Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 Offseason Checklist

An offseason full of big decisions looms as the Steelers playoff win drought reaches eight seasons

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 season came to an end on Saturday night in Baltimore, as the rival Ravens disposed of the Steelers, 28-14, the team’s sixth straight playoff defeat since a divisional round victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2016 season.

The focus in Western Pennsylvania now turns to the offseason, during which rarely a week or two go by without something newsworthy taking place. This article will look at some key decisions for the team as they work their way from locker cleanout day this week until they gather for training camp in Latrobe a little over six months from now.

External free agents and specific NFL Draft options are beyond the scope of this article, with the focus being on the coaching staff, current players who will be free agents, the future of the quarterback position, and potential extensions before the start of the regular season.

Coaching Changes - The first shoe to drop will be staff changes. That does not include head coach Mike Tomlin, who signed a contract extension after the 2023 season. I do believe it would be best for both parties to go their separate ways, similar to Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles after 14 seasons in 2012. Reid quickly latched on in Kansas City, and the Chiefs have been to the Super Bowl four times under his leadership, while two of the Eagles three head coaches post-Reid have been to the Super Bowl. Steelers owner Art Rooney II will likely see it differently, however, and I would be shocked if Tomlin does not return for his 19th season.

First-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has been requested for interviews with the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, but a team actually taking the plunge and hiring Smith given his 21-30 record as Atlanta Falcons head coach and the Steelers putrid offense for most of the 2024 season seems unlikely.

Teryl Austin is likely to return for a fourth season as defensive coordinator. Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show reported last week on 93.7 The Fan’s The Fan Morning Show that Austin signed a two-year contract last offseason, and the Steelers have infrequently relieved coordinators of their duties prior to their contracts expiring.

As far as position coaches, offensive line coach Pat Meyer has to be at risk after three seasons in Pittsburgh, as the Steelers again failed to produce a successful rushing attack

Contract Terminations - The Steelers have an unusually high number of players entering free agency, but they also have to make a few decisions on players under contract for 2025. The most urgent is DL Larry Ogunjobi, who is due a $3m roster bonus at the start of the league year in March, followed by a $4m base salary for the 2025 season. Ogunjobi had flashes of good play in 2024, but battled minor injuries (again), and is now on the wrong side of 30.

The dilemma the Steelers face is their lack of depth at defensive line. They do have five other defensive linemen under contract, but they are largely of backup quality only beyond Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton.

Another possible release is EDGE Preston Smith, acquired at the trade deadline from the Green Bay Packers for a seventh-round pick in April’s NFL Draft. Smith is a solid backup, but with T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig all returning at the position, there is no reason to pay Smith his $12m base salary, plus a small workout bonus and per-game roster bonus. He was inactive for the playoff loss to Baltimore. Because Smith’s cap charge is over $13m, it would be prudent to remove that contract from the books at the start of the league year to maintain maximum flexibility, even though no significant money is due until the start of the season.

The only other possible early releases would appear to be RB Cordarrelle Patterson and DL Dean Lowry. Neither are due major dollars in 2025 ($2.8m and $2.5m respectively), but it’s hard to see them having a role on the 2025 team. The Steelers may choose to just move on and give the two players a chance to latch on with another team, but keeping them on the roster into training camp is viable as well with the duo not tying up significant salary cap space.

Both Heyward and LB Patrick Queen have large roster bonuses due in March, but the Steelers will be paying those without blinking.

Now, let’s quickly discuss the elephant in the room - S Minkah Fitzpatrick. The former all-pro had a rough 2024 and has logged just one interception over the last two seasons while anchoring a secondary that has struggled. Fitzpatrick is under contract for two more seasons, meaning the Steelers would not clear a ton of cap space by parting ways, but Fitzpatrick is owed $15.5m in cash for the 2025 season. That’s a lot of money for a player at a non-premium position who isn’t producing splash plays.

I do not expect the team to move on from Fitzpatrick, but if they do, their 2025 dead money cap charge would be $13.7m with a trade or a standard release. If they designate him a post-June 1 release, he would remain on the Steelers books at his current $22.4m cap number through May, before having that reduced to $6.9m for the duration of the year after June 1. Another $6.9m of dead money would then have to be accounted for in 2026.

Quarterback - Barely a month ago, it seemed likely the Steelers would re-sign Russell Wilson to a large but manageable contract that would likely lock him in as the starter in Pittsburgh for 2025 and 2026. Then, the last five weeks happened. Wilson regressed during the team’s collapse from 10-3 to 10-8. After 13 seasons, it seems that Wilson’s slow but notable decline since the end of his time in Seattle has ended his days as a top-half quarterback in the NFL. A divorce after a cheap one-year fling seems likely.

