Steelers Expected to Pick Up Vance McDonald's 2020 Option

PITTSBURGH -- In an offseason many believed would be Vance McDonald's last in Pittsburgh, the Steelers have released other plans for their veteran tight end. According to DKPittsburghSport's Dale Lolley, the team intends to pick up McDonald's $5.5 million option for the 2020 season. A $7.127 million cap hit for the Steelers.

Reported by Lolley, the Steelers have evaluated all other options in replacing the tight end and after consideration decided the best results would come with McDonald on the roster for the upcoming season.

The belief McDonald would be cut comes from the salary cap concerns Pittsburgh holds. With the need to sign or tag Bud Dupree and roughly just $1.3 million in available cap space, the tight seemed like a logical option to clear up money.

McDonald's numbers dropped to 38 receptions for 273 yards and three touchdowns in 2019. Working with three different quarterbacks throughout the season, it's hard to say the blame falls solely on McDonald for his lack of success in a struggling offense.

"I think I took some steps backwards unfortunately as a player," McDonald told Steelers.com. "I don’t even need a coach to give me criticism because I have too much of it already. I think of it as having almost that edge in 2018, being known for having that play with the stiff arm, the run after whenever I would have a reception. I didn’t have as many of those. It makes me want to attack this offseason and next season that much harder.

"I think offensively it was a much different team. It forced players to take a hard look at where we are, our personnel, the ever-changing lineup because of injuries and so forth. They can all be excuses, but at the same time they all present specific things we have to overcome and adjust to. It took some adjusting... I think overall there was a stretch where we had a lot of success as a team. For me looking back and analyzing it all, I wish I would have done more.”

Outside of McDonald, the only other tight end on the current roster is second-year end Zach Gentry. Despite praise from general manager Kevin Colbert, the team isn't looking for their only tight end to be coming off 49 snaps in an entire season.

The team will also need to decide on whether or not they'll try to resign Nick Vannett this offseason. Vannett came to Pittsburgh in Week 3 after being traded from Seattle. Vannett only logged 13 receptions for 128 yards with the Steelers.

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