Full Steelers Offseason Recap: Khan's Plan

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Anthony DiCerbo. Follow him on Twitter @SnarfVenom

To say that it has been a busy offseason up to this point for the Pittsburgh Steelers might be selling it short. With a week remaining before the draft, now is the perfect time to go through and take note of everyone new, everyone who left, and those still stuck in limbo. 

Coaches 

It is relatively well known that the Steelers tend to keep a small coaching staff, which rings true going into this next season. Leaving the team this offseason were Brian Flores, Blaine Stewart, and John Mitchell. Flores was hired away to become the defensive coordinator for the Vikings, earning himself a well-deserved title upgrade. 

Blaine Stewert served as an assistant on the Steelers staff, helping with the receivers. He has since moved on to West Virginia where he now coaches their tight ends. 

Lastly, the Steelers lost the great John Mitchell this offseason, as he chose to retire after a long and successful coaching career. He had been with the Steelers since 1994 serving as a defensive line coach and assistant head coach. 

To replace those lost this offseason the Steelers added a couple of new faces, Aaron Curry, Jason Brooks, and Glenn Thomas. 

Brooks comes to the Steelers from Baltimore, and he will help on the defensive side of the ball as a quality control coach. Curry comes to the Steelers by way of Seattle where he both played and coached. He joined the Steelers to become the inside linebacker coach. 

Thomas is new to the offensive side of the ball, where he’ll serve as an assistant after most recently working as the offensive coordinator at Arizona State. 

New Players 

The Steelers quietly have had one of the better offseasons in the entire NFL, addressing many of their needs while at the same time remaining flexible in the draft and beyond. 

On offense, the Steelers haven’t been shy about addressing the offensive line. In the early stages of free agency, they added guard Nate Herbig to give them some more depth and competition.

They continued at guard, signing away Isaac Seumalo from the Eagles. Seumalo is coming off of a Super Bowl appearance with Philly and started every game for them along the way. He is likely going to join James Daniels as a starting guard. 

That wasn’t all, the Steelers also added La’Raven Clark to give some camp competition for the swing tackle spot. 

While most of the moves concerning the offense involved the trenches, the team recently made a splash by trading for receiver Allen Robinson. The former Ram was acquired by dropping a couple of spots in the 7th round. 

On defense, the Steelers have been even more active in adding new faces to the team. After virtually clearing out the linebacker room the team added Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts to take over the top two spots. They continued to fill out the position with the addition of Tanner Muse, who will likely serve a key role on special teams. 

In the secondary, the team made an unexpected signing with Patrick Peterson coming over from Minnesota. The move, while unexpected, is certainly a welcome one. Also in the secondary, the team signed safety Keanu Neal away from the Buccaneers. 

The Steelers continued to address the defense with the line, adding in Breiden Fehoko and Armon Watts to give some much-needed reinforcements to a position that seemingly lacked options outside of the top three guys. 

Lastly, it is important to remember the specialists! The team added punter Braden Mann on waivers from the Jets as some competition for Pressley Harvin. 

Offseason Departures 

While some of the signings are pure upgrades, a lot of the above signings helped to fill holes left by players who left in search of greener pastures. Perhaps the biggest names come from the secondary, as both Cam Sutton and Terrell Edmunds chose to move on, signing with the Lions and Eagles respectively. 

Also as previously mentioned, the team cleared out the ILB room, meaning that Myles Jack, Devin Bush, and Robert Spillane are gone, with Jack still in free agency, Bush with the Seahawks, and Spillane with the Raiders. 

Outside linebacker Malik Reed left and signed with the Dolphins, but I imagine that there aren’t too many upset at his departure outside of those concerned at the glaring lack of edge depth that it leaves.

The other notable losses from this offseason were role players. Most notably returner and occasional slot receiver Steven Sims signed with the Texans, and backup center J.C. Hassenauer signed with the Giants. 

Resigned and Ready 

While many of the biggest Steelers offseason moves came from signing new players they still brought back several familiar faces for next season. 

Leading this group is Larry Ogunjobi. After originally signing a prove-it deal after his contract with the Bears fell through, Ogunjobi is back and making more money with the Steelers. The veteran played well last season and should maintain that level in Pittsburgh for the next few seasons. 

After losing their fair share of defensive backs, the team made an effort to re-sign Damonte Kazee and James Pierre. Both guys are solid role players, and Kazee in particular should see a bump in snaps after playing well after getting healthy. 

Perhaps the most beloved friendship on the team will continue with the resigning of Zach Gentry. On the field, keeping Gentry will allow the Steelers to have one of the league's better tight end rooms with Muth, Gentry, and Heyward.

Stuck in Limbo 

That really only leaves one group of players. They’re free agents but have garnered next to no buzz on the market. Seeing some of these players return is more likely than others, but familiarity and comfort with players and teams is a real feeling. The team saw it last year with Terrell Edmunds, and for a while, it looked like the same thing might happen with him again. 

Some of these names include Derek Watt, Miles Boykin, and Chris Wormley. I could see all three of these guys signing cheap deals to return. Watt and Boykin especially as they both served key roles on special teams. 

Less likely are guys like Benny Snell and Jamir Jones as the team might be looking in other directions for their replacements, but an injury might get them a phone call. 

Lastly, I’ll mention Mason Rudolph. Currently, the team doesn’t have a number three quarterback on the roster, and the familiarity is there. I imagine the Steelers wouldn’t mind bringing Rudolph back for that job, but I also have to imagine he’d rather be literally anywhere else, and who can really blame him? 

I think Rudolph is capable of being a solid number-two quarterback in this league, but so far no one has come calling. While it seems like the Steelers are looking towards the draft, but if they happen to miss and offer Rudolph a paycheck…

I’m certainly not saying it is anywhere near likely because it really isn’t. Right now I’m just pointing out that it is technically possible, which is the bottom line for most guys who are stuck in limbo. 

Conclusion 

That brings us to the end of this off-season recap. Looking back it has certainly been a busy time for Omar Khan and company. 

With the offseason flying by, and the draft next week, before we know it it’ll be time for Latrobe and pre-season games will be starting. When the Steelers finally hit the field next season look for some of these new additions to make their mark in the black and gold.