The Steelers did enough to compete for a playoff spot in Week 18, but a 2-6 start to the season was too much to overcome.
Now, as Omar Kahn enters his first offseason as general manager, he'll look to make the necessary moves to try and get this team back into playoff contention.
Fortunately for the Steelers, many of their core players are under contract. Kenny Pickett, Najee Harris, Pat Freiermuth, George Pickens and Jaylen Warren are all on rookie contracts. The offensive line, while still needing some upgrades, are all under contract for 2023. And the three pillars of the defense -- Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick -- are also on multiyear deals.
However, as the Steelers prepare for free agency, taking care of in-house business will be very important. Pittsburgh has 19 players from the 2022 roster that will become unrestricted free agents on March 15 at 4:00 p.m. And, those players' agents can begin negotiating with any team two days earlier on March 13.
In addition, the Steelers have to make decisions on five restricted free agents and two exclusive rights free agents.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
• DT Larry Ogunjobi (2022 cap hit: $8 million)
• ILB Devin Bush ($6M)
• CB Cam Sutton ($5.2M)
• FB Derek Watt ($4.713M)
• QB Mason Rudolph ($4.04M)
• DT Tyson Alualu ($3.463M)
• DT Chris Wormley ($2.9M)
• ILB Marcus Allen ($2.54M)
• WR Miles Boykin ($2.54M)
• ILB Robert Spillane ($2.433M)
• OLB Malik Reed ($1.5M)
• G/T Jesse Davis ($1.45M)
• SS Terrell Edmunds ($1.188M)
• RB Benny Snell Jr. ($1.141M)
• TE Zach Gentry ($1.051M)
• OT Trent Scott ($0.895M)
• S Damontae Kazee ($0.76M)
• S Karl Joseph ($0.48M)
• WR Anthony Miller ($0.48M)
The two most important names on this list are undoubtedly Edmunds and Sutton. The Steelers may have led the NFL in interceptions, but the secondary is in need of an upgrade in order to compete in 2023, and both players proved to be valuable pieces in the back end of the defense.
Both players will require pay raises as Edmunds capitalized on the one-year "prove it" deal and Sutton is an improving cornerback with six years under his belt, a rare blend in the free agent market.
The good news is both players have a desire to return to Pittsburgh.
"For sure. This is home base," Edmunds said earlier this week. "They gave me the opportunity to do what I love. They gave me the opportunity to be an NFL player, and I can’t say thank you enough for that. If they do offer me another deal, of course, I would definitely try to make things work and go from there."
"For sure. This is home," Sutton said. "This has been home to me since the beginning. There’s a strong foundation and it’s just really solid here. A lot of love for all the aspects here and the city as a whole. Like I said, we’ll see what that looks like obviously when the opportunity comes."
Kazee would also require a pay raise after a strong performance as the Steelers' third safety. He only played in nine games in 2022 after missing the first eight games due to a five-game suspension and wrist fracture that occurred in the final preseason contest. In those nine games, Kazee recorded two interceptions, two passes defended and 20 tackles. While he didn't play enough games to earn a ranking by Pro Football Focus, his 81.0 grade would have ranked sixth of 90 safeties in the league if he had qualified.
Defensive line is another area of need for the Steelers, which leaves some questions about Ogunjobi, Wormley and Alualu, though Alualu may end up deciding to retire at age 35.
The most likely to return would probably be Wormley, and he would provide some continuity and high-quality depth. He's improved over the past two seasons, especially in run defense, and his ACL injury will slow down his market enough where he could possibly come back at an affordable price. But, it will require patience if the Steelers want to bring him back.
"I am going to be patient," Wormley said. "I have it in the back of my head that it’s going to be a longer process than a normal free agency for healthy guys, but I am confident that when the time comes, when teams come for physicals and things like that and I go out there, they will be pleased with my progress."
Ogunjobi might be too expensive, especially considering how injuries impacted his production. In order for the Steelers to address some of the needs on the roster, they'll need as much cap space as possible, and Ogunjobi's lack of production simply wasn't worth the $8-million cap hit.
Of course, inside linebacker will also need to be addressed as Bush and Spillane are set to hit the open market. Bush seems like a perfect candidate to try and jumpstart his career elsewhere, and Spillane could be brought back as a third option at inside linebacker since the Steelers like what he provides in run defense and on-field communication.
