Steelers' Top Players to Consider for Franchise Tag, RFA Contract Tenders
The Pittsburgh Steelers have two weeks to figure out if they want to use the franchise tag in the 2023 NFL offseason.
The window for its use opened on Tuesday, and the Steelers have a few realistic candidates to place the tag on before it closes on March 7.
The Pittsburgh defense could be the target of the franchise tag because of the players set to hit free agency. The team will most likely focus more on franchise-tag decisions over tendering restricted free agents since it only has three players eligible for the latter.
However, the Steelers must weigh if the decision is the right one given their current salary-cap situation.
Pittsburgh is right below the salary cap at the moment, per Spotrac, and a franchise-tag deal at a larger price point may hurt the team's offseason approach.
Cameron Sutton
1 of 3
Cameron Sutton makes the most sense as the Pittsburgh player to slap the franchise tag on.
The 27-year-old emerged as one of the Steelers' best defenders in the last year, and the franchise could choose to keep him on a one-year deal under the franchise tag instead of paying him more or losing him in free agency.
The franchise tag for cornerbacks is set at $18.2 million, per Over the Cap, so the Steelers need to weigh whether it will be worth placing on Sutton.
NFL.com ranked the Tennessee product as the No. 27 free agent in the NFL. He was the third cornerback on that list behind James Bradberry and Jamel Dean.
Sutton could command a large deal based on his position in the free-agent market, and that could outprice the Steelers against other teams with cornerback needs.
He led Pittsburgh in passes defended in 2022, and he recorded a career best of completed passes against. He allowed 47.9 percent of his targets to be caught, which was a steep decline from 66.7 percent in 2021.
Sutton's improved coverage ability makes him valuable to the Steelers, but it also makes him an intriguing fit elsewhere. He could be signed away for more money if he does not receive the franchise tag.
Terrell Edmunds
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The franchise-tag price for a safety is $4 million cheaper than the one assigned to cornerbacks.
That might turn into the difference between applying it to Terrell Edmunds over Sutton, if the Steelers choose to use it at all.
Edmunds, 26, put together five solid seasons for the Steelers, and the franchise may be willing to keep him around to partner Minkah Fitzpatrick.
An Edmunds-Fitzpatrick partnership in the defensive backfield may be even more important for the Steelers at the start of 2023 if they lose Sutton in free agency.
The clear argument against tagging Edmunds is the amount of money Pittsburgh would be dedicating to the safety position.
Fitzpatrick is scheduled to make $18 million in 2023, and it may be hard to justify paying Edmunds $14 million on the franchise tag when that amount of money could be spent elsewhere to fill multiple holes on the roster.
Robert Spillane
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The Steelers lack a ton of quality franchise-tag candidates and restricted free agents.
Robert Spillane is the most meaningful player to the defense who could leave outside of Sutton and Edmunds.
The 27-year-old is coming off a career-best 79 tackles over 16 games in 2022. He had 56 tackles the year before.
Keeping Spillane on the roster would provide a big boost for the Steelers at linebacker, but he isn't worth the franchise-tag price of $20.9 million.
Pittsburgh will pay Fitzpatrick, Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt a combined $69.6 million next season.
There is no way the Steelers can justify that big of a deal for Spillane, so if he comes back, it will likely be through a typical free-agent deal.
Pittsburgh could try to use the franchise tag on any of these three defensive players, but the free-agent market price will probably end up being cheaper than the tag price.
Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference.
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