Steelers Now
As the Pittsburgh Steelers turn the page to the 2025 season, in many ways, the franchise is at a crossroads.
The rebuild of the offense in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era continues to underwhelm, with a significant draft investment yet to become an improved offensive line and an attempt shortcut the quarterback development process by adding veteran Russell Wilson falling flat in 2024.
Even worse, the team’s defense took a step backward in 2024, despite increased investment in the form of veteran additions like Patrick Queen, DeShon Elliott, Donte Jackson and Cam Sutton.
Whether the Steelers will be able to get their offense back to a championship level before a defense with a core of Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick and T.J. Watt ages out of effectiveness is in true jeopardy, and that has the calls for Mike Tomlin’s job louder than at any point in his 18-year career.
So where do the Steelers go from here?
Most of the attention so far has come on the coaching staff. Tomlin will be back. There have been no announcements, but also no movement, for the rest of the staff. One way or the other, the coaching situation should be resolved soon.
But what about on the player side of things? Two dozen Steelers players are set to hit free agency, and the team will start its draft prep in earnest later this week at the East-West Shrine Bowl. The Senior Bowl follows next week.
Let’s take a look at the Steelers needs as they enter the 2025 offseason.
These are the places on the roster where the Steelers absolutely need someone right away, and while there have been instances where they’ve filled such needs with a first-round draft pick, free agency is the much safer bet to fill these holes in the starting lineup.
Under contract: Skylar Thompson
Free agents: Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Kyle Allen
We’ve covered 28 different external options already, but it remains overwhelmingly likely that either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields will be back as the Steelers’ starting quarterback in 2025.
The questions to be answered include which one, and how much. Fields ought to be the cheaper of the two options, but what kind of commitment will the younger player be looking for. Wilson says he wants to play for several years to come, but after a rough finish to the 2024 season, might he be willing to take a prove-it type deal over one more big pay day to stay in a place he likes?
There’s a lot of moving parts and intrigue, but at the end of the day, the good news is that it seems likely the Steelers will emerge with one of their two incumbent quarterbacks in the starting lineup in 2025.
The bad news? Neither of them were particularly good in 2024, and the better of them will be turning 37 years old next season. But without much in the way of realistic external upgrades, this...
