status in Steelers Nation. After watching his wheeling and dealing during the 2023 NFL Draft, Mike Tomlin himself dubbed him “The Khan Artist.”

The praise was well earned. Khan had taken a failing 2nd round pick and transformed him into the 32 pick of 2023, who turned out to be none other than Joey Porter Jr. He traded up to get Broderick Jones, and made more moves to ensure the Steelers still made 4 picks out of the top 100 players.

And this came after one of the more aggressive free agency efforts in franchise history.

A year later, Khan looks to be sticking to the script for his encore. Patrick Queen, DeShon Elliott, and Donte Jackson are in, Diontae Johnson, Mason Cole and Chucks Okorafor are out. The Steelers might have turned in a solid effort in the playoffs against the Bills, but Khan is anything but complacent.

  • But some estimates, the Steelers will have turned over nearly 1/3 of their roster by the time opening day arrives.

Oh, and did we mention the Steelers completely gutted and flipped their quarterback room for the first time since the 1950s?

All of this came on the heels of Art Rooney II’s off season opening declaration that the playoff win drought must end. So it sure seems that the Steelers are all in on winning in 2024.

But appearances can deceive.

Sticking to the Steelers Way

As argued here earlier in the off season, the Steelers Way remains alive and well. No, they’ve never done an end-to-end house cleaning of their quarterback room the way they’ve did in February.

But as explained at the time, the Steelers have a long-standing tradition of bringing in high-profile quarterbacks to supplement or challenge shaky starters.

Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers

Russell Wilson’s first Steelers press conference. Photo Credit: Post-Gazette.com

You can read about it here, but in a nutshell Russell Wilson arrived in Pittsburgh following in the footsteps of David Woodley, Tommy Maddox and Dwayne Haskins, among others. Kenny Pickett was the independent variable, and he’s holding a clipboard down the Turnpike for a reason.

The Steelers other moves, such as moving on from failing starters and making an occasional splash free agent signing were as aggressive as they were precedence (Look up Kevin Greene Jerrol Williams if you’re curious.)

You’ll find that much the same is true about the rest of the off season moves if you take a step back from all of the click-driven hype.

  • The most telling piece of the off season lies in what the Steelers didn’t do.

After the Diontae Johnson-Donte Jackson trade the Steelers didn’t make a major move at wide receiver. Sure, they did restructure Alex Highsmith’s contract showing that a potential deal might have in the works, but they never pulled the trigger.

And when that deal failed to materialize, the Steelers didn’t reach for a wide receiver in the 2024 NFL Draft. Nor did the Steelers hop around from round to round during the draft. Instead they let the draft come to them.

  • The Khan Artist followed the Kevin Colbert’s playbook.

In the process, the Steelers continued doing what they’ve done for the last year: Adding “foundational players” and preserving draft capital. This is the exact opposite of an “All in on Winning Now Philosophy.”

  • Now, that doesn’t mean that the Steelers can’t win now.

They can, provided some combination of Calvin Austin, Van Jefferson and/or Pat Freiermuth makes enough of an impact to keep secondiares from smothering George Pickens.

Can they? Right now on the fields of St. Vincents the Steelers are about to start answering that question. Let’s roll Steelers Nation.

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3 Lessons from My Second Steelers Sabbatical

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As regular readers probably noticed, I recently took my second “Steelers Sabbatical.” Like the first one, this one yielded 3 important lessons which I’ll share

1. Ivan Cole Was Right. Again.

“Ivan was right. Again” That was my first thought after getting re-plugged into the comings and goings of Steelers Nation in early May. I’m talking about the late, great Ivan Cole, former Steelers blogger at Behind the Steel Curtain and then later the now dark Going Deep with the Steelers site.

  • Later in life Ivan got heavily involved in supporting efforts to combat human trafficking.

Those efforts took him away from writing and even following the Steelers in much detail for much of the 2016 off season. This was a drastic change for Ivan, who for years spent off seasons penning the weekly “Weekend Check Down” where he recapped the previous week’s Steelers news.

Acrisure Stadium

Acrisure Stadium, Photo Credit: AP via Post-Gazette

When Ivan got back into the swing of things closer to training camp he said something along the lines of “…And I was surprised to learn that very little had happened that I couldn’t quickly get back up to speed on.”

  • That’s exactly how I felt.

The Steelers started the off season with a bang, as Mitch Trubisky, Mason Cole, Chukwuma Okorafor and Patrick Peterson all got cut. They of course signed Russell Wilson for the league minimum, traded a song for Justin Fields and sent Kenny Pickett down the turnpike for the NFL equivalent of couch cushion change.

