As I wrote two weeks ago, the Steelers didn't really lose anyone in free agency the first two days of the legal tampering period that was unexpected with one exception. That was the agreement the Jaguars reached with nose tackle Tyson Alualu.
That was one player the Steelers wanted back. They made him an offer. Jacksonville's offer was slightly better. And so Alualu took the money to go back to Jacksonville, where he played the first seven years of his career.
That one hurt the Steelers more than most because they had made the decision to pick Cam Sutton over Mike Hilton. And they had decided they weren't going to pay Bud Dupree top dollar when they had Alex Highsmith waiting in the wings. And they decided to release Vince Williams to save some cap space. And though they made an effort to re-sign Matt Feiler, they were perfectly fine spending the money they would have given to him on Zach Banner, instead.
But the team really didn't have a replacement for Alualu.
Now, they certainly could have found one. In fact, that was what they were in the process of doing the past two weeks. First, they re-signed Chris Wormley. If Alualu had agreed to the Steelers' initial deal to stay in Pittsburgh, there's a good chance the Steelers wouldn't have gone that route.
But according to a source, they also were making some inquiries about some other veteran defensive tackles. They just didn't move on any of those because they knew that Alualu hadn't officially signed his deal with the Jaguars yet because of a COVID-19 situation with his family.
So, they kept working on him. Defensive line coach Karl Dunbar stayed in touch with Alualu. So did some of Steelers his teammates.
Finally, Alualu changed his mind and reneged on his deal with the Jaguars to re-sign with the Steelers.
• So, the next question that must be answered is what happened with his family? I reported last week in out Friday Insider that Alualu's wife and kids had stayed in Jacksonville.
That was the information I received. And I had no reason to doubt it.
In fact, doesn't it sound even more unbelievable that Alualu would be building his dream house in Pittsburgh and that his kids were in school here but he took slightly more money to go to Jacksonville than what the Steelers were offering?
Sometimes you get bad information. In this case, I apparently did. You certainly don't like it, but this source has been dead on about stuff in the past.
• So, with both Alualu and Wormley back, the Steelers can scratch a need at defensive tackle off their list of needs.
That's probably a good thing, because this isn't a great draft for defensive tackles. Now, there are some true nose tackle types available basically from the third round on, but I'm not so sure the Steelers even want a true nose tackle any more.
They want a nose tackle-type that also provides some pass rush so that he can see some playing time in the nickel and dime defenses. The days of taking Casey Hampton in the first round are long gone.
• Alualu played 45 percent of the team's defensive snaps last season. And he did that while playing in the nickel and dime. That was right in line with what Javon Hargrave played when he manned that position, as well -- as long as both Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt stayed healthy.
The Steelers just weren't going to break the bank to pay for that spot.
But in getting Alualu back, the team knows what it's going to get at that position as opposed to bringing in a new guy and having to hope he can handle playing the nose.
Then again, the team selected Hargrave in the third round of the 2016 draft and he became an immediate starter. It remains a position that isn't all that difficult to fill.
As Hampton used to say, his job consisted of going left or right.
• This does kill the narrative that the Steelers kept JuJu Smith-Schuster at the expense of keeping Alualu that some tried to sell.
That was never the case. They wanted Alualu back. They wanted Feiler back. They just wanted them both back at the right price.
This does, however, affect their compensatory formula. Alualu's signing with Jacksonville would have cancelled out the signing of offensive tackle Joe Haeg.
As things now stand, the Steelers should get a third-round pick for the loss of Dupree and possibly a fifth-round pick for the loss of Feiler. They can hope that Haeg's two-year, $4.6 million contract and the one-year, $1.27 million deal to which they signed linebacker Miles Killebrew doesn't offset the four-year, $24 million deal Mike Hilton signed with the Bengals. But right now, it looks like it will.
• The longer free agency goes without James Conner finding a home, the more likely it looks like he could return to the Steelers on a discount deal.
The running back market is just about dried up. And only two players -- Kenyan Drake and Chris Carson -- have signed deals that average more than $5 million per season. The rest of the free agent running back group has signed for an average of $3.25 million or less.
With the league now going to a 17-game schedule, you'd better have at least two capable running backs. At an average of 20 touches per game, running backs would now be at 340 touches.
That's a lot.
Bringing Conner back as a competent No. 2 back on a one or two-year deal while taking a running back early in the draft would make a lot of sense for the Steelers. And Conner would be a good No. 2 back.
The question is whether it will make sense for Conner. Conner could look at taking a lesser deal to return to the Steelers as something of a slap in the face. Then again, when you don't have a job, any offer is a good one.
• Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert were at the Clemson pro day. They were at the Alabama pro day. The guess here is that Tomlin and Colbert also will be at the North Carolina pro day Monday, meaning they have been at the pro days of the top three running backs in this draft. And you can make that the top four if they, as many, including me, have the Tar Heels' Michael Carter as the No. 4 running back behind Najee Harris of Alabama, Javonte Williams of North Carolina and Travis Etienne of Clemson.
Yes, the Steelers seem very intent on taking a running back high in this draft.
• With the Jets seemingly now set on taking BYU's Zach Wilson with the second pick in this year's draft, there is now speculation that the Steelers could be a team interested in trading for Sam Darnold, the third-overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Thing is, while Darnold is talented -- I had him as my top quarterback in that draft class -- it hasn't played out that way on the field. He's shown flashes, but they've been just that, flashes.
Also, any team trading for Darnold would almost have to pick up his fifth-year option in May. And because of the new CBA, that fifth-year option is fully guaranteed the moment it is offered.
For Darnold, that would mean guaranteeing him $18.58 million in 2022. And since that money would be guaranteed, you'd also be locked into paying his salary this season, meaning Darnold would cost $20 million the next two seasons.
The more simple thing to do if you want Darnold might just be to wait for the Jets to release him, which they will surely do at some point. Then, you can sign him to whatever contract you want if you so desire.
After all, we're talking about a quarterback with 45 career touchdown passes and 39 interceptions in 38 career starts. If you don't get him, someone else will become available next season.
• The price to move up to the top of a draft to get a quarterback is a hefty one, as we saw with the move the 49ers made to go up from 12 to 3 last week. San Francisco traded its first-round picks in 2021, 2022 and 2023 along with a third-round selection to Miami to move up for the opportunity to select the third-best quarterback this year.
That's a lot of draft capital for a player who might -- might -- be your long-term solution at quarterback.
Those are the kind of deals that make or break a GM. So, if you're going to invest that much draft capital, you'd better be sure it's the right move.
Otherwise, you're looking to move on from Darnold three years after using the third pick in the draft to acquire him because you're still picking in the top 5.
• The 17-game schedule will include adding another tough game for the Steelers, who will now host the Seahawks. But I don't believe any of the AFC North teams will be all that happy with their additional game. The Ravens will host the Rams, the Browns will get the Cardinals and the Bengals the aforementioned 49ers.
Then again, given that the AFC North was arguably the deepest division in the league in 2020, the NFC West teams can't be all that thrilled about having to go on the road to play them, either.
Hosting those NFC West teams sure beats having to travel to their venues.
