After losing line coach Mike Munchak to the Broncos, the Steelers chose to keep their offensive line intact -- at least for now.
Thursday, they signed center Maurkice Pouncey to a contract extension and then handed Ramon Foster a new two-year deal to keep him from reaching free agency.
That means, at worst, the Steelers will have the offensive line they finished last season with intact for 2019.
Pouncey, 29, was the team's lone representative on the All-Pro team in 2018, earning second-team honors. His three-year extension will be for $29 million over the course of the deal. He had been slated to make $7 million in base salary in 2019 with a cap hit of $7.9 million. The Steelers gave him an additional $22 million combined in 2020 and 2021.
The team's first-round draft pick in 2010, Pouncey has started all 108 of the career games in which he's appeared and has been to seven Pro Bowls.
Foster's deal is something of a surprise. The 33-year-old got a two-year contract worth $8.25 million, something considered below market value. Foster made $2.65 million in base salary last season.
The move came soon after the Steelers chose to place a second-round restricted free agent tender on their top interior backup lineman, B.J. Finney, that will cost them just over $3 million.
That could mean the Steelers have decided to cut ties with right tackle Marcus Gilbert. Gilbert, 31, has been limited to 12 starts the past two seasons because of a PED suspension and injuries. He is scheduled to make $4.865 million in base salary in 2019 in the final season of a five-year, $30-million deal.
Releasing Gilbert would save the Steelers just under $4 million against their salary cap.
Matt Feiler, a former undrafted rookie made 10 starts in Gilbert's place in 2018, while Chuks Okorafor, a 2018 third-round pick made one. Those two could battle in training camp for the starting job if Gilbert is, indeed, released.
LOLLEY'S VIEW
This is somewhat surprising given Foster's age and represents a shift in thinking about Gilbert from last week, when GM Kevin Colbert mentioned him as the team's starter when talking about the tackle position.
But perhaps the team's doctors just don't think Gilbert can stay healthy. When the team weighed his health vs. that of Foster, who has made 131 career starts, it leaned in favor of keeping the healthier, albeit slightly older, player.
And since he has just one year remaining on his deal, the team decided to push forward with Feiler and Okorafor. The Steelers also have 2016 fourth-round pick Jerald Hawkins waiting in the wings, as well.
There's a good chance, too, that Pouncey's deal lowered the cap hit enough that it made signing Foster possible. It's not a coincidence they were announced at the same time.
Another issue this brings up is that it appears to signal the team won't be too active on the free agent market. The Steelers had just $11.8 million in cap space after picking up the tender offers for Finney and tight end Xavier Grimble.
Even if Gilbert is eventually released, the Steelers won't have the kind of Monopoly money to throw around that other teams do.
It also could be a portent to the team getting its asking price for receiver Antonio Brown. If the Steelers think they are going to have the kind of draft capital to fill their needs that way, they won't have to go the free agent route.