Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 offseason needs

3. Address the secondary

Perhaps the most egregious example of a player running his mouth endlessly and not backing it up on the field in recent Steeler history is safety Mike Mitchell. Steeler fans probably lost count of how many times an opposing player would gain yards or get a first down and Mitchell would make a tackle and pop up and celebrate. Let’s take look at the tape…

Fournette got a first down on this play and the Steelers were down on the scoreboard. You wouldn’t know it by the antics of Mitchell after the play. He carries a cap hit of over $8 million for 2018 but Pittsburgh can release him and save $5 million, which they absolutely should do. The other starting safety is Sean Davis, who seems to have halted in his growth.

If Mitchell is cut, a potential out of the box replacement could be Su’a Cravens from the Washington Redskins. It would be a gamble for Pittsburgh as Cravens has already retired from the Redskins unexpectedly. However, that’s also the reason it would seem Washington could be willing to move him. The asking price can’t be that high and the reward could be big.

The starting corners are Artie Burns and Joe Haden, who are both just okay. Burns has flashes but lacks consistency and Haden is solid but his best days are clearly behind him. The biggest issue with fixing the secondary is the lack of cap space the Steelers have, especially if Bell is brought back. It’s going to be tough to find a starter right away from the back part of the draft. It’s also possible replacing former coach Carnell Lake with Tom Bradley could pay dividends. Whether it’s a trade or a judicious free agent signing, Pittsburgh must upgrade the secondary in some form or fashion.