Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin still have quite a lot to figure out for the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason to put forth any kind of contender for the 2025 season. Time to make those moves, however, is fast approaching with the negotiating period and free agency roughly one week away. And coming out of the NFL Combine as well, there are plenty of looks toward the draft also.
If the Steelers rumors that have persisted throughout the offseason and are now only growing in both volume and quantity are to be believed, though, Pittsburgh is going to make good on that with a ton of action this offseason. These latest rumors and rumblings would certainly raise the excitement level in the Steel City.
Pittsburgh linked once again to a Courtland Sutton trade, but there's a catch
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but the Steelers are looking for a wide receiver. That was the talk around Pittsburgh last offseason and all the way up until the trade deadline. Mike Williams ultimately was the new man who came aboard but to middling results. Now, it's about trying to find a longer-term option to pair with George Pickens in the pass-catching group.
Deebo Samuel is now off the table after the 49ers dealt him to the Washington Commanders. But there remains some buzz around the likes of Cooper Kupp, DK Metcalf, Davante Adams and others. However, there also might be another big-name receiver that could end up on the trade market that the Steelers were previously connected to but are also still interested in: Courtland Sutton.
According to Nick Farabaugh of Penn Live ($), the Steelers are once again ready to pounce on Sutton, especially if the receiver and the Denver Broncos aren't able to reach an agreement on a contract extension.
"One name that continues to pop up is Denver’s Courtland Sutton. Obviously, the Broncos have to be receptive to that idea, but Sutton wants a new contract, and if that deteriorates into trade talks, the Steelers will be aggressive. A league source expressed that Sutton and the Broncos are not all that close on a new deal right now."
That last note that the Broncos and Sutton aren't close to a new contract right now is important but also still leaves a big catch for Pittsburgh. Banking on having the opportunity to trade for Sutton is banking on negotiations with his current team failing. That's not to say that the Steelers don't have a backup plan or several in mind but, if they are this interested in Sutton, it does feel like it doesn't have the strongest foundation for the potential to make this move.
Things can change and a deal between Denver and Sutton isn't guaranteed, but it's also definitely a sign that the Steelers should continue to keep their options open.
T.J. Watt contract extension could move quickly amid EDGE market
Keeping T.J. Watt around is about as easy of a call as a general manager will ever have to make. There should be no hesitation from Omar Khan and the Steelers front office to give the perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate the money to be one of the top-paid edge rushers in the sport. At the same time, though, the team always has to make sure it's the right deal, even if it's a player of Watt's caliber.
Having said that, it seems as if the right deal might be the quickest deal in this instance with how the edge rusher market could materialize this offseason. Nick Farabaugh of Penn Live ($) reported that the Steelers and Watt could reach an extension perhaps sooner than expected, both freeing up Pittsburgh's cap room this season but also beating the rest of the market featuring two other current greats at the position that could ostensibly raise Watt's price tag, Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons.
"A T.J. Watt extension might be done sooner rather than later. It would open up even more cap space, and the Steelers have an urgency to get ahead of the incoming Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons extensions."
When it comes to negotiations, there are so many pieces on the chess board and there is always value in being early when it comes to comparing the deal your player is signing to what his peers could or will sign. The Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins learned this lesson the hard way as the price tags for Dak Prescott and Tua Tagovailoa continued to rise as other quarterbacks signed new deals, and the Steelers are surely aware of that with Watt.
Again, the motivation on Pittsburgh's part shouldn't be in question here. However, the situation with Garrett and Parsons potentially signing new deals as well should add some sense of urgency to the Steelers front office to get the Watt extension done in short order.
Steelers projected to draft QB Shedeur Sanders in surprise post-Combine buzz
Will it be Russell Wilson or Justin Fields returning? Could the Steelers find themselves in the market for Sam Darnold, Kirk Cousins or even — gulp — Aaron Rodgers? And would Pittsburgh also be inclined to draft Day 2 prospects like Jaxson Dart or Jalen Milroe in the second or third round? These are all considerations as the organization faces deep uncertainty at the quarterback position this offseason.
There might, however, be a true sleeper option out there that is starting to gain a little bit of buzz coming out of the NFL Combine: Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Some of the buzz out of the Combine was that Sanders might not be the surefire Top 5 or 6 pick that many have projected him to be to this point. That doesn't have much to do with anything other than his play too as he doesn't have an elite arm and held onto the ball too long in college. So there's a chance he slips and is still available when the Steelers come on the clock with the 21st pick. And Dane Brugler of The Athletic ($) projects that Pittsburgh would end his slide if that happens in his post-Combine NFL Mock Draft:
"Sanders is going to be a wild card in this draft. He could go in the top six or fall out of the first round entirely — and neither outcome would be a shock.
"He is not a first-round quarterback for a lot of NFL teams, which isn’t a major surprise (and matches my evaluation). But all it takes is one front office to roll the dice on his skill set. If Sanders falls out of the top 10, this would be an interesting landing spot. The Steelers are searching for answers at the QB position."
While the evaluations that he's not a first-round quarterback might scare some Steelers fans, I'm higher on Sanders than it appears most are. He has a high football IQ and a great feel for the game. Furthermore, some of his flaws appear to me to be a construct of Colorado's offense and Sanders simply trying to either deal with that or make plays in spite of that. Those are things and habits that can be coached up.
It's not a guarantee that Sanders is going to fall. There are a lot of mines for the Steelers to avoid for that to happen picking behind the Browns, Giants, Raiders, Jets and several others. But if that slide does happen, then the Steelers would likely run the card with Shedeur Sanders' name on it up to the podium in Green Bay come late April.