The Pittsburgh Steelers have a good—and complicated—problem on their hands. After hitting big on their 2023 draft class, the organization is now staring down a crowded extension window where not everyone can get paid at once. Mark Kaboly reports that the Steelers know it isn’t realistic to get that many deals done this offseason. So who gets prioritized — and who might be left out? Keeanu Benton may be tough to justify making a priority among more important names.
“To me, Benton seems like the odd man out – or at least not a top priority of getting an extension done before the season, even if Cam Heyward is set to be 37 in a month,” Kaboly wrote on X. “The addition of Sebastian Joseph-Day and Derrick Harmon, as well as Yahya Black, might put Benton on the back burner…They could lose him if a deal isn’t done before their deadline, but they probably don’t have much of a choice. Unless you wait and transition tag him next year?”
Pittsburgh has been very intentional during the Omar Khan-Andy Weidl era of building through the trenches on both sides of the ball. Losing a young defensive line piece would come as a bit of a surprise, but Benton’s play has been uneven through three years.
In 40 starts, Benton has 123 total tackles, nine TFL, 28 QB hits, 5.5 sacks, nine passes defensed, one INT and three forced fumbles. The 2025 season saw a notable increase in production. Is that a sign of things to come with an upward-pointing trajectory? If the Steelers think the answer is yes, they can’t let him walk next offseason.
Sebastian Joseph-Day was a nice veteran signing, but he’s already 31 years old. His addition is very unlikely to have any influence on what they do with Benton. Derrick Harmon and Yahya Black are more relevant, but you need more than two young defensive linemen to fill out the room.
Their actions during the 2026 NFL Draft in a couple weeks should speak volumes about their intentions with Benton. If they draft an interior player in the first three or four picks, the odds of moving on from Benton go up.
The X factor in this entire situation is how the new coaching staff views each player. It was obvious that Karl Dunbar and Mike Tomlin valued Benton, but will Domata Peko, Patrick Graham, and Mike McCarthy?
I agree that not every 2023 draft pick will receive an extension this offseason. Between Broderick Jones, Joey Porter Jr., Benton, Nick Herbig, Darnell Washington, and even Spencer Anderson, there’s too many mouths to feed. And there’s also Chris Boswell and Patrick Queen to worry about. But Kaboly already stated his “concern” that Washington may not receive an extension, and he sounds less than certain about Herbig too. I can just about guarantee you that the Steelers won’t let all three walk.
This is an organization that wants to build through the draft. Letting most of the first successful draft class in years walk is not an effective way to do that, even with multiple third-round comp picks likely in play for 2028.
The Steelers don’t have to pay everyone, but they can’t afford to get too many of these decisions wrong.
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