The 2020 season ended in disaster for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they crashed out in the playoffs. After starting the season 11-0 everything looked great, but then things went south and the Steelers season ended with a loss to the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card Round. After a humbling defeat to a divisional rival, the Steelers entered the 2021 off-season with some questions needing to be answered. The Steelers are facing serious salary cap issues and they are going to need to get creative if they want to field a competitive team in the 2021 season. Here are the Pittsburgh Steelers off-season questions that must be answered.
Pittsburgh Steelers Off-Season Questions That Must Be Answered
Ben Roethlisberger’s Contract
The Pittsburgh Steelers off-season questions begin with the quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger has been the Steeler’s starting quarterback since 2004. Since then he has led the Steelers to 16 seasons in a row without a losing record. Over that time he has had his contract restructured numerous times. With him now nearing retirement a lot of his bonus money is now due and he will carry a huge cap hit for the 2021 season.
If Roethlisberger suits up, and many think he will, he will be in line to earn a whopping $41.25 million and that would mean one player would account for far too much of the salary cap. In fact, it would be just under a quarter of the Steelers total cap space. Despite the fact he is a Pittsburgh legend, that is a huge amount of money for a soon to be a 39-year-old quarterback. Through the 2020 season, Big Ben had moments that showed he is still more than capable of leading this team, but he also had moments where he was not.
The playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns seemed to show both sides of Roethlisberger. He couldn’t get the offense going at all and found himself in a 28-0 hole by the end of the first quarter. Then in the third quarter, he started to look like classic Big Ben again.
Now the Steelers face a difficult decision. If the Steelers decide to cut number seven (he would likely retire instead of being cut) before the third day of the 2021 season that would cost them $21 million, which would give them an extra $19 million to work with. This could be vitally important as they currently find themselves about $30 million over the projected cap figure. But, in that scenario they would need to find a new quarterback. Pittsburgh already has Mason Rudolph and have recently brought in Dwayne Haskins, neither of those quarterbacks have proven they are capable of being a starter in the league.
Pittsburgh does not have a high enough draft pick to get one of the talented quarterbacks in the 2021 draft and would have to rely on free agency. Luckily, there are a few quarterbacks available. But are any a better option than Ben Roethlisberger? The most likely and probably best option for the Steelers is to restructure Big Ben’s contract once again. They could push some of his money to the 2022 season, when the cap will be larger again, but that would mean adding another year to his contract.
Roethlisberger has come out and stated that he wants to come back for one more year and doesn’t care about the pay. Pittsburgh just needs to find a way to clear enough cap room to keep him and some other key pieces.
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Re-Sign Bud Dupree
The real strength of the Pittsburgh Steelers over the last few years has been their defense. They have a regular-season sack streak of 73 straight games. In the 2020 season, they managed 56 sacks, which tied their own record from the 2017 season. They have led the league in sacks every year for the last four and they have one of the best secondary’s in the league. Most of their defensive success can be attributed to their ability to rush the quarterback.
For the majority of the 2020 season, Pittsburgh had T.J. Watt coming from one side and Bud Dupree coming from the other. There was no better duo at getting to the quarterback and made Pittsburgh one of, if not the most, feared defenses to play against. Dupree has continually improved each year and was on course for a record year in 2020. Unfortunately, the dreaded ACL injury struck and brought his season to an early finish. With Dupree already playing on the franchise tag he was due to make some big money this off-season.
The ACL injury may hamper how much money he can make this off-season, which could help the Steelers. The Steelers would probably love to have their pass-rushing duo back for another year. If they can sort out Roethlisberger’s contract that could free up enough money to bring Dupree back on a one-year prove it type of deal. Bud Dupree would get the chance to team up with T.J Watt again and show what he can do and the Steeler’s would go back to having the most feared pass-rushing duo.
Improve the Offensive Line and Rushing Game
After the injuries on the defensive side of the ball to Bud Dupree and Devin Bush, the biggest problem for the Steelers was the offensive line and their lack of a running game. Pittsburgh has historically been a running team at heart with players like Jerome Bettis, Franco Harris, Le’Veon Bell and James Conner, Pittsburgh has, more often than not, always had a strong running game. But this has not been the case recently.
In 2020 the Steelers rushed the fifth fewest times for the least number of yards (1,351). That’s less than Derrick Henry and Dalvin Cook managed by themselves. They also managed to have the lowest yards per carry with 3.6 yards per rush on the season. They also fumbled the ball seven times on the season while rushing the ball. The 2021 NFL Draft will provide an opportunity for Pittsburgh to improve in this area.
As previously mentioned the Steelers don’t have much room in terms of the cap to bolster their squad but they do have seven picks in the draft. They also appear to be in line to gain an extra two compensatory picks. With those (potential) nine picks they should try to bolster the offensive line, find a running back, and potentially add a young quarterback.
Offensive Line
With plenty of offensive linemen in this year’s draft, the Steelers could wait and find a few gems later in the draft. But it would be difficult to turn down Alex Leatherwood from Alabama. The six-foot six-inch, 312-pound behemoth could help transform any NFL offensive line. Leatherwood played 832 snaps during the 2020 season and allowed just two sacks. He missed just three assignments and was flagged for only five penalties. With Alejandro Villanueva aging and not having his best season, Leatherwood could be the left tackle the Steelers need for the future. With Leatherwood and Kevin Dotson on the left side, Ben Roethlisberger should be able to operate in a clean pocket.
Running Back
Now, it may take a trade, but in some mock drafts Najee Harris goes to the Steelers in the second round. If the Steelers can add Harris they would be smart to do so, especially if it doesn’t require a trade. With a stronger offensive line and a dynamic powerful runner, the Steelers rush attack should improve. And with that, Roethlisberger will not need to force throwing the ball close to sixty times per game.
These Pittsburgh Steelers off-season questions must be answered if they want to maintain their streak of not having a losing season.
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