2026 Offseason Preview: Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for life after Mike Tomlin
statbutler.com will be compiling offseason previews for all 32 teams in the lead up to free agency. Feel free to share any of the text/visuals below with attribution. All underlying contract data was collected by overthecap.com.
Recent Team History
The Mike Tomlin era has closed in Pittsburgh after 19 seasons. 2025 was true to the low points of this era, as the Steelers fielded a well-rounded, low-ceiling team that failed to notch a playoff win.
2025 Season
The Steelers held off a surging Baltimore to win the AFC North title for the first time since 2020. In the Wild Card round of the playoffs, they were smothered by the Houston defense.
The Post-Tomlin Era
Pittsburgh hired Mike McCarthy to take on the role vacated by Mike Tomlin’s departure. McCarthy is bringing on Brian Angelichio, a former assistant of his in Green Bay, who was most recently in Minnesota to serve as his offensive coordinator. Another former Green Bay assistant, Patrick Graham, will lead the defensive side of the ball. Graham has spent the previous four seasons with Las Vegas.
Returning Players
Note that all restructures below are assumed to be max restructures. This means that the team will use void years to prorate cash across up to five seasons, minimizing amount that will hit the current year’s salary cap.
For players who are not vested veterans, I’ve replaced information about the player’s active contract with a description of the team control remaining until the player can become an unrestricted free agent.
Pittsburgh’s 2025 offense had big deficiencies at the premium positions. The wide receiver group featured new addition DK Metcalf, but had horrendous depth behind him. This team needs to add two new startable receivers in the offseason if they want to run a modern NFL offense. At offensive tackle, Broderick Jones was unable to distinguish himself as a reliable starter before losing the remainder of his season to a neck injury. Troy Fautanu’s first real NFL season wasn’t bad, but he still has room to develop at right tackle. The rest of the offense featured a reliable trio of interior offensive linemen, a pair of solid running backs, and a rotating cast of versatile tight ends. It’s not a group that is beyond fixing.
Pittsburgh is looking at a group on defense that likely underperformed to expectations in 2025. With some key pieces like Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, and Jalen Ramsey staring at age regression (or retirement even), there should be some urgency to continue building up depth around those aging stars.
Expiring Contracts
Aaron Rodgers will turn 43 during the 2026 season. Despite Tom Brady playing until age 45, there should be no illusions about how difficult it is to play professional football at any position at this age. It is not known if Rodgers will return at this point, but it is my belief that, at the contract he’s likely to agree to, he’d be the best possible value for this team. Isaac Seumalo, but is another player the Steelers should look to bring back if they’re serious about making a playoff run. Late season addition Asante Samuel Jr. is a player who I would think Pittsburgh will definitely try to get back in the fold.
Projected Cuts & Options
Patrick Queen and Jonnu Smith are two players who I think the Steelers should feel fine walking away from. Smith’s case is pretty obvious as he was a non-factor last year. Queen, while a core defensive starter, had a career worst year in coverage and as a tackler. He’s currently due to earn the 7th most cash of any offball linebacker in 2026. With a healthy free agent and draft class at the position, there are places where a dollar can go further. I expect LT Broderick Jones will have his 5th year option declined. The option provides a fully guaranteed year for the 2027 season at an estimated $20.5m in this case. It’s just too steep for Pittsburgh to justify the cost.
I’m not projecting Jalen Ramsey to be a cut, but at $19.5m, he’s going to be one of the highest paid safeties in football if he continues to play there. There might be some discussion about a pay cut for him that is more in line with whatever role they’re going to have him take on going forward. Pat Freiermuth could also be in line for a contract rework. He was not a player worth $10.8m in 2025, but I expect he’ll have more opportunities as the tight end room thins out.
The Salary Cap
In the image below, each blue bordered rectangle is equivalent to the cap hit of a single player. Within that rectangle, there are more rectangles that break down the player’s cap hit. Areas colored green can be pushed entirely into a future cap years via max restructure. Areas with vertical bars are “locked in” and the team cannot open them up by releasing the player. They represent either fully guaranteed cash that hasn’t been earned yet or remaining proration from cash earned in previous league years.
Pittsburgh is well under the cap for the moment. They’ll have abundant opportunities to push money into future cap years if they so choose.
My “Excess Cap Space” projection for Pittsburgh with the cuts above and taking every restructure opportunity is $131.8m (4th most). The $225.9m cash projection I currently have is just 24th. Pittsburgh’s bargain QB contracts of recent years have kept them somewhat competitive while allowing them to maintain a clean cap situation. If they want to spend a ton of money this offseason, they can.
Draft Capital
Once compensatory picks are made official Pittsburgh is expected to hold a league-high 12 picks. Currently, OverTheCap projects the Steelers to gain a 3rd, 4th, and two 6ths from their net free agency losses in 2025. They hold each of their first five original picks plus have a 3rd from Dallas gained from the George Pickens trade. Their 12 picks weigh in as the 15th biggest 2026 draft stockpile to my trade based pick value chart.