The start of the legal tampering period and free agency has come and gone. While the NFL Draft awaits and there are still moves being made, most of the big-name talent has signed, and the excitement and buzz of free agency has died down. Though there’s plenty of offseason to go, what the Pittsburgh Steelers have done so far has impressed ESPN’s Nick Solak. In a ranking of each team’s offseason hauls up to this point, he put the Steelers at No. 1.
The rankings were determined by five factors, Solak wrote, to avoid ranking the teams with the most money and biggest signings at the top.
“These rankings are highly contextual. Any list of “the most improved teams in free agency” would start with the likes of the Raiders and Titans … who incidentally were the teams that had the most money to spend.”
The five factors that went into determining the rankings were the value each team got for the money they spent, roster flexibility ahead of the draft, contract details that provide teams leverage, how teams were able to manipulate the comp pick formula and what teams could have done but didn’t do.
Solak’s favorite move was the Steelers’ acquisition of WR Michael Pittman Jr. for a late-round pick swap that saw the team move down just 16 spots. Pittman fills Pittsburgh’s WR2 void and the Steelers got him for an extremely low cost. The team did extend him immediately, which Solak believes was an “unnecessarily early commitment,” but called the trade to acquire him “great business.”
As far as the rest of the team’s offseason, Solak had praise for multiple moves, calling the team’s free agency haul “double’s all-around.”
“Dowdle has consistently proved he can moonlight as an RB1 if needed, and he has receiving chops in a committee. Dean is coming off a career year, but the Steelers didn’t pay him like he’s a CB1, so they might get a nice bargain there. Joseph-Day is a perennially valuable rotational defensive tackle, and Samuel looked healthy in the limited time he played last season. Brisker is a low-risk gamble on another health question mark in a secondary that needs depth to maximize Jalen Ramsey’s versatility. Great work this year.”
Looking at the factors that went into assessing who had the best offseason and had the most improved roster, it makes sense that the Steelers landed at No. 1. While the comp pick game didn’t go in their favor, the Steelers spent but didn’t run up against the cap or overspend. I think it’s fair to be hopeful that the team got a bargain on cheap one-year deals for Asante Samuel Jr. and Jaquan Brisker. Rico Dowdle came in cheaper than Kenneth Gainwell, while Jamel Dean’s market didn’t seem to materialize the same as some other free corners who got paid much more despite worse career production.
Add in a veteran like Joseph-Day on top of that to help stabilize the defensive line and consider the flexibility the Steelers gave themselves ahead of the draft. Instead of being forced into taking a position need of early, the Steelers can go best player available and bolster their roster.
It may not have been a very flashy offseason haul for the Steelers, but it was a good one, and Solak is much more bullish on the Steelers right now than he was at this point last year.
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