5 dream Pittsburgh Steelers free agent targets if money was no object
Money is certainly an object for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they stare down the 2024 offseason, unfortunately. After sneaking into last season's playoffs as a wild card berth from the AFC and then promptly making a quick postseason exit stage left, Mike Tomlin's club has clear areas of weakness that need to be addressed. But free agency likely offers the franchise little solace.
Per Spotrac, the Steelers are $4 million over the cap with their Top 51 on the roster and $13 million over the cap number overall. Without some serious maneuvering -- and potentially some surprising cuts -- Pittsburgh isn't going to have much room to operate in free agency. They'll almost certainly be looking toward the draft to fill a lot of their major holes.
What if, however, money wasn't an issue? What if the Pittsburgh Steelers had carte blanche on the books to tackle free agency and upgrade their roster? That's not the world we live in, but we can always dare to dream, specifically with these dream free agent targets for Omar Khan and the Steelers.
Pittsburgh Steelers: 5 dream free agency targets if money wasn't an issue
5. Lavonte David, LB (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
There's no guarantee that Lavonte David ever truly hits the open market based on what we saw last offseason as he returned the Bucs. It's at least somewhat likely that the veteran linebacker is more than content to return to Tampa Bay. If that isn't the case, however, he's a player that the Steelers would love to have patrolling in the middle of their defense.
Injuries marred Pittsburgh's linebacker corps last season with other veterans like Elandon Roberts, Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander, among others, in the mix. Those injuries combined with the mediocre quality in some regards resulted in the position being somewhat lackluster for the Steelers in the 2023 season.
What's even more concerning for the franchise, though, is that there is no clearly defined future at linebacker in Pittsburgh. That isn't to say that David would be the future -- in fact, it's quite the opposite. However, the savvy veteran who has long been one of the best coverage players at the position in the league is an A-plus stopgap while the organization could start developing a plan for the future.
Some might prefer young dream linebacker targets like Devin White or Patrick Queen, but neither of those players (or any other player in this class) have the sustained level of top-end play that David has on his resumé. He would be an elite upgrade over the veterans currently in the building if they could afford him, or even convince him to leave Tampa.