As for Justin Fields, the fourth-year quarterback acquired from the Bears for a sixth-round pick last March went 4-2 as a starter before Wilson took over in Week 7, but he struggled in his final two starts against the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders. Fields is a much different quarterback than Wilson, but he hasn’t shown enough consistency to suggest he can lead a team to playoff victories. Despite his flaws, Fields may end up being the best option among the short list of free agent quarterbacks with a track record of starting experience, however, with Sam Darnold likely to return to the Minnesota Vikings.

The 2025 draft is a poor quarterback draft, and moving up for a player like Miami (FL)’s Cam Ward would cost an arm and a leg with the Steelers only holding the No. 21 pick. Fields on a prove-it deal and a Day 2 rookie quarterback may be the Steelers best approach for the 2025 campaign.

Internal Free Agents - The Steelers have more than 20 players on their active roster who will be free agents. The most likely to return are RB Jaylen Warren, who is a restricted free agent, and C Ryan McCollum, an exclusive rights free agent.

For Warren, the restricted free agent classification means that the Steelers can assign a draft pick value to Warren, which would be owed to Pittsburgh from any other team who signs Warren, and the Steelers opt not to match the contract. The tender for Warren would likely be of the second-round designation, which comes with an estimated 2025 salary of $5.217m, per Over The Cap. Warren could also then receive a new multi-year contract later in the offseason.

For McCollum, who started a pair of games in the middle of the season when Zach Frazier was injured and performed admirably, he can be brought back on a one-year minimum-salary contract worth $1.03m. That deal should get done with no issues, as McCollum has no leverage and cannot sign elsewhere if the Steelers do offer him that low-cost deal.

EDGE Jeremiah Moon is also an exclusive rights free agent who could return at the same $1.03m cost as McCollum. It’s definitely possible that the Steelers value Moon enough as a special teams player and No. 4 outside linebacker to quickly bring him back, but it seems less likely than McCollum.

Among unrestricted free agents, ILB Elandon Roberts proved to be a great signing in 2023, but he is 30 years old, and the Steelers have both Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson under contract for the next two seasons. If Roberts’ market is limited, he could return, but a re-signing prior to Roberts testing free agency seems unlikely.

Four-year starting left tackle Dan Moore Jr. had a strong start to the 2024 season, but, like Russell Wilson, struggled down the stretch, and exited the playoff loss to the Ravens with a leg injury. Having used a first-round pick on offensive tackles in both the 2023 and 2024 drafts, the Steelers will likely let Moore go to free agency after four seasons. A third or fourth-round compensatory pick in 2026 once seemed possible for the loss of Moore in free agency, but it may drop a round or two if Moore’s decline in play lowers his contract value.

Other potential returning players who are unrestricted free agents include WR Ben Skowronek and LB Tyler Matakevich, heavy contributors on special teams, and No. 3 QB Kyle Allen.

Summer Extensions - Arguably the Steelers best players on each side of the ball enter 2025 in the final years of their contracts. On defense, that would be 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt, who is due just over $21m in 2025 with a cap charge north of $30m. Watt had another very good season in 2024, but his 11.5 sacks were his lowest in a season that he avoided a serious injury since his rookie year in 2017. Signs of decline for the 30-year old Watt are minimal, but they do exist, as Watt failed to record a stat against the Ravens. Can the Steelers afford to give Watt another top-of-market contract, which would run north of $30m per year and could approach the $34m per year of San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa? Watt is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but the Steelers have yet to win a playoff game during his time in Pittsburgh due to so many deficiencies throughout the roster. As great as Watt has been, that money may be better used elsewhere.

On offense, WR George Pickens heads into the final season of his rookie contract. Pickens will likely be looking to jump into the top five of NFL wide receiver contracts, which would be in the $30m per year range. Pickens is an incredible talent, but after three full seasons, he remains an immature player. His dud of a performance in the regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals looms large, even when accounting for recency bias, but he did catch a touchdown on Saturday night to give the Steelers a glimmer of hope in the third quarter.

Is there a team willing to give up a first or second-round pick for Pickens? That seems unlikely. If Pickens plays out his contract and leaves via free agency after the 2025 season, the highest compensatory pick value the Steelers could receive would be a third-round pick in 2027, so a late Day 2 pick in 2025 would be worth considering. At this point, an extension comes with too much risk given the number of quality receivers the college game churns out on an annual basis.

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