Over the past month and a half, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been busy putting together one of the NFL’s most successful offseasons.
They completely overhauled their quarterback room. They added an All-Pro at inside linebacker.
Then the Steelers put together a draft that has received a ton of praise from analysts.
The Steelers still might not be done trying to build a contender.
On April 29, former Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden reported that the team is close landing a “significant playmaker.”
Remaining Steelers Needs
Even with all of the success they’ve had this offseason, there are still a couple of positions that seem like obvious candidates to get further additions.
The first is cornerback. The Steelers haven’t made it clear how they plan to use Donte Jackson next season after trading for him during the offseason.
The team had needs at both outside corner and slot corner before the deal. Jackson should take on one of those roles, but the other will either require them to add another player or they’ll need to hope somebody on their roster has made major improvements.
It seems that won’t be the position they’re going after here, though. After McFadden’s tweet, Steelers Nation posted a tweet stating that the player McFadden is talking about isn’t a corner.
The next position where they could be looking to make a move is wide receiver. The Steelers definitely improved there in the draft, taking Roman Wilson in the third round, but they could still want more with just Calvin Austin, Quez Watkins, and Van Jefferson behind Wilson and George Pickens.
The other position that it could be is safety. It’s not necessarily a need after they signed DeShon Elliott this offseason.
However, there is no position where you’ll find more “significant playmakers” in free agency right now than safety. The free agent class at the position was loaded with talent at the start of free agency and there are still some big names out there.
Playmakers They Could be After
The list of playmakers the Steelers could be trying to land right now has some interesting names on it.
If they are trying to land a free agent wide receiver, Tyler Boyd is a name that stands out. He was dependable for the Bengals throughout the first eight years of his career and has ties to the area.
If they are looking to make a trade for a bigger name, Courtland Sutton is the one that stands out. They reached out about him during the draft and the Broncos could be interested in trading him after drafting Troy Franklin.
Brandon Aiyuk is a name that got thrown around a lot before the draft, but it seems like he is going to be staying in San Francisco despite the crowded wide receiver room for the 49ers.
There is also one big star out there in free agency the Steelers could go after.
It was a big surprise when the Broncos let go of safety Justin Simmons. He was an All-Pro in 2023 after making 70 tackles and intercepting 3 passes.
It’s an even bigger surprise that he’s still available.
“Significant playmaker” sounds like a pretty accurate way to describe a player that has intercepted 30 passes over his eight-year career.
Any one of these players could further strengthen a Steelers roster that has already made major improvements this offseason.
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