Pittsburgh Steelers' Biggest Remaining Offseason Question Marks
The weeks and months between OTAs and the Pittsburgh Steelers' first regular-season game is a time of preparation.
Rookies need teaching, veterans need refresher courses, new offensive and defensive concepts are installed, position battles are played out every day on the practice field and eventually in preseason games.
This period also affords the Steelers time to address the remaining offseason business on their to-do list before getting into 100 percent football-mode in the fall.
Here are the questions the Steelers will be trying to answer this summer.
Will the Steelers and Le'Veon Bell Agree on a Contract?
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The Steelers chose to use the franchise tag on star running back Le'Veon Bell for 2017, though the hope was to use that as a jumping-off point for negotiations on a long-term deal.
Though there have been some talks between both sides, no contract appears to be imminent; the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday that Bell is prepared to sit out of OTAs and mandatory minicamp in lieu of a contract and has not signed the $12.1 million tag the team gave him in February.
Rapoport also noted that "neither side seems particularly worried," about either getting a long-term deal done or Bell's looming absences.
For one, the Steelers prefer to get contract extensions done in the summertime, ideally closer to (or during) training camp, which gives the team more than enough time to come up with an offer that Bell will accept.
Yes, the Steelers have a firm July 15 deadline to give Bell a contract (and the player has until that date to otherwise sign the franchise tag), but that's over a month and a half away, thus not warranting any panic as of now.
Another reason to curb worries is that Bell is a major focal point of the team's offense, and in the summertime practice sessions, that means he wouldn't be taking on too much work in an effort to minimize exposure to potential injury.
Still, this is a bit of offseason business Pittsburgh would like to get done this summer rather than waiting until after the 2017 season (the Steelers don't extend or offer contracts in-season).
Spotrac estimates that Bell could command $10.6 million per year on average and a five-year deal. But he may be worth even more. Not only is he a reliably performing running back, he's regularly a top-three receiver for Pittsburgh.
When the deal gets done, it's guaranteed to be worth a large sum.
How About Stephon Tuitt's Contract?
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Le'Veon Bell isn't the only Steelers veteran the team is hoping to lock down for the long term this summer.
Defensive end Stephon Tuitt is entering the last year of his rookie deal and has been a bright spot on Pittsburgh's front seven. His last 28 games played have all been starts, and 10.5 of his 11.5 career sacks have come in the past two years. Letting him walk is not an option the Steelers would prefer to flirt with.
The main factor in Tuitt's new deal is Bell; the Steelers would likely want to get a deal done with the running back before addressing Tuitt's demands, though again summertime remains the target.
Neither side had discussed anything in depth as of the middle of May, but once we reach July reports about talks should start to intensify.
Pittsburgh has been doing a lot of spending lately, extending the contracts of wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Ben Roethlisberger and are preparing to ink another pair of big-money deals with Bell and Tuitt. The expense is worth it, though.
Extending Tuitt's contract this year is far less painless than trying to replace him next spring.
Wide Receivers: Who Stays and Who Goes?
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As of now, the Steelers have 11 wide receivers on the roster vying for, at most, six roster spots in the fall.
With three already guaranteed to be filled by Antonio Brown, rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster and Martavis Bryant (granted the latter's suspension issues are behind him), that leaves only three active roster spots for the players who remain.
That means difficult decisions are ahead. Of the eight receivers left, Eli Rogers, Demarcus Ayers, Cobi Hamilton and Sammie Coates all played major roles for the team last year. Darrius Heyward-Bey isn't much of a contributor on offense but is a locker room leader and one of the Steelers' best special-teamers. And the free-agent signing of Justin Hunter throws a wrench of its own into the equation.
The good news is that the Steelers have more than enough options to put together a receiving corps that could ultimately prove to be one of the most productive in the league. The bad news, though, is that talented players will find themselves on the outside of the roster looking in.
Other receiver-needy teams will be paying close attention to the Steelers' cuts at the position this summer.
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Who Are the Starting Cornerbacks?
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Much like wide receiver, the Steelers have a logjam at cornerback that will need to be sorted out this summer.
The Steelers added Cameron Sutton and Brian Allen in the draft, picked up free agent Coty Sensabaugh earlier in the spring and gave Ross Cockrell a restricted free-agent tender to keep him in the fold in 2017.
They join William Gay, 2016 rookie Artie Burns and 2015 draft pick Senquez Golson as the crew most likely to see playing time this year. A majority of these cornerbacks could be retained on the roster, but between now and then, the Steelers need to figure out who should be atop the depth chart.
Cockrell and Burns should reprise their roles as the two starters on the outside, with Sutton and Allen likely serving as backups to the pair. But Sutton and Allen could also push for playing time in the slot, where Gay and Sensabaugh will also be trying to catch on.
The Steelers are trying to do less bending when defending the pass. Though Pittsburgh's defense ranked fifth in passing scores allowed a year ago, they ranked only 16th in yards. Finding the right combination of cornerbacks will be a major component in getting those yardage numbers to shrink in 2017.
How Big a Role Will T.J. Watt Play This Year?
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The Steelers selected outside linebacker T.J. Watt with their first-round pick in the 2017 draft, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will be a fixture in the starting defensive front from Week 1.
There's a learning curve involved, and Watt is in full mastering-the-playbook mode, per Steelers.com.
However, Watt is getting his chances early, having spent time with the first-team defense (alongside 2015 Round 1 pick Bud Dupree) during OTAs. That could mean his development is accelerating to the point where he could play a bigger role early in the season than Dupree did two years ago.
While Dupree appeared in all 16 games as a rookie, only five were starts and he was on the field for 50.8 percent of the team's defensive snaps that season.
What Watt's season ultimately looks like will be determined by how much time he continues working with the first team on defense this summer.
When training camp practices get into full swing (marking full-time, full-speed practices for elder statesman James Harrison), Watt could be spending most of his time with the second-team defense.
However, the fact that Watt has already proved to be a fast learner at least means the Steelers chose wisely in Round 1 of the draft.
Who Will Back Up Ben Roethlisberger?
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Until the 2017 draft, it appeared that the Steelers were satisfied with their quarterback depth chart.
They re-signed Landry Jones—Ben Roethlisberger's primary backup over the last few years—to a two-year, $4.4 million deal and still had Zach Mettenberger on the roster to be the No. 3.
But the Steelers chose to use draft assets on the position, taking Tennessee's Joshua Dobbs in the fourth round. That move resulted in Mettenberger's release and, presumably, some worry on Jones' part that him being the backup for 2017 is not a guarantee.
Though Jones has the experience edge, Dobbs is a smart person (with a degree in rocket science) and a smart player who has himself with how quickly he's been able to pick up the Steelers' system, per Jacob Klinger of PennLive.com.
Thus, the door appears to be open for Dobbs to leapfrog Jones this summer and serve as the go-to passer should anything negative befall Roethlisberger this season.
Though a backup quarterback battle may not seem like a pressing question that needs answered, the Steelers have often found themselves without the services of Roethlisberger for a week or more in recent seasons.
Who is in line to take the field in his place is thus a greater concern for the Steelers than for other teams with fewer worries about their quarterbacks' health.
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