In the past few drafts, the Steelers have made a concerted effort to bolster their defensive backfield, an area that has been something of a weakness in the second half of the Ben Roethlisberger era. The team selected a cornerback on the first or second day of the last three drafts (Cam Sutton in 2017, Artie Burns in 2016, and Senquez Golson in 2015), and safety Sean Davis was selected in the second round of the 2016 draft. Pittsburgh’s secondary was improved last season, but after it was gashed by the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, the Steelers’ coaching staff plans to implement more man coverage in 2017, as Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. Dulac says the team is confident that Sutton and Burns can handle those concepts, but the staff is openly pessimistic about Golson, who has not played in a preseason or regular-season game in his two years in the league due to injuries. Golson, who is at least healthy enough to practice at the moment, seems to be on the verge of losing his roster spot altogether, and he may need to prove his worth on special teams just to make the club.
- Had Ryan Shazier been a second-round pick in 2014 instead of going in the first, he would be entering a contract year. But the Steelers picked up the inside linebacker’s fifth-year option in April to tie him to the team through 2018. Shazier is not on board with this setup. “Yeah, that kind of sucks,” Shazier said, via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, of the system that can tie first-rounders to their rookie deals for five years. “Sometimes guys have to wait five years. Other guys don’t. But that’s what they agreed on in the past. Next time (during CBA negotiations) we’ve just got to do a better job of structuring what we want to do.” Also weighing in on the positions 2014 draft class mates Odell Beckham and Aaron Donald are in, Shazier said rookies should have the opportunity to renegotiate their deals before they accrue three years of service time. “At the end of the day, that’s between you and the team. If the team wants to do that, it’s great,” Shazier said. “… If you play at that level, you should be able to re-up whenever you want to.” Shazier is signed through 2018, with a guaranteed-against-injury ’18 salary of $8.78MM set.
- It doesn’t sound like James Harrison will be going through a regular training camp. The Steelers know what they have in the 39-year-old veteran, and he knows the team’s system. In minicamp, Pittsburgh gave the league’s oldest defender freedom to prepare on his own, giving his reps to first-rounder T.J. Watt, per Fowler. Notorious for conducting unusual workouts in the offseason, Harrison enters his 14th Steelers season. Fowler notes Harrison will work participate in 11-on-11 drills on some days but will be excused during others. “It’s good for the young guys to get the reps,” linebackers coach Joey Porter said at minicamp. “Right now, we’re not going to ask him to do a whole lot. The defense is learning, getting comfortable.”
The Steelers signed first-round linebacker T.J. Watt, according to a team announcement. After also inking third-round cornerback Cameron Sutton this week, Pittsburgh has become the latest team to wrap up its 2017 draft class. 
“T.J. is a rock solid young man who has a lot of upside,” said Coach Mike Tomlin in a press release. “He doesn’t have a lot of experience at the position, but at the same time we saw some things that were exciting to us. His hand usage in particular for a guy with his short resume at the position was exciting. His production speaks for itself. He’s just a quality guy and a quality pick for us. We’re excited about continuing his development not only as a football player, but as an outside linebacker. That’s probably the most exciting element of the T.J. discussion. We are excited about the potential upside and growth given the short length of time he’s played the position.”
Watt, a Wisconsin product, finished the 2016 season with 17 tackles for a loss and 11.5 sacks. Last year was his first campaign as a starter and just his second season playing defense after switching from tight end. But, of course, hard-nosed defense runs in Watt’s blood.
“I am a lunch pail kind of guy who yeah, I just got picked in the first round, but I am here to prove that I am worth that pick and I am worth much more than that as well,” said Watt, the younger brother of Texans superstar J.J. Watt. “I think some things come easy for me, like the transition over to defense. It came naturally to me, but at the same time there was so much work behind the scenes that no one ever saw. That’s what it’s so hard to put it into words. It is a lot of God-given ability, but it is so much work that no one will ever see. No one will ever know. It’s an insurmountable amount of work. That is how you get to places like this and get the opportunity to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It all pays off. It really does.”
Watt may wind up starting at one of the Steelers’ outside linebackers pots, putting him opposite of James Harrison with Ryan Shazier and Vince Williams in between. Former first-round pick Bud Dupree and Arthur Moats will also be pushing for playing time at OLB.
- Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell still hasn’t signed his franchise tender with the organization, and ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio wonders what it’d take to sign the Pro Bowler to an extension. Using the franchise tag as a guide, the writer guesses that Bell would request at least a two-year contract worth $26.6MM, with team options accounting for the subsequent years. Of course, considering the player’s injury and suspension history, Florio guesses that the Steelers would request some type of per-game bonuses. He also assumes that Bell would be seeking a lucrative roster bonus in an attempt to immediately pocket as much as money as possible.
