BRADENTON, Fla. -- NFL's legal tampering period begins Monday at noon, signaling the start of free agency.
Of course, a flurry of cuts and contract restructures from around the league on Friday sent us the same message. Teams are making their initial moves so they can be cap compliant when the new league year begins March 15 at 4:00 p.m. -- the same time free agency officially begins.
The Steelers were among many of those teams making moves on Friday, as they terminated the contracts of William Jackson III and Carlins Platel. The cuts shed all of Jackson's salary $12,176,461 (Platel's $750K cap hit didn't count toward the Top 51 rule), giving the Steelers a little more than $11 million in cap space ahead of free agency.
While cutting Jackson was always the first move to be made to create cap space, releasing him and Platel shrinks a defensive backs room that's already at risk of losing Cam Sutton and Terrell Edmunds in free agency. And that's just the start of what's sure to be a busy -- and critical -- free agency for Omar Khan is his first offseason as general manager.
The Steelers have a lot of holes to fill, mostly on the defensive side of the ball. Free agency is typically where the Steelers address their roster needs so they can go into the draft with a bit more flexibility to add players that can have a long-term impact, with a lot less consideration of where they play on the football field.
Even though the Steelers had the league's most expensive defense in 2022, 11 of their 19 impending unrestricted free agents play on defense. That's why there is such a need on that side of the ball heading into free agency. And now, cutting Jackson and Platel creates even more urgency to address all tiers of the defense.
Specifically at cornerback, the only players that logged snaps in 2022 and will be under contract at the start of free agency are Levi Wallace, Ahkello Witherspoon and Arthur Maulet. Madre Harper and Chris Wilcox are also signed to futures contracts to compete for a roster spot in training camp. But, it's clear to see the Steelers need to add quite a bit of meat to that room.
As I reported from the Combine, the Steelers' No. 1 priority among their impending free agents is re-signing Sutton. That shouldn't come as any surprise given the attention Sutton will demand on the open market because of his performance, experience and versatility to play outside or in the slot.
There's been no hint or whisper that Sutton will re-sign ahead of free agency, so the Steelers will likely have to pay market price to keep him. Pro Football Focus currently projects Sutton to sign a three-year, $25.5-million contract. However, the market could push that number a little higher.
But, if the Steelers are going to pay market price for a quality cornerback, why not just bring one of their guys back?
"We think very highly of Cam," Khan said of Sutton at the Combine. "We'll see where it goes. It's just like all of our other free agents. Everything is on the table. ... I feel good about where we're at. We do like Cam a great deal."
Another reunion that could be on the table to deepen the cornerback room is tendering an offer to restricted free agent James Pierre. A right-of-first-refusal tender would cost Pittsburgh $2.629 million, which isn't a bad price considering Witherspoon is set to carry a cap hit of $5,482,500 in 2023, and Pierre was significantly better while playing 12 more snaps than Witherspoon did last year.
Reuniting with Sutton and Pierre pretty much keeps the status quo intact, setting up the Steelers to strengthen the cornerback position in the draft since it's a very talented and deep class this year, and they have three selections in the first 49 picks of the draft. The secondary definitely needs to improve. But, for a group that tied for the league lead with 20 interceptions, walking away from the heavy-lifting portion of free agency with the same group isn't a bad spot to be in -- not with this upcoming draft class.
As much as Sutton is the top priority, there's every reason to believe Terrell Edmunds is high on that list as well. With Edmunds and Damontae Kazee set to hit free agency, safety is also a position that requires effort to maintain the status quo or possibly undergo a bit of a makeover.
It won't cost nearly as much to re-sign Edmunds, but he's earned a pay raise after turning in a solid season doing the dirty work in all levels of the Steelers' defense. Reuniting with Kazee is also intriguing, especially after the three-safety package with him, Edmunds and Minkah Fitzpatrick was an excellent wrinkle in the defense.
Predicting either Edmunds' or Kazee's market is a bit difficult because neither player is in the top tier of the safety position in free agency. Edmunds has never lived up to the expectation of being a first-round selection, and Kazee is coming off a season in which he served a five-game suspension and was limited because of a forearm fracture. Letting both players hit the open market gives Khan a chance to get a measurement on how much it would cost to keep them, and ultimately decide if it's worth re-signing either of them or going in a different direction in free agency or the draft.
Overpaying for either Edmunds or Kazee isn't a worthwhile option because the Steelers must address both defensive line and inside linebacker in some form. Larry Ogunjobi, Chris Wormley and Tyson Alualu are all bound for free agency. After Devin Bush and Robert Spillane become free agents, the only off-the-ball linebackers under contract that logged snaps in 2022 are Myles Jack and Mark Robinson. Both positions have to not only be filled, but the Steelers really could use an upgrade at either spot, specifically linebacker.
Terrell's brother, Tremaine Edmunds, will be one of the most coveted linebackers in free agency, and he's among a long list of linebackers that could be a great fit in Pittsburgh, including Lavonte David, Eric Kendricks, David Long, Bobby Wagner, T.J. Edwards, Bobby Okereke, Leighton Vander Esch, Germaine Pratt and Drue Tranquill. There are varying price points among that list of linebackers, and there's bound to be one the Steelers could sign to upgrade the room.
And, with all of this focus on the defense, we haven't even looked at upgrading the offensive line or adding some depth at receiver, such as possibly re-signing restricted free agent Steven Sims. There are several areas of the roster that need attention in free agency. The Steelers simply cannot sit back and do nothing, even if it's bringing back a lot of the same guys.
Cutting Jackson's $12.2 million salary is just a start for the Steelers. But, as you can see, there are a lot of areas that need attention and will cost significantly more than the $11 million in cap space the Steelers currently have. Fitzpatrick's contract is primed to be restructured at some point, and T.J. Watt's could possibly be restructured once again to create room to address team needs. More cuts could be on the way, along with the potential of signing Mitch Trubisky to an extension to lower his $10.625-million cap hit and solidify the backup spot behind Kenny Pickett.
Last year, the Steelers strayed from tradition of spending significant money in free agency by signing Mason Cole and James Daniels to upgrade the offensive line, Trubisky was added to start at quarterback, Jack was signed to upgrade inside linebacker and Ogunjobi was a late addition to solidify the defensive line. It was perhaps the busiest free agency in franchise history.
This year, in Khan's first free agency period as GM, the Steelers could be even more aggressive.
"You guys have seen through different seasons what kind of shape we've been in," Khan said at the Combine. "We're obviously in a lot better shape than we've been in the past. There were years where we had to be -- I don't really like to use the word, 'creative' -- but had to do some things. We're comfortable if there's the opportunity to improve our team with someone, we can make things happen and sign (them). There's nothing that will be holding us back."