The Steel Curtain Has Fallen.
The Pittsburgh Steelers just signed off on being worse than mediocre for the next decade.
The first word that comes to mind across the board for Pittsburgh’s personnel and front office is ineptitude. It appears Mike Tomlin shows up to work so he won’t get fined as the team’s Head Coach. His appointed play caller Arthur Smith salivates at the idea of underutilizing his receivers and pounding the rock with the team's secondary backs. When looking at the Steelers roster there is a hole at damn near every single position. It’s just unreal at this point. They have a singular wide receiver, no significant pieces across the offensive line, and an alright running back room on the offensive side of the ball. On the defensive side of the ball there are glaring red flags. It really started when the team traded for Jalen Ramsey. Who the hell thought of this trade?! Are you serious?! I mean the Miami Dolphins were almost certainly going to CUT Ramsey. So Pittsburgh traded away the heartbeat of the backend of their defense, Minkah Fitzpatrick, for a physical boundary corner. One who has dealt with significant injuries and is in his thirties alongside Jonnu Smith. Don’t even get me started on Jonnu Smith.
Arthur Smith’s obsession with Jonnu Smith needs to be studied. He must love how Jonnu practices or something for crying out loud. Jonnu being a key piece in a trade that sees one of the best safeties in the entirety of the NFL leave your building is a fireable offense for anyone involved in that decision. Jonnu Smith has played eight seasons in the NFL. In those eight seasons he has eclipsed 500 yards twice. These past two NFL seasons. What was the common denominator in these two seasons? Both years the team he played for wasn’t even within an earshot of the playoffs. Empty production. Looks good for a fantasy manager, but is useless when evaluating a player’s skill. Jonnu probably had the flukiest single season a tight end has ever had in 2024. He had a career high in yardage that surpassed his 2023 career high by 300 yards! Most of his yards came in the last half of the season. The only franchise stupid enough to inflate his value before trading for Smith is indeed the Steelers. Now let’s move to the Steelers receiving room.
Whomever is calling the shots on the Steelers moves should be federally indicted. Waiting to make sure George Pickens value plummets to the lowest possible point before trading him. A third round pick for a guy who has excelled as a player you took in THE SECOND ROUND. He’s easily worth the headcase he brings with him. What reason has the franchise given Pickens not to be a headcase? There isn’t a bigger kick in the balls a franchise could give to a wide receiver than a combination of Mason Rudolph, Mitchell Trubisky, Russell Wilson, and Justin Fields at quarterback. I personally cannot wait to see how Metcalf reacts to being in the gulag. The Steelers signed a wide receiver who notoriously struggles at getting separation, plays way smaller than his frame, and whose success solely has come with formidable sidekicks. Now Metcalf has Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson next to him. At this point I’m considering suiting up to give Metcalf some help so he can maintain his sanity. Legitimately the only positives for the Steelers offseason are Aaron Rodgers mentoring Will Howard and maybe Kaleb Johnson surpassing expectations. Now that we moved past the offensive side, let’s talk about the future.
What’s Pittsburgh’s future? There is no shot in hell that anyone is planning for five years down the road in this organization, forget about ten years. Pittsburgh is in limbo. They won’t be able to compete with Burrow or Lamar for the next 5 years easily. No identity. No plan. No money once the deals that must be made go through. What will happen? Better yet who the hell is playing safety for the Steelers? Is Miles Killebrew getting bumped up from special teams? I could solemnly guarantee the reader of this article that Pittsburgh’s front office would answer these questions like a politician. There are no answers. The franchise is faced with doom and demise. A far cry from the punishing powerhouse that instilled fear into the league in the 2000s and early 2010s. Just look no further than the allocation of the Steelers Payroll.
DK Metcalf commands the most money longterm. TJ Watt is awaiting a historically large deal that you have to pay for. Even with his injuries he’s just earned it quite easily. Then you are paying Patrick Queen and Alex Highsmith a good chunk of money. Both are good deals, but where is the team looking for a quarterback? It seriously may be just Will Howard, which would be one of the all time tales if Aaron Rodgers mentored him to be something. No hate for Will Howard, but throwing him into the fire, which is the Steelers organization, would be brutal for an aspiring young quarterback. With a gaping hole at quarterback and money that is set to be spent on places outside of quarterback, Will Howard might be next up after 2025. It doesn’t matter who the QB is.
Can Roman Wilson even play WR3? What’s the gameplan along the offensive line? Selecting a platoon of draft busts over the next 7 years? I don’t even care about the Steelers, but how are you doing this to one of the most loyal fanbases in the league? It seems like a painfully slow, yet imminent death of Mike Tomlin’s career right in front of our eyes. Kaleb Johson needs to be something otherworldly at this juncture. The Steelers need to revamp sooner rather than later in the front office because they can’t afford to whiff on picks any longer. The Steelers have taken or signed: Kenny Pickett in the first round, offensive line busts, and the slowest possible playmakers. This has setback the franchise for too long. Najee Harris and Chase Claypool🥀. The place where promising careers die in the blink of an eye. A grossly mismanaged ordeal. This is what has become of one of the most storied franchises in sports history.