  • All of that had happened by the time my sabbatical started.

In the ensuring five weeks or so very little of substance happened. The oft anticipated trade or big ticket free agent signing never occurred. The 2024 NFL Draft came, and while the early reviews are positive, it featured none of the “Khan Artist” wheeling and dealing that so many expected.

2. Unable to Write = Unintended Consequences

Although I wasn’t able to write about the Steelers, I was able to follow.

The “Sabbatical” actually started during February. I had fully intended to do a full Free Agent Focus series that I’d done for several years past.

Mason Rudolph, Steelers vs. Seahawks, Najee Harris

Mason Rudoph and Najee Harris during the Steelers 2023 win over the Seahawks. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.come

I did get articles up on Mason Rudolph and Miles Killebrew, but Kwon Alexander wasn’t so lucky. His got written, but never published. Not only did he not get a whiff of interest form the Steelers, he also never got his final 15 seconds of fame that this website has bestowed upon so many souls (L.T. Walton, this Bud’s for YOU.)

While the proverbial “Work to do and bills to pay” was one reason for why the no other Free Agent Focus pieces got written, the other is that, guys like Blake Martinez, Chandon Sullivan and Elijah Riley didn’t lend themselves to compelling stories.

By the time the Omar Khan and the Steelers got into action on the free agent front the volume of work had risen to the point where writing pieces on the arrives of the likes of Patrick Queen, DeShon Elliott or say Dean Lowry was out of the question.

And that fact has left me far less invested in their success, than I was for, say, Mewelde Moore back in 2008.

3. The NFL is Eroding Itself with Over Exposure

Mewelde Moore’s arrival as a Steelers free agent in 2008 offers a revealing contrast for how the media landscape has changed since then. As he happened to sign on the same day Ben Roethlisberger inked his first 100-million-dollar contract, the press took little note.

Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger at at press conference. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

Both the Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review documented his signing with small stubs and then left it at that. None of the other major outlets paid much attention either.

And Steelers Nation basically forgot about him until injuries to Willie Parker and then Rashard Mendenhall led to his first start, where Moore exploded for just under 100 yards in the 2008 Steelers pivotal win at  Jacksonville.

  • It is metaphysically impossible to even imagine that happening today.

The Steelers closed spring practices by cutting Denzel Mims and Trenton Thompson. Google their Steelers Cut Denzel Mims and you’ll can scroll through 3 if not 4 full pages of Google results on his waiver before you find articles about his signing.

And that doesn’t count all of the WhatsApp messages, Facebook posts and Podcasts dissecting how this move either enhances or dooms Mike Tomlin’s ability to win Lombardi Number Seven with Russell Wilson at the helm.

  • If all of this quantity resulted in a true diversity of analysis that would be one thing.

But most it is just “Content Aggregation.” In one sense the NFL’s digital eco system reminds me of commercial radio. As a commentator asked about Classic Rock stations back in the early 00’s, “Why is it that Classic Rock stations with decades worth of music to draw upon, still end up playing the same Pink Floyd songs over and over again.”

Translated into 2024 terms, how many articles, WhatsApp alerts or Tweets do we REALLY need to read about hypothetical scenarios about the Steelers trading for Brandon Aiyuk?

  • It doesn’t take long to lose interest.
  • In fact, it is easy to lose interest. Fast.

To be sure, this phenomena isn’t unique to the NFL or even pro sports. Nor did the NFL owners and their infinite greed create this digital dynamic.

  • But it also seems clear that they either don’t see it, don’t understand it or just don’t care about it.

The NFL just doesn’t seem dead set on going to an 18 game season (oh, but player safety is paramount). The NFL not only wants the season to extend into President’s Day weekend, but it also wants to stretch out free agency and the draft during the off season to make the sport into a true, 12 month a year sport.

Yancey Thigpen, Yancey Thigpen Terrible Towel, Steelers vs Browns

Yancey Thigpen twirls the Terrible Towel.

  • The law of diminishing returns is real. The NFL is not immune.

During my second sabbatical there have been times when I’ve had ideas that I wished I had time to write about. And it did feel good to get back on the saddle while wondering if the Steelers had the next Yancey Thigpen on their roster.

  • But part of the reason is precisely because time to write about the Steelers was scarce.

The first thing I learned about economics on the first day of class at Loyola’s famed Sellinger School was that scarcity creates demand.

It is a principle the NFL would be wise to remember. But I doubt they will.

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Back to the Drawing Board: Steelers Cut Mason Cole, Will Seek Center in 2024 NFL Draft

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The NFL’s 2024 off season isn’t quite in full swing but Omar Khan made another decisive move as the Steelers cut starting center Mason Cole. The Steelers signed Mason Cole in 2022 after Kendrick Green’s one year starting stint ended in disaster.

