Steelers Built ‘Their Team’ This Season
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a position to make a leap up the standings. The blossoming young nucleus has meshed with a veteran core to create a club that stands in striking contrast to the current conventional wisdom about roster building.
The lead-up to the 2023-24 NFL season has been dominated by young quarterbacks and star receivers signing record-setting contracts while running backs become an afterthought in the face of a more pass-heavy league. Those two phenomena have been created by the same force, according to Steelers general manager Omar Kahn.
“You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure it out, but when quarterback salaries are increasing at the rate they’re increasing, it’s going to have a residual effect somewhere on the roster," he said at the first day of training camp.
Running backs around the NFL, particularly the elite ones, have been demanding better, longer and more valuable contracts that teams are not willing to meet as they look to win with the pass. But by drafting Najee Harris in the first round two years ago, the Steelers have insulated themselves from that problem, and laid the groundwork of the 2023 roster.
Youth has also helped them avoid having to make major investments in their offense as a whole. Wide receiver Diontae Johnson is the only Steeler offensive player that will account for a cap hit greater than $15 million, while George Pickens, Kenny Pickett, Najee Harris, Pat Friermuth all play on rookie deals. What little spending they have done came in the trenches, with offensive linemen Issac Seumalo, Chukwuma Okorafor, James Daniels and Mason Cole making up four of the top 15 highest-paid players on the roster and four of the top six earners on the offense.
The Steelers got bigger and badder up front this offseason, a reflection of their committment to winning in an old fashioned way. While the rest of the league is financing finnesse and shedding star running backs in favor of building prolific passing attacks, Pittsburgh is still a believer in brute force.
“We want to be big. We want to be physical. We want to be tough. We want to be able to impose our will on teams. That’s the Pittsburgh Steelers, right?” Assistant general manager Andy Weidl said following the 2023 Draft, during which the Steelers traded up for a first-round offensive lineman.
“You go break the other team’s sword in the second half of a game," Weidl added. "To be able to win on the road. That’s what we’re building. That’s what we have here. That’s what they’ve been in the past, and we want to continue that identity. So, that works in this business."
As the Steelers ripped off seven wins in nine weeks to revive desolate playoff hopes, they found a narrow winning formula - the elite defense set the stage for a run-heavy offense behind an improving offensive line to win close games late. The additions made this offseason make that easier. Now the roster more closely reflects what Kahn, Art Rooney II and Mike Tomlin wanted as they built a plan for 2023.
"Coach, Art and myself, we got together and we put together a plan," Kahn said. "We had a vision of what the roster would look like and how we were going to play football games. I can say every single week brings a different challenge and every week, you’re going to have to win football games in a different way."
Kahn said he has confidence the Steelers could win by scoring 40 points or holding opponents under 20 and recent additions have given them versatility. But there are clear strengths in Pittsburgh's roster and they aren't the same as Kansas City's or Buffalo's or Cincinnati's.
Pittsburgh wants to be in the same conversation as those elite teams, but will get there by a different path.
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