5 Biggest Needs Pittsburgh Steelers Have Yet to Address This Offseason

There are only so many needs a team can address via free agency. It depends not just on a given team's strategy for picking up veteran players, but also on the depth and quality of the market and available cap space. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers did address some of their roster vacancies via free agency, most notably re-signing players of their own and bringing in running back DeAngelo Williams. However, there are needs still yet to be met, which will likely be addressed through the draft. Here are the Steelers' five biggest.

Defensive End

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Of the eight defensive linemen currently on the Steelers' roster, only three have significant playing experience at defensive end: Cameron Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and Cam Thomas. Further, Thomas and Tuitt each played half the number of snaps of Heyward last year and had Brett Keisel to split time with.

Now, Keisel is gone, Tuitt is a second-year player and Thomas was Pro Football Focus' last-ranked 3-4 defensive end for 2014. Though the Steelers may not pick up a starting-quality defensive end among the free agents that remain or in next month's draft, they certainly must improve their depth.

In an ideal world, the Steelers could find someone—whether currently on their roster or not—to keep Thomas off the field, but they could also settle for developmental depth as well.

Defensive Tackle

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The Steelers' lack of defensive line depth does not stop at defensive end—defensive tackle, too, is an area in which the Steelers do not have may players in line. At nose tackle, the Steelers have just Steve McLendon and Daniel McCullers to chose from.

While this wouldn't be a major issue if the Steelers ran their defense out of a base 3-4 80 or 90 percent of the time, that's no longer the case—nickel and other sub-packages are more the norm now, which means hybrid fronts to go along with three-cornerback secondaries.

Therefore, the Steelers need more defensive tackle help, to play situationally and provide depth behind McLendon and McCulllers. For the Steelers this year, this is likely an area better addressed in the draft than in free agency.

Safety

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Troy Polamalu's future in Pittsburgh is still up in the air, but it's not expected that he'll play for the Steelers—or potentially, any team—in 2015. Mike Mitchell is ensconced, at least for now, at free safety, but there isn't much depth, let alone a clear-cut favorite to take over Polamalu's job.

While Shamarko Thomas seems to be the likely heir, that means there still needs to be adequate backups in place behind him and Mitchell. And at this point, there is only a cadre of untested players and special teams fixtures providing that depth. Though someone may emerge from that group, it's also possible the Steelers could take a look at someone they could add to eventually become a starter.

The problem, however, is that quality, affordable free-agent safeties are becoming harder to find, and the draft is even more bereft of talent at the position this year. The Steelers may have to wait another year to find the safety they need, but for now, they might need to think about bringing back veteran free agent Will Allen to add experience to the position.

Cornerback

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The Steelers' entire secondary needs additional help this year, and with the contracts given to higher-end cornerbacks in the first weeks of free agency, it's no surprise the Steelers have yet to pick one up. It's likely, however, that they will address this position in the draft.

The Steelers do have a trio of potential starters, at least on paper, in William Gay, Cortez Allen and Antwon Blake. However, Allen, who received a five-year, $26 million contract extension prior to the start of the 2014 season, found himself demoted to nickel corner and eventually benched. Gay, meanwhile is 30 years old. 

The Steelers need to add at least one cornerback to the roster, and they could ideally address this position with one of their first two picks in the draft. While they may be set in terms of their three starters for 2015, their depth is weak, and they must develop someone to eventually take over a starting spot, whether it be Gay's, Allen's or both. 

Outside Linebacker

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There may be no position that the Steelers have yet to shore up this offseason that is more important than outside linebacker. Though they did make a significant signing by bringing back Arthur Moats, that leaves the Steelers with just two edge-rushers at present: Moats and Jarvis Jones.

Even if the Steelers address this problem by bringing back James Harrison, that is just a short-term fix. They need high-end pass-rushers and young players they can develop into every-down linebackers.

Home-grown pass-rushers are the bread and butter of the Steelers' front seven, and they should be expected to go back to this approach in 2015, given that the draft has a lot of high-end talent at the position, especially in the first round.