It also helps that Spillane sounds very open to a reunion.
"I love this organization. I’ve loved being here from the second I got here," Spillane said. "I pour my heart into everything that I do here. I love the teammates. I love the coaches. I love the organization. It’s been a blessing and I’ve never taken it for granted and if I’m blessed with an opportunity to come back here, that would be something that is very special. Pittsburgh will always be something special to me, regardless."
On the flip side, Rudolph is likely gone in hopes of landing a job that will at least give him a helmet every week. Though, never say never. If the Steelers end up cutting Mitch Trubisky loose, they could try and bring Rudolph back as the No. 2 behind Pickett. Though, it really appears that the bridge between Rudolph and the Steelers has been burned.
Watt is a bit of a wild card. The Steelers love him and everything he provides on and off the field. However, a $4.713-million cap hit is not a great allocation of funds given all the areas of the roster that need addressed. That was far and away the highest cap hit of any fullback in the NFL last season with Minnesota's C.J. Ham coming in second at $3.45 million.
While Watt set career-highs in carries (nine) and receptions (five) in a season, it still wasn't enough to justify such a large hit, especially since he was primarily on the roster for special teams and only recorded four tackles. For comparison, Allen had 12 tackles on special teams this season, and his $2.54-million cap hit was still too much.
Snell's future is a bit cloudy as well. He's a strong contributor on special teams, and he performed very well when the Steelers needed him as the primary runner in their Week 12 victory at Indianapolis. But is that enough to want to bring him back? And, how much would it cost?
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
• CB James Pierre ($0.898M)
• WR Steven Sims ($0.895M)
• C J.C. Hassenauer ($0.895M)
• ILB Tae Crowder ($0.895M)
• RB Jeremy McNichols ($0.48M)
If the Steelers wish to retain the rights to any of these players, they must tender a qualifying offer. There are several different types of tenders that come with different levels of compensation for the Steelers if another team were to sign the restricted free agent. The minimum tender in 2023, which comes with no compensation, is projected to be $2.629 million, according to OverTheCap.com.
Pierre and Sims both contributed as role players in 2022. Pierre was often the first corner on the field after an injury or when someone was benched. Sims followed a strong training camp with taking over kick and punt return duties early in the season and earned more offensive snaps as the season progressed. Both are tender candidates.
Hassenauer, Crowder and McNichols could possibly be non-tendered and allowed to hit free agency. However, as Matt Williamson pointed out in the latest Mike's Beer Bar War Room, bringing back Hassenauer as a fallback option at center is something the Steelers should consider. As played out in 2022, continuity on the offensive line is very, very valuable.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS
• OLB Jamir Jones ($0.825M)
• LS Christian Kuntz ($0.825M)
If the Steelers want to keep them, they will. As long as these players are offered a league-minimum contract, they cannot negotiate with other teams.
RESERVE/FUTURE CONTRACT SIGNINGS
One part of the offseason that's already begun is signing players to reserve/future contracts to give them a chance to fight for a roster spot in training camp.
Players that are eligible to be signed to reserve/future contracts are either unrestricted free agents or on a team's practice squad after the conclusion of the regular season. However, the contract won't count against the salary cap or 53-man limit. Instead, it'll count against the salary cap and 90-man camp limit of the following season.
The Steelers have signed 17 players to reserve/future contracts thus far:
• WR Ja’Marcus Bradley
• DB Duke Dawson
• G William
Dunkle
• LB Emeke Egbule
• RB Jason Huntley
• C Ryan McCollum
• DB Scott Nelson
• RB Master Teague
• WR Cody White
• TE Rodney
Williams
• RB Anthony McFarland Jr.
• LB Chapelle Russell
• DT Renell Wren
• WR Dez Fitzpatrick
• DB Madre Harper
• DB Kenny Robinson
• DB Chris Wilcox
All players except for the final four spent time on the Steelers' practice squad during the 2022 season. If Robinson's name looks familiar, the Pittsburgh-area native played his senior year of high school football at Imani Christian Academy and was recruited to play at Pitt, but wound up playing college ball at West Virginia.