Mitch Trubisky, James Daniel, Mason Cole, Steelers 2022 Offensive Line

Mitch Trubisky at the line of scrimmage. Photo Credit: AP, via Tribune-Review.

Although sources from inside the South Side expressed skepticism to Steel City Insider’s Jim Wexell that Cole was up to the task, Cole’s play was solid during his first year in Pittsburgh. 2023 told a different tale. Whether Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky or Mason Rudolph stood under center, one of the first things that fans looked for was an errant or low snap.

Fortunately there were no signature disaster moments such as Maurkice Pouncey opening the 2020 playoff loss to the Browns by hiking the ball so far above Ben Roethlisberger‘s head that neither Ben nor James Conner could recover it before the Browns Karl Joseph did in the end zone.

But Cole’s low snaps were a disruption for an offense line that didn’t find its footing until about Halloween and an offense that literally struggled with the basics until Christmas.

Ironically or perhaps not so ironically, Omar Khan made his move on the day when the NFL officially increased the salary cap 30 million for 2024. Prior to cutting Cole, the Steelers were estimated to be about 8.5 million under the cap.

By releasing Mason Cole, the Steelers will gain about 4.75 million dollars in salary cap space, although they will add to their 1.5 million in dead money.

Who Has the Next Shot?

Although Cole does not have an heir apparent in Pittsburgh, the Steelers do have options at center already on their roster. Reserve guard Nate Herbig can also play center as can starting guard James Daniels. The Steelers also began the off season by signing Ryan McCollom to a reserve/futures contract.

But the 2024 NFL Draft is said to be deep in interior lineman, and the Steelers have already been linked to several top centers.

The franchise’s lineage at the position is second to none, having proceeded seamlessly from Ray Mansfield, to Mike Webster, to Dermontti Dawson, to Jeff Hartings. And while the Sean Mahan–Justin Hartwig interregnum disappointed, the Steelers responded by drafting Maurkiece Pouncey.

So perhaps the 2024 NFL Draft will deliver Pittsburgh its next worthy successor.

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Flipping the Script: Steelers Trade of Kevin Dotson to Rams Reverses Recent Trends

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The composition of the Steelers roster remains unknown as Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan have the lion’s share of their cuts to make before today’s 4:00 pm deadline.

  • But we already know one fundamental fact: The duo is flipping the script on Steelers late summer trading narrative.

News broke during the weekend that the Steelers had dealt Kevin Dotson, their 4th round pick from the 2020 NFL Draft to the Los Angeles Rams. In exchange the Steelers get the Rams’ 4th round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The teams will exchange 5th rounds picks in the 2025 NFL Draft and the Steelers will send Los Angeles their 6th round pick in 2025.

Kevin Dotson, Steelers vs Broncos

Kevin Dotson as a rookie. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

Time will tell which side gets the better of this deal, but the move reverses the Steelers recent tendency to trade away picks to bolster depth. To be fair to Kevin Colbert, these trades typically involved a lot of back and forth, with the Steelers dealing and often times getting back 5th and 6th round picks.

But taken as a whole, the Steelers eroded their draft capital by trading to bring the Malik Reed, Joe Schobert, Avery Williames of the NFL to Pittsburgh.

By adding an extra 4th round pick Omar Khan is beginning to change that.

Snapshot of Kevin Dotson’s Steelers Career

Although he was only a 4th round pick, Dotson arrived in Pittsburgh and was penciled in as a future starter. Dotson started 4 games as a rookie, and when the team opted to let Matt Feiler walk, Dotson earned the starting spot.

In 2021 Dotson started the first 9 games at left guard during a season when the Steelers had one of their worst offensive lines in recent memory. Yet, in this scribe’s humble opinion they were reaching the outskirts respectability by midseason, only to see that journey come to a crashing halt when they lost Dotson in the tie against Detroit.

Dotson rebounded in 2022 and started all 17 games, but was reportedly fighting nagging injuries throughout the year.

Early in the 2023 off season the Steelers brass showed signs of being read to move on. First they signed guard Nate Herbig in free agency. But Herbig’s contract tagged him as a backup. This was not the case for Isaac Seumalo who got clear starter’s money.

As the Steelers learned all too painfully early during Mike Tomlin’s tenure, you can never have enough good offensive lineman. But the emergence of Spencer Anderson and the number of snaps Kendrick Green got against the Falcons at guard put the writing on the wall for Kevin Dotson.

Getting a 4th round pick for a backup guard playing on the final year of his rookie contract is an excellent deal in today’s NFL.

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