Relative to expectations, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a magical season in 2022. Narrowly missing the playoffs should be attributed to Mike Tomlin's leadership, while shortcomings should be attributed to offseason mistakes.
Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan has led a successful 2023 offseason. As the regular season approaches, however, holes in the team's roster bring shadows of doubt on the team's prospects and many of them reflect poor long-term decision-making that predated Khan's takeover of the full duties of the general manager role.
The 2023 offseason included a strong draft class with additions of two presumed Day 1 starters in Broderick Jones and Joey Porter Jr., as well as the addition of tight end Darnell Washington in Round 3, who is likely to slot in as the Steelers' second tight end in 12-personnel packages this season.
The Steelers also made numerous additions through free agency and trades, including high-profile moves the likes of which Steelers fans have grown unaccustomed to. The team signed prominent free agents Isaac Seumalo and Patrick Paterson and completed a trade for Allen Robinson.
Last offseason was much less exciting. The Steelers made a number of decisions and omissions that not only ultimately impacted their 2022-2023 final outcome, but have also left lingering challenges for the team's front office to manage moving forward.
Steelers 2022 free agency mistake No. 3: Not signing another offensive lineman
While the Steelers' offensive line outplayed expectations in 2022, that isn't saying much. Expectations heading into the season were rightfully low and despite the outperformance, the Steelers found themselves expending resources in both free agency and the draft this offseason to address the offensive front.
The 2022 offensive line free agent class had many more top-tier options than this year's did. Of last year's group, the Steelers added offensive guard James Daniels, which was a prudent signing. However, more could have been accomplished in addition to that signing. The Dolphins were a good example of this success after signing Terron Armstead and Connor Williams last offseason, both of whom added significantly to what was previously a poor offensive line and the team's offense overall looked significantly improved.
Investing in the offensive line is always a good idea for teams that have made a significant investment in a young quarterback like the Steelers have with the development of Kenny Pickett. While Steelers fans remain confident in the decisions made by the front office this offseason, missed opportunities from last offseason may prove tough to compensate for.
Steelers 2022 free agency mistake No. 2: Signing Mitchell Trubisky
Frankly, the decision to sign Mitchell Trubisky is easy to disagree with given the benefit of hindsight. In the moment, the decision to sign Trubisky when the Steelers did — before the NFL Draft where they ultimately selected Kenny Pickett to be the quarterback of the future — was hard to argue. At that time, after Ben Roethlisberger retired, the quarterback room looked bleak.
However, in hindsight, signing Trubisky and giving him a rightful opportunity to start the season as the starting quarterback put the Steelers in a disadvantageous position toward the latter half of the season. Trubisky started the team's first four games and the Steelers went 1-3 during that stretch. Trubisky's play certainly didn't help, as he recorded just above 163 passing yards per game over that span. When he was benched for Kenny Pickett, the team's play improved considerably.
Besides the impact on the final season result for the Steelers last year, it's also hard to imagine anything Steelers fans have seen from Trubisky inspires much confidence in the team's outlook if Pickett were to suffer an injury this year. Despite that, Trubisky has the eighth-highest cap hit of any Steelers player for the 2023 season.
Multiple 2023 free-agent quarterbacks who signed with other teams for a backup role likely would be better options than Trubisky if called upon to start. If the Steelers hadn't committed to Trubisky last offseason, they could have added a better second option.
Steelers 2022 free agency mistake No. 1: Signing Myles Jack
The Steelers have completely revamped their inside linebacker core this offseason after letting Myles Jack and Devin Bush move on and signing Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts in free agency.
Last year's decision to take a chance on Myles Jack not only harmed the team due to his poor play but also potentially stunted the growth of the unit as a whole.
NFL team resources have implied scarcity in many ways. In the same way, the average American must allocate resources based on a budget constraint, NFL team's must attempt to maximize outcomes subject to a variety of constraints, namely roster size and cap space/player salary budget. NFL teams just typically have much larger budgets.
The Steelers signed Myles Jack to their second-largest offseason contract last year, as he inked a two-year, $16 million deal.
After the season, Jack was released after only playing through the first year of his contract. Cutting him freed cap space for the remainder of his contract, but also left the Steelers with $3.25 million of dead money.
While the problem was addressed somewhat, it remains unclear whether Roberts and Holcomb represent significant upgrades at the position or if they have the potential to be long-term answers at the position.
Meanwhile, almost every other inside linebacker signed either last offseason or in the current offseason signed contracts for less total money than the one Jack signed last year. Perhaps the Steelers could have signed someone else who may have filled this gap in the team's roster or at least saved the dead money the team shoulders in 2023.
For now, the severity of the mistake will likely be judged by how well Holcomb and Roberts fill their roles in what has been a position Pittsburgh has struggled to fill for multiple years.