3 major mistakes Steelers could make on their final 53-man roster

The NFL preseason has come to an end for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and not only did they fail to win a single game, but they failed to score 20 points in a single one. No, preseason doesn't mean much, but it's hard for Steelers fans to get excited by what they saw.

The goal for this Steelers team is to get back to the playoffs and hope that their revamped offense can lead them on a deep run, but that feels far from a guarantee.

A lot will have to break in Pittsburgh's favor for them to be the team they expect to be. They're also a team that cannot afford to make any mistakes. With that in mind, here are three mistakes in particular they can't afford to make before Week 1 of the regular season kicks off.

3) The Steelers don't have enough depth to afford releasing Dan Moore Jr.

The Steelers entered the preseason with the expectation that they had their tackles of the future locked in. They took Broderick Jones in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and one year later, snagged Troy Fautanu out of Washington.

If those youngsters had locked up starting spots, the Steelers might have had reason to release Moore. Depth is always nice, but they could've saved roughly $3.36 million by cutting him. Moore is strictly a left tackle, and that spot appeared to be taken.

Well, things have changed. Not only has their offensive line struggled, but Fautanu left their first game due to injury. He might be available to play Week 1, but that's far from a certainty. Even if he does play Week 1, it's hard to know how much he can play, and how effective he'll be after virtually no preseason action.

The Steelers simply cannot afford to release Moore. There are offensive line questions, and things will only get worse if they choose to trim their depth further.

2) The Steelers should not begin the regular season without adding a receiver

If there's one thing this Steelers team needs, it's receiver help. George Pickens has a lot of talent and might fully break out away from Kenny Pickett, but he can't do everything by himself. If the season began today, their WR2 would probably be one of Van Jefferson or Calvin Austin III. Neither one of those options is good enough to be a WR2, and an argument can be made that neither one should be starting in general.

Their quarterback situation is far from ideal, so giving that quarterback whether it's Russell Wilson or Justin Fields, another reliable weapon, would go a long way.

As for who that receiver is that they add, that's tough to predict. Can they finally pull off a Brandon Aiyuk trade? Even if it's a smaller deal for a player on the cut line in another organization, the Steelers would be making a mistake not adding more talent to a room mostly devoid of it.

1) Trading a quarterback won't solve their problem at the position

As mentioned prior, the Steelers have a problem at the quarterback position. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields should be better than Kenny Pickett was, but that's not saying much. Neither player showed much in the preseason, and they're both coming off of rocky seasons.

Trading one of these uninspiring quarterbacks for whatever you can get in return sounds good in theory, but there's a problem. What if the quarterback who stays struggles?

One of Wilson or Fields will start Week 1, but who knows how long that quarterback will be able to stick in the role? While they might both be underwhelming options as starters, having one of Wilson or Fields in a reserve role feels like a luxury. Mike Tomlin would have the chance to mix and match and find something that works by keeping both. He would not have that luxury if, say, Kyle Allen was next in line.

What the Steelers would get for one of Wilson or Fields would not be worth more than having them both in the mix in the event that the Steelers need a change under center. Wilson isn't a long-term solution, but who knows, perhaps with more seasoning, Fields will improve. For 2024, though, there's a very good chance that the team will need both as they attempt to compete.