The Pittsburgh Steelers have a clear strategy and purpose for 2026 and beyond, but plans to compete in 2025 seem to be at best half-baked. Looking at the free agency, drafts and deals made, it is difficult to identify that the Steelers have clearly improved too many positions. With the disastrous end of the 2024 season and the difficult schedule of 2025, it could spell out big trouble.
According to Kristopher Knox from Bleacher Reportthe Steelers offseason only teams that have worse offseason than them won the “D” grade.
“The Steelers have never had a losing season under manager Mike Tomlin. It’s unlikely that it will change in 2025, but I don’t feel Pittsburgh is poised to be a Super Bowl contender either,” Knox wrote. “If Rodgers agrees to start the Steelers in 2025, that’s not ideal. He may remain in the tank more than the Jets last season, but he’s not a long-term answer yet in his most important position in the game.
With Rogers, the Steelers bet on the best of some bad options. If Justin Fields could no longer be held, it became clear that Rodgers was his only hope for a semi-competitive option for the 2025 season. With the aging core of veteran defenders, punting in 2026 was not an option. It’s never for the Steelers and their organizational philosophy.
To form the overall “D” grade, Knox gave them a “F” for deals with free agents and a “C” of the draft.
Omar Khan acknowledged that the compensation pick system had a significant impact on the team’s free agency decision to maximize draft capital in 2026. So their biggest splash signature was 34-year-old CB Darius Srey, who was cut from his previous team, so it won’t count towards the comp-pic system. The Steelers had absolutely flashy signing cash, but would have offset Dan Moore Jr.’s loss and snatched up the third round of pick next year.
It’s hard to knock too much on a team to put together a cohesive strategy to get a franchise quarterback in the draft, but that’s still far from guaranteed. And we don’t deny that the Post-Ben Roethlisberger era is a complete disaster with multiple, great career primes that have been mediocre wasted.
George Pickens’ trade was just the latest example of the Steelers, spanning the line between wanting to be competitive in 2025 and loading it into the 2026 draft pick. Why are you trying to sign Rogers when you’re not doing everything you can to maximize your talent in 2025? There are many who like Mason Rudolph or Wil Howard to get the chance in 2025.
To really improve in 2025, the Steelers need Aaron Rodgers to bounce back better than ever in New York. They also need an offensive line investment to be rewarded in the end, and some pretty important newcomers contributions from Derrick Harmon and Caleb Johnson. It’s not impossible, but it relies on a lot to go right.
For an organization that is constantly trying to compete in the current season, this is, as far as I can remember, almost a year’s punt.
