The Steelers’ roster has changed quite a bit this offseason—in some areas, at least. In others, not so much, and possibly in concerning ways. Now, they did nothing at outside linebacker, for example, but they also didn’t need to. Elsewhere, they really changed up the secondary, and for the better. But for Ray Fittipaldo, that wasn’t the biggest upgrade.
“It’s got to be receiver”, he said on 93.7 The Fan, weighing where the Steelers’ roster is most improved. “I think the receiving corps with Bernard and of course the acquisition of Michael Pittman Jr., that group on paper is much better than they were last season”.
The Steelers clearly noticed the dearth of talent at wide receiver from last year’s roster. Whether they intended to all along or not, they ended up trading George Pickens after drafting no replacement receiver. This year, they traded for a starter and then traded up in the second round for another receiver.
With more help around him on the roster, the Steelers should also get more out of DK Metcalf this year. All things considered, it’s an unsurprising pick, though the secondary would also be a valid option. Yet even Fittipaldo suggested they could eventually try to add to the group late in the offseason.
Not that there aren’t also areas of concern on the Steelers’ roster. And while they didn’t touch the outside linebackers for good reason, that may be less true in between them. They didn’t get enough out of the group in the middle, and this year it’s more of the same.
“The position group I’m most concerned about” on the Steelers’ roster, Fittipaldo said, is inside linebacker. He noted that they showed significant interest in the pre-draft process, but they ended up not taking one. While pre-draft math is far from foolproof, it was the most glaring omission on their board.
“I think they wanted to upgrade at inside linebacker. They brought in a ton of guys in the pre-draft process. They just didn’t draft one”, Fittipaldo said. “I think just by not doing anything at inside linebacker, they’re probably weakest there. I still think they’re okay there. Maybe Patrick Queen will get a little bit better. Maybe Payton Wilson gets a little bit better”.
Wilson is going into just his third season, so perhaps there’s yet untapped potential. Queen is more or less who he is by now, and many believe he won’t be on the Steelers’ roster by next season. And it’s not so much that neither player is good, in truth. The biggest issue may be that Queen and Wilson, as a pair, don’t work as well together. They may be too similar, lacking complementary qualities that constitute a whole.
Regardless, Fittipaldo predicts a major shift in this part of the Steelers’ roster next offseason, though he has repeatedly incorrectly stated that Cole Holcomb is a free agent in 2027. He re-signed this offseason on a two-year contract, so won’t be a free agent until 2028. Now that he signed such a deal that Pittsburgh couldn’t get out of it they wanted to, of course.
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