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Steelers at Risk of Becoming AFC North Afterthought if They Remain Complacent in Free Agency

By Scott Rogust

The Steelers have remained very complacent in free agency.
The Steelers have remained very complacent in free agency. / Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

NFL free agency kicked off at the speed of a roadrunner on Monday, and it's continued into the start of the new league year on Wednesday. While teams like the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers have vastly improved, there was one team we barely heard anything from: the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Since Pittsburgh has been silent, they've seen the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens get even better on paper. As a result, the Steelers are at risk of becoming an afterthought in the AFC North, alongside the Cincinnati Bengals.

To start things off, yes, we're very aware that the Steelers had very limited cap space available this offseason. That's due to the bloated contract extension they gave Ben Roethlisberger that carries a cap hit of $33.5 million. To make things even more difficult, they placed the franchise tag on linebacker Bud Dupree, who will be paid $15.3 million in 2020.

Pittsburgh got some salary relief in the form of cutting linebacker Mark Barron and the retirement of offensive guard Ramon Foster. Yet, the only signings they made were fullback Derek Watt, long snapper Kameron Canaday, and backup offensive tackle Zach Banner. Way to make an impact, Steelers.

That's way different from what the Browns and Ravens did at the start of the week. The defending division champions made a massive trade to bring in stud defensive tackle Calais Campbell from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Shortly afterwards, the Ravens signed Michael Brockers to make their defensive line even nastier.

Then, the Browns secured the two biggest free agents in offensive tackle Jack Conklin and tight end Austin Hooper, both of whom will greatly benefit quarterback Baker Mayfield as he looks to return to the form we saw during his rookie campaign.

The worst thing an NFL franchise can do is be complacent, and that's exactly what the Steelers have done thus far. Yes, they're in cap hell, but they can't sit idly while their division rivals got even better.