Steelers: 3 2022 free agency mistakes Pittsburgh regrets

Steelers 2022 free agency mistake No. 1: Signing Myles Jack

The Steelers have completely revamped their inside linebacker core this offseason after letting Myles Jack and Devin Bush move on and signing Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts in free agency.

Last year’s decision to take a chance on Myles Jack not only harmed the team due to his poor play but also potentially stunted the growth of the unit as a whole.

NFL team resources have implied scarcity in many ways. In the same way, the average American must allocate resources based on a budget constraint, NFL team’s must attempt to maximize outcomes subject to a variety of constraints, namely roster size and cap space/player salary budget. NFL teams just typically have much larger budgets.

The Steelers signed Myles Jack to their second-largest offseason contract last year, as he inked a two-year, $16 million deal.

After the season, Jack was released after only playing through the first year of his contract. Cutting him freed cap space for the remainder of his contract, but also left the Steelers with $3.25 million of dead money.

While the problem was addressed somewhat, it remains unclear whether Roberts and Holcomb represent significant upgrades at the position or if they have the potential to be long-term answers at the position.

Meanwhile, almost every other inside linebacker signed either last offseason or in the current offseason signed contracts for less total money than the one Jack signed last year. Perhaps the Steelers could have signed someone else who may have filled this gap in the team’s roster or at least saved the dead money the team shoulders in 2023.

For now, the severity of the mistake will likely be judged by how well Holcomb and Roberts fill their roles in what has been a position Pittsburgh has struggled to fill for multiple years.