Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones is facing plenty of uncertainty as he enters the final season of his four-year rookie contract. While Jones was the Steelers’ starting left tackle for the first time in 2025, a neck injury ended his season in November and limited him to 11 games. The 6-foot-5, 311-pounder is now working back from spinal-fusion surgery, but he is unsure when he will return.
“They didn’t really give me a timeline,” Jones said (via Chris Harlan of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). “They’re just monitoring it day by day, and we go from there.”
Jones’ surgery has been a major part of an eventful offseason for the former first-rounder. The Steelers traded up to select Jones 14th overall in 2023, but they have not seen enough to commit to him for the long haul. The team declined his $19.07MM fifth-year option for 2027 in April, the same month it drafted yet another first-round offensive tackle.
The Steelers were so confident they were going to pick receiver Makai Lemon 21st overall that they called the ex-USC star before they were on the clock. But the Eagles suddenly swooped in for Lemon in a trade-up to No. 20, dashing the Steelers’ plans. Pittsburgh then pivoted to former Arizona State right tackle Max Iheanachor.
The Steelers took Iheanachor after deploying Jones as a starter for most of his first three seasons. He logged perfect attendance in his first two years and racked up 27 starts on the right side along the way. The Steelers lost left tackle Dan Moore Jr. to the Titans in free agency after 2024, and they decided to shift Jones to the blind side as his replacement. It wasn’t a seamless transition, as Pro Football Focus ranked Jones’ performance an unimpressive 66th among 84 tackles and charged him with six sacks allowed. That continued a disappointing trend for Jones, who has never cracked PFF’s top 60 in a season.
Along with Jones and Iheanachor, the Steelers have Troy Fautanu in the fold as another recent first-round tackle. Fautanu, the 20th pick in 2024, took over as the club’s starting right tackle last year. He was a standout left tackle during his college career at Washington, though, and has gotten work on that side this offseason. A full-time shift is “up in the air,” according to Fautanu, but if it happens, it could relegate Jones to a backup role. That would depend on whether the Steelers are confident Iheanachor (or Dylan Cook) can start in Week 1. At the latest, Iheanachor should emerge as a full-time starter by 2027. It’s fair to say Pittsburgh didn’t draft him in the first round to sit the bench for multiple years.
To Jones’ credit, he has welcomed Iheanachor with open arms.
“I’m down to help Max wherever he needs me,” Jones told Harlan. “Because at the end of the day, all of us got to be ready.”
In a best-case scenario, Jones will be ready for training camp. That would give him a chance to retain a starting gig in what may end up as his last season as a Steeler. If the soon-to-be 26-year-old wins a job on either side and performs well in the wake of a significant injury, he could earn a nice second contract in free agency next March.