The pressure on the 2025 Steelers is greater than it’s ever been. The incessant screeching over Mike Tomlin’s playoff victory drought has drowned out the gratitude of his aptitude for spitting out an above .500 team year in and year out.
Three-quarters of the way through the 2024 campaign, the league hallucinated the Steelers as a Super Bowl contender. This season, Tomlin and Co. have to make those ambitions a reality.
The first phase of their reinvention begins during the free agency when the front office can begin chasing impact players without restrictions. In years past, the Steelers have been conservative when chasing talent from opposing teams. Comfortability and job security have created inertia. If Omar Khan can get ahold of these A-tier free agents or tagged pseudo-free agents, it might be enough to provide a necessary shock to the system and vault Pittsburgh into contention.
Steelers dream free agent signings: Start with QB and WR
Sam Darnold
You can be skeptical of whether Darnold can string together consecutive winning seasons, or whether he can win the big game, but he’s demonstrated the capacity to be a franchise quarterback. He’s a risk, but Mike Tomlin needs to throw the cards on the table this offseason. To date, the Vikings haven’t tagged Darnold yet.
He’s young, has a big arm, and while he isn’t level with Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow within the division, getting close enough is enough for the Steelers. Last season, Darnold registered 4,319 yards, and 35 touchdowns to 12 interceptions en route to a 13-3 record. In 17 games, Steelers quarterbacks logged 3,607 yards, and 21 touchdowns to six interceptions. A Tomlin-coached defense supporting an above-average passing attack would have been enough to end their playoff drought.
Tee Higgins
The 6-4 Higgins is literally the biggest target in free agency. His catch radius is one of the widest in the league. In five seasons as the No. 2 receiver in Cincinnati, Higgins has registered 4,600 yards receiving and tallied 34 touchdowns. Technically, Higgins isn’t a free agent since being tagged for the second straight year by the Bengals this week. However, he’ll come with a cost. His salary is projected to clock in at $25 million in average annual value and he’ll cost interested teams picks as well. It makes more sense for the Bengals to trade Higgins than to just lose him in free agency or even to re-sign him.
Having an all-world quarterback and paying top dollar to two receivers would create an even more structurally unsound roster. Cincinnati needs picks and cap space to fill out their porous defense. Higgins is as good as gone if the Bengals have any common sense, though the Steelers have to be willing to ante up. However, if the Bengals are seeking a shorter-term option that won’t require them to surrender trade assets, they can resume their pursuit of Adams.
Davante Adams
Last season, Adams was often mentioned as a potential trade target for the Steelers. Instead, they wound up with Mike Williams after Adams was dealt to the Jets for practically nothing. ESPN’s Rich Cimini theorized this week that the New York Jets intend to release Adams because of his prohibitive 2025 salary. By doing so, the Jets would clear $29.9 million. The Jets loss could be the Steelers gain. Adams doesn’t come with the same injury baggage as Cooper Kupp and posted 1,063 yards, 85 touchdowns, and reeled in eight touchdowns in suboptimal circumstances.
Osa Odighizuwa
Milton Williams is the most sought-after defensive tackle on the market after his Super Bowl performance, but Osa Odighizuwa is more of a proven commodity. Williams only recorded five sacks in 2024, played fewer than 50 percent of the Eagles snaps, and was alright against the run. Cowboys defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, 26, has been one of the best all-around interior defensive linemen since being drafted in the third round out of UCLA in 2021. More importantly, Odighizuwa has started every game the last three seasons, has more tape on him than Williams, and ranked third out of 47 defensive tackles in pass rush win rate.
Jordan Mason
Mason’s 800 yards and 5.2 yards per carry in Kyle Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme as Christian McCaffrey’s injury replacement came at an ideal time. Mason’s three-year rookie deal expired this season while the Niners are in the process of shedding payroll to make room for Brock Purdy’s extension. Few backs were better than Mason at forcing missed tackles last season. According to the metrics, only Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry were better. Against stacked boxes, Mason ran through tackles like a freight train. His low center of gravity makes him a handful to tackle and when he gains momentum exploding out of the backfield.
DJ Reed
The Steelers have been connected to just about every castoff from the New York Jets this offseason. As PFF’s highest-rated cornerback, he’s expected to command somewhere in the neighborhood of $14 million a year in his next deal, which would eat into their allocated budget for upper-echelon offensive skill position players. However, opposite Joey Porter Jr., Reed would provide an upgrade to free agent cornerback Donte Jackson as the Steelers' No. 2 corner. Jackson was shaky down the stretch this season, making the Steelers even more vulnerable over the top in their single-high safety looks.