Grading the Pittsburgh Steelers' Offseason Moves so Far

The Pittsburgh Steelers' offseason has been marked with more tumult than any other team in the AFC North.

Salary-cap issues necessitated the front office examining the roster and making some difficult cuts, while still other players agreed to restructure their contracts in order to free up necessary cash.

Let's take a look at what the Steelers have done to their roster since season's end and grade those moves accordingly.

Additions: None

Well, technically, the Pittsburgh Steelers made two additions to their offseason roster yesterday—tight end Wes Lyons and fullback Will Johnson, but neither player will likely spend the 2012 season on the 53-man roster.

But the Steelers are right up against the salary cap and need to keep a bit of cash on hand should restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace get a contract offer from another team that Pittsburgh might try to match, so there's little to no chance they'll make any free agency additions between now and next month's draft.

It's not as if the Steelers' roster is close to where they want it to be, considering the numerous cuts they made just to get under the cap. The draft should serve to fill some of them, as will players they already have on the roster.

Further, the Steelers have never been all that active during free agency, so even if they didn't have these cap issues, it's not very likely they would have made many additions, especially not high-priced ones.

Final Grade: A

They couldn't sign anyone, nor did they cut too many players to make a move for someone unproven in the Steelers' system.

Re-Signings: RFA Offers Tendered to WR Mike Wallace, CB Keenan Lewis, S Ryan Mundy, TE David Johnson, OG Doug Legursky, OG Ramon Foster; No Other Re-Signed Players

Part of the Steelers' cap situation dictates they remain in a holding pattern with their crop of in-house free agents. Thus, they were only able to tender restricted free agent deals to the six players they most certainly wanted to hold onto.

Of the six, Mike Wallace is clearly the team's highest priority, but his future is largely out of their hands. He will only remain in Pittsburgh this season if no other team comes calling with a contract (and their first-round draft pick) in tow, one that the Steelers cannot match.

If no other team makes Wallace an offer (and they may not, if today's reports of him asking for around $15 million per season are correct) then he will remain with the Steelers in 2012 at the cost of $2.75 million. All told, all six restricted free agents are to cost the team around $9 million.

The Steelers are hoping to re-sign at least two of their unrestricted free agents—cornerback William Gay and wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery. But for now, they have to wait and see what their final financial situation will look like before extending any more deals.

Grade: B-

They could have worked harder to retain a few lower-priced free agents early on, but extending RFA tenders to these important players was also the only thing they could manage.

Cuts and Free Agents Signed Elsewhere: Cut—DE Aaron Smith (Retired), WR Hines Ward (Retired), OG Chris Kemoeatu, LB James Farrior, WR Arnaz Battle, CB Bryant McFadden; Retired (Not Cut)—NT Chris Hoke; Signed Elsewhere: OT Jamon Meredith (Buccaneers)

The Steelers have a lot of unrestricted free agents, but none have caught the eye of any interested teams save Jerricho Cotchery and William Gay. Instead, all of the players the team have lost this offseason have been released.

Defensive end Aaron Smith was cut after dealing with a neck injury that kept him on the injured reserve list for the majority of the season; he since retired.

Same goes for 14-year team veteran wide receiver Hines Ward. Upon his release, he appeared intent to play elsewhere before changing course and retiring earlier this week.

Offensive guard Chris Kemoeatu became a cap casualty after underperforming in 2011 and dealing with a nagging knee injury.

Linebacker James Farrior, who could return to the team this summer if need be, was released for salary reasons as well as him simply becoming too old to be worth keeping in the starting rotation.

Wide receiver Arnaz Battle and cornerback Bryant McFadden were the first Steelers released; Battle was primarily part of the special teams unit while McFadden missed the entirety of the 2011 season, and the Steelers found themselves better off without him on the field.

All in all, the Steelers made some dramatic cuts—in fact, no team as successful in 2011 had to release so many veterans. While the draft can make up for this, it's sure to affect the team in some way in the upcoming season.

Grade: B (

t's hard to grade these moves; on one hand, I want to give them an A for understanding what their financial situation was and releasing only the players that seemed smart to cut, but on the other, we still don't know how their replacements will step up, which could result in a changed grade later on.

Remaining Free Agents on the Open Market: WR Jerricho Cotchery, CB William Gay, QB Charlie Batch, QB Byron Leftwich, QB Dennis Dixon, RB Mewelde Moore, CB Anthony Madison, P Daniel Sepulveda, OG Trai Essex, OT Max Starks

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