The Pittsburgh Steelers had one of the most unusual and headline-drawing offseasons in the team’s history. Never have we seen both so much turnover and so many notable names join the team in one year. It kept us fans busy, to say the least.
Most of these moves made a lot of sense. Adding DK Metcalf [gave this team the long-coveted top dog](https://stillcurtain.com/brewing-pittsburgh-steelers-problem-behind-dk-metcalf-could-get-ugly-fast-01k3cac2x4z9) in the receiver room. The draft [focused on the defensive trenches](https://stillcurtain.com/pittsburgh-steelers-derrick-harmon-injury-creates-one-surprise-winner-logan-lee-01k38ptmpf4c), one of the strongest in the group of rookies and one of the weakest spots on the roster. Even signing Aaron Rodgers made sense once the quarterback options dried up.
Even the most unusual move on paper, trading Minkah Fitzpatrick away for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith, has come into some better light with the plan now clear. It seems like this team was trying to get what they could out of Fitzpatrick and added some versatile weapons to their offense and defense.
That leaves one move that I am still scratching my head over. While not the biggest move of the offseason, everyone should be asking why the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Malik Harrison.
Malik Harrison is the weirdest move of the Pittsburgh Steelers offseason
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Ever since the disaster that was Devin Bush, the Steelers have coveted depth at linebacker. The defense always wanted to be at least three deep at the position.
This led to the signing of Elandon Roberts a few seasons ago. A pleasant surprise, Roberts went on to serve as a vocal leader when on the field and a hammer as a run defender. He gave this defense a physicality it had been lacking for a long time.
Naturally, after getting out-muscled in the playoffs, this team wanted to keep that physical presence on defense. It seemed like Roberts was a favorite to return to the team on a short deal to retain that role.
That didn’t happen, and the Steelers instead turned to Harrison to fill that void. On paper, a younger player who can provide that run defense as well as play special teams makes sense as a depth linebacker. However, for five million dollars a season, that seemed steep.
It seems even worse when Roberts inked a deal for just three million dollars a season with the Raiders. While he isn’t the same force on special teams, he is leaps and bounds better on defense than Harrison is.
At the end of the day, signing Harrison isn’t going to make or break the Steelers' season. That said, this move really leaves me scratching my head. Of all the other options on the table, and especially considering the cost, signing Harrison has to be the weirdest move of the entire offseason.
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