- Washington safety Budda Baker recently met with the Steelers, as the club announced. Pittsburgh has spent a bevy of recent picks on defensive backs, as Senquez Golson, Artie Burns, and Sean Davis have all joined the team over the past two years. While the Steelers already boast a solid free safety in Mike Mitchell, he’s entering his age-30 campaign and will reach unrestricted free agency next spring.
- Swing tackle Chris Hubbard signed his Steelers RFA tender, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). He will make $1.8MM as the Steelers’ presumptive No. 3 tackle in 2017 behind Alejandro Villanueva and Marcus Gilbert. Hubbard will enter his fourth season with the Steelers. He started the first four games of his career last season.
- The Steelers have not been shy about selecting linebackers in recent first rounds, but they hosted Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis on a visit, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports. Already housing Ryan Shazier and Vince Williams on the inside, the Steelers would continue their second-level-stocking ways by adding the former Gators ‘backer. Pittsburgh, though, did lose Lawrence Timmons — a 2007 first-rounder — to the Dolphins. The Steelers have selected a linebacker in the first round in three of the past four drafts, with the now-departed Jarvis Jones (2013) preceding Shazier (2014) and Bud Dupree (’15).
- North Carolina State safety Josh Jones worked out for the Titans on Tuesday and is meeting with the Vikings on Tuesday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Jones, who is expected to be selected near the end of the first round or in the early part of Day 2, also has visits scheduled with the Browns, Steelers, and Bears, per Rapoport. Thus far, Jones has also been linked to Baltimore and Miami.
- UCLA linebacker Takkarist McKinley is visiting the Browns, Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals all in a row, Rapoport tweets. We heard last month that he would visit with some of these AFC North teams, but we now know that he’ll be polishing off the AFC North in rapid succession.
- The Steelers and Giants have been all over quarterback workouts this year and it leads Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (via Twitter) to believe that they’ll each target a QB in the middle rounds.
- Thanks to Jesse James‘ surprisingly effective 2016 campaign, the Steelers do not have to select a starting-caliber tight end in this month’s draft, as Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests. The club has proven that it can win with James as a starter, although Ladarius Green‘s health concerns may still compel Pittsburgh to select a developmental tight end in the middle rounds of the draft. Fittipaldo names Michigan’s Jake Butt — who may have been a first-round prospect but for his devastating knee injury in the last game of his collegiate career — Arkansas’ Jeremy Sprinkle, and Iowa’s George Kittle as potential targets.
- Cognizant that Ben Roethlisberger isn’t going to be around forever, the Steelers have made it known that they’ll consider drafting a potential long-term successor this year. That could be Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes, whom the Steelers observed Friday at his pro day. Pittsburgh sent “at least one” representative to watch Mahomes, writes Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com.
It appears Steelers wide receiver Martavis’ Bryant year-plus suspension is on the verge of ending. Those close to Bryant are “confident” the league will reinstate him soon, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Chris Wesseling of NFL.com). The Steelers are also optimistic, reports the NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala, who tweets that there’s “legit hope” Bryant will be back in the fold when the team begins offseason workouts April 17.
The league banned Bryant last March after he missed multiple drug tests. Bryant previously sat four games in 2015 for marijuana usage, meaning suspensions have cost the ex-Clemson Tiger 20 contests since he entered the league as a fourth-round pick in 2014. The 25-year-old has also missed seven games while dealing with injuries, so he has only suited up 21 of a possible 48 times in the regular season.
When on the field, Bryant has been a major threat. He caught 50 passes for 765 yards and eight touchdowns in just 11 games in 2015. That came after he hauled in eight scores and averaged a ridiculous 21.1 yards per catch in 10 games as a rookie. In all, the 6-foot-4, 211-pounder has amassed 76 receptions, 14 scores and posted a 17.3 YPC. Should he gain reinstatement and rejoin the Steelers, he’d immediately become their best wideout after Antonio Brown.
Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant has not been reinstated from suspension yet, NFL sources tell Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). There’s no indication of when reinstatement will occur, but Wilson hears it is still expected to happen eventually. 
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Bryant is currently in the midst of his second career suspension as an NFL player. In 2015, he served a four-game ban for multiple substance abuse violations. This time around, Bryant was sidelined by the league for missing multiple missed drug tests. Initially, the 25-year-old considered appealing the ban, but he decided against it and eventually entered rehab for depression issues.
In a statement from last March, the Steelers said that Bryant would have to make “significant changes…in his personal life if he wants to regain his career as a Pittsburgh Steeler.”
The ex-Clemson Tiger caught 50 passes for 765 yards and eight touchdowns in just 11 games in 2015. All told, Bryant has totaled 76 receptions with 14 touchdowns and a 17.3 YPC average in 21 games.
- Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has mulled retirement this offseason, but it seems the 35-year-old will play in 2017. Roethlisberger said earlier this month he’s “leaning towards” continuing his career, and head coach Mike Tomlin revealed Monday the two have had “pretty fluid conversation” about the Steelers’ offseason moves (via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com).
- Tomlin also laid out Monday what the Steelers’ main needs are entering the draft, telling Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that they must add pass rushers and defensive backs who can play man coverage. “Our inability to play man-to-man effectively and our inability to apply pressure on the quarterback without blitzing were issues in that game,” Tomlin said of the Steelers’ 36-17 loss to the Patriots in the AFC title game, in which Tom Brady completed 32 of 42 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns.