The Steelers’ to end era of mediocrity with an aggressive NFL offseason

Highlights

• The Steelers have released a quartet of veterans to free up cap space and prepare for the offseason.
• The team also made an outside hire in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, showcasing their desire to change as an organization.
• Alas, they’re stuck in mediocrity due to consistently low draft picks and limited cap space.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been as consistent as any franchise in the NFL over the last half-century, with just three head coaches and six Super Bowl rings to show for their commitment to the “Steeler Way”. Over the last few years, though, that consistency has yielded mediocre results.

After a string of not meeting expectations, the Steelers appear ready to do things differently ahead of an important offseason for the franchise. The first of many moves to come included releasing quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, punter Pressley Harvin III, center Mason Cole, and right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor ahead of free agency, as Adam Schefter first reported.

It’s a refreshing sign for fans of the black and gold, as the team is moving on from players it should, making outside hires, and speaking candidly about the need to start winning beyond the regular season. After years of running on the treadmill of mediocrity, are the Steelers primed to move into the NFL’s top tier of contenders?

With great defense comes great responsibility

New OC Arthur Smith will be tasked with not squandering an elite, but aging, defensive unit

The Steelers have All-Pro talent at every level of their defense, but it won’t be around forever. The best players in the unit are starting to age out of their respective primes:

• Defensive End Cam Heyward, age-35 season in 2024
• Cornerback/Safety Patrick Peterson, 34
• Edge T.J. Watt, 30
• Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, 28

There’s not an infinite amount of time left to wait for the offense to catch up with the defense, which is a problem Pittsburgh is all too familiar with.

During the mid-2010s, the Steelers were an offensive force to be reckoned with, led by the aptly named “Killer B’s”: Ben Roethlishberger, Le’Veon Bell, and Antonio Brown. Despite routinely putting up 30+ points per game, the team never made it past the AFC Championship game because the defense was a sieve, especially after linebacker Ryan Shazier suffered a career-ending injury against the Cincinatti Bengals in 2017.

Alas, the issue persists to this day, only with the roles reversed. Over the last two seasons, the Steelers have had a top-ten scoring defense. In that same time span, the offense has never ranked higher than 26th in points per game.

In an attempt to rectify this, the Steelers have bucked their own trend by going outside the organization to hire Arthur Smith as the new offensive coordinator. The former Atlanta Falcons head coach has recently been known for his mishandling of the Falcons’ young skill-position talent, though he is also the coordinator who resurrected Ryan Tannehill’s career and coaxed an all-time great season out of Derrick Henry with the Tennessee Titans.

Smith operates almost entirely differently from previous playcaller Matt Canada: he likes to run the play action (a lot), his running game is built around a wide zone scheme (hello, Jaylen Warren), and his passing plays routinely attack the middle of the field (rejoice Steelers fans).

The schematic change is drastic, and speaks to the urgency of the Steelers. Seemingly gone are the patient, “preach the process” days of old general manager Kevin Colbert. Omar Khan has stepped into his place, and has brought a newfound aggressiveness that Pittsburgh had been lacking.

Now, the team trades up in the first round for prospects it likes, signs free agents to multi-year contracts at positions of need, and brings in coaches with proven NFL track records from outside the organization.

At this point, the only thing tying this version of the Steelers to their old ways is their head coach.

Mike Tomlin’s gift is the Steelers’ greatest curse

Years of hovering around .500 have kept elite talent at arm’s length

Of course, Mike Tomlin himself was an outside hire, joining the Steelers in 2007 after spending one year as the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator. Since then, Tomlin has spent 17 consecutive seasons with the organization.

17 consecutive winning seasons, mind you, in which he’s gone 173-100-2 overall. In the playoffs, however, he’s gone just 8-10, leading the team to the Super Bowl twice. He beat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl 43 (with a roster that was primarily accrued under coach Bill Cowher) and then lost to the Green Bay Packers in 45 a few years later.

That unrivaled streak of refusing to fall below .500 looks great in legacy talks, but it’s harmed the Steelers dramatically in recent years.

As a result of always finishing towards the top of the standings, the team never has a high pick in the NFL Draft. The last time the Steelers picked in the top ten was 2019, when they selected Devin Bush at tenth overall… after a trade up from 20th with the Denver Broncos. Before then? When they drafted Plaxico Burress eighth overall in the year 2000.

The team has a mantra of “taking care of its own,” which often creates an enviable clubhouse culture, but also prevents Pittsburgh from dipping its toes in the deep end of the trade market or free agent waters. They’re usually pressed up against the cap restrictions due to in-house re-signings, which includes this year; even after cutting the four aforementioned players, the team is roughly $11 million below the cap heading into the offseason, according to OverTheCap.

Now, it’s not impossible to continue winning year after year in the NFL. The New England Patriots just spent the better part of two decades proving that, and the Kansas City Chiefs are in the midst of their own dynasty right now.

Of course, what separates those clubs from the current iteration of the Steelers is the quarterback position. While the Steelers trot out Kenny Pickett and hope for the best, the Patriots had Tom Brady and the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes. Even if you think Tomlin belongs in the same coaching conversation as Bill Belichick and Andy Reid, he simply can’t overcome that kind of talent gap at the game’s most important position.

Recent rumors are conflicting, though it appears Pittsburgh will either keep Pickett as the unquestioned starter or make a move for a veteran like Russell Wilson. The team can pretend they’re happy with that QB room, but everyone inside the Steelers’ building knows that won’t be enough to compete with the NFL’s elite.

Until and unless the team can free up enough cap space to trade for a guy like Matthew Stafford, or lose enough to be in position to draft a guy like C.J. Stroud, the Steelers will be mired in the mediocrity Tomlin’s incredible habit of winning has gotten them into.

The Steelers are changing, and it’s certainly for the better. But whether they can change enough before their current window closes is a question that seems impossible to answer.

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.