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- The Steelers announced that they have signed third-round cornerback Cameron Sutton. The former Tennessee standout was a starter throughout his four-year collegiate career, setting a school-record in passes defended along the way. Sutton was one of two cornerbacks taken by Pittsburgh during this past year’s draft, as the team also selected Brian Allen in the fifth round. First-round linebacker T.J. Watt is now the lone Steelers rookie without a contract.
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We heard earlier tonight that Duane Brown is not expected to report to the Texans’ minicamp tomorrow, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (article via Conor Orr of NFL.com) reports that Rams DT Aaron Donald and Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell could miss their teams’ respective minicamps as they seek new contracts of their own.
Bell is now the only franchise-tagged player in the league not to have signed the franchise tender or agreed to a long-term extension, though he and the Steelers have been working on a deal for awhile, and it was reported at the end of last month that neither Bell nor Pittsburgh is worried about the running back’s status. At this point, though, the Steelers have most of the leverage. As talented as Bell is, and as important as he is to the team’s offense, his suspensions and injury history are certainly working against him in contract talks, and the closer we get to training camp, the more difficult it would be for Bell to land a contract on the open market that pays him even $10MM in 2017, much less the $12.1MM he stands to receive under the franchise tender.
As Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes, the franchise tag value makes a long-term deal unlikely at this point. Bell is no doubt pushing for a multiyear deal that includes twice the amount of the franchise tender in guarantees with a roughly $12MM average annual value, and Bouchette is skeptical that the Steelers would meet those demands (particularly when they can just tag Bell again next season for about $14.5MM, which does not sound too exorbitant for a player of his caliber).
Because Bell is not under contract, he cannot be fined for missing minicamp. The same cannot be said for Donald, who is under club control through 2018, but it is unlikely Los Angeles would actually impose a fine on Donald. We learned last month that negotiations on a long-term deal had entered the “serious phase,” but we have not heard anything since that report. It still looks as if the two sides may reach a multiyear pact sometime soon, though the Rams’ tight salary cap situation could be complicating things a bit. Indeed, Donald’s next contract could make him the highest-paid defensive player in the game, and with hardly any cap room at the moment, the Rams may need to get creative to take on such a contract.
- In the same Sando piece, an NFL personnel director questioned the Steelers‘ hesitance at trying to keep up with the Patriots this offseason. Perhaps the top AFC challenger to New England, Pittsburgh did not make moves in free agency or on the trade market, calling this anonymous exec to question the franchise’s traditional, build-from-within approach. “Pittsburgh never seems to make the big impact move,” the exec said. “They seem to just keep trying to get guys who fit into their locker room or fit into their scheme. It is almost like they are a little bit of plug-and-play and not really willing to stretch out and put themselves out there.” The Steelers did add wideout weaponry but did so through the draft (second-rounder JuJu Smith-Schuster) and via Martavis Bryant‘s reinstatement. Otherwise, the team is similar to its 2016 edition.
- The costs to keep the trio of Le’Veon Bell, Stephon Tuitt and Alejandro Villanueva could cost the Steelers well north of $100MM collectively, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com writes. The Pittsburgh-based reporter slots Bell’s deal as the highest priority, Tuitt’s as the player who wouldn’t need to be re-signed right away, and Villanueva as the wild card in this equation in being an ERFA that could hold out after a months-long negotiation. The Steelers have the July 15 franchise tag deadline with Bell but could let Tuitt’s talks slip into August, Fowler notes. The fourth-year defensive end is under contract at $1.47MM for 2017 before his rookie deal expires. Tuitt wants to stay in Pittsburgh but will be a costly cog to retain. The Steelers possess $16.3MM in cap space.
- Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva is currently without a contract ahead of the Steelers upcoming mandatory minicamp. When asked by ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler whether he’ll be in attendance, the 28-year-old indicated that he might be willing to hold out. “I’m obviously trying to be a Steeler but it’s something that my agent and the front office will work to sort out,” said Villanueva. The former Army standout didn’t sign his ERFA tender this offseason, although he did ink a waiver/agreement that allowed him to participate in OTAs.
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The Steelers would like to sign contract-year defensive end Stephon Tuitt to an extension before the start of the regular season, reports Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 24-year-old is clearly open to a new deal with the Steelers, telling Fittipaldo: “I would love it here. It’s a blessing if they see me being here for the long term. I love the organization.” Locking up Tuitt could cost the Steelers $8MM to $9MM per year, and it probably won’t become a priority until later in the summer, writes Fittipaldo. Tuitt, a second-round pick in 2014, started 14 games in each of the past two seasons and combined for 10.5 sacks in those 28 contests. He also impressed Pro Football Focus last season, receiving its 19th-best grade among 127 qualified interior defensive linemen.
- A report in 2015 linked Steelers linebacker James Harrison to performance-enhancing drugs, and though the NFL didn’t find any evidence against him, it’s still suspicious of the pass rusher, writes Joshua Axelrod of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The NFL tested Harrison for PEDs for the third time this offseason on Tuesday, leading the 39-year-old to suggest on Instagram that the league is insulting his intelligence by claiming the tests are random.