“Who is Isaac Seumalo?” would be the correct Jeopardy question to this answer “He was the first major Steelers free agent acquisition made by Omar Khan and Andy Weidl in the duo’s first off season as General Manager and Assistant General Manager in Pittsburgh.”
The Steelers signing Seumalo by Khan and Weidl was anything but trivial. Offensive line had been a glaring weakness of the Steelers for several seasons. Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin had achieved some improvement following the line’s nadir in 2021, but most of that improvement had come from applying Band Aids.
Signing Seumalo was to be a definitive step towards rebuilding the Steelers offensive line from the foundation up. Three years later everyone agrees that bringing Seumalo to Pittsburgh was a success.
Now that Isaac Seumalo is set to become a free agent again, the question is should the Steelers keep Seumalo in Pittsburgh?
Isaac Seumalo reflecting before the game. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
Capsule Profile of Isaac Seumalo’s Career with the Steelers
Isaac Seumalo arrived in Pittsburgh and immediately took over the left guard position that had lacked stability for several seasons. His presence also allowed the Steelers to trade Kevin Dotson, a good player who nonetheless ran afoul of the coaching staff (quick nod to my friend Matt C. Steel at Steel City Insider who always argued that the Steelers erred in playing Dotson on the left side.)
During his first season Seumalo started all 17 games for the Steelers. During the Steelers 2024 season injuries limited him to 13 starts and in 2025 that number increased to 14.
The Case for the Steelers Re-Signing Isaac Seumalo
The Steelers offensive line got a slow start in 2024. You know when things started to turn up? When Seumalo returned to the line up in week six vs the Raiders.
The Steelers offensive line is a much stronger unit in today than it was before Seumalo arrived, and he has been the line’s most consistent player since then.
Let’s also consider this: Broderick Jones‘ neck injury is far more serious than the Steelers let on during the season. Omar Khan wouldn’t even confirm that he would be ready for training camp.
- Does Mike McCarthy really want to begin his tenure by rebuilding the left side of his line?
No, of course he doesn’t. So the wise move is to keep Sumalo in Pittsburgh for another couple of three years.
The Case Against the Steelers Re-Signing Issac Seumalo
Sure, it is easy to say that the offensive line’s worst game this past season was against the Chargers, point to the fact that Seumalo was out of the game and say, “See what’s happened when he’s been out.”
- That would be easy, but it would be both misleading and wrong.
IN which game did the Steelers rush the ball the best last season? Against Detroit. And Seumalo missed that game. He did suit up for the playoffs and Aaron Rodgers was in duress all night.
IF the Steelers are going to bring Rodgers back, they need better pass protection. Can Seumalo provide that?
Seumalo has been the Steelers best offensive lineman over the last 3 years. He’s provided maturity and leadership to the line. But he’s a transitional player rather than a foundational one. He’s also turning 33 and injuries are starting to mount. Seumalo probably has more football left in him, but its probably best that he play that somewhere else than Pittsburgh.
The Curtain’s Call on Issac Seumalo and the Steelers
This one is a hard one to call. If Broderick Jones had remained healthy and continued playing at the level he’d reached it is safe to say the Steelers would move on. But Jones is out, and while Dylan Cook played well in his absence, I doubt the new coaching staff is going to be willing to just hand him the left tackle job.
- Which means there’s the case for stability that Seumalo would provide.
At the end of the day, this will likely come down to how much the Steelers will be willing to guarantee on say a 2-year deal. Because if the Steelers were going to lock Seumalo up for any longer, they’d have already have done so.
Expect Seumalo to test the market, and we’ll see what happens next.
