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Pittsburgh Steelers News & Rumors

Steelers Sign Zach Frazier, Complete Rookie Signings

June 10th, 2024 at 5:46pm CST by Ben Levine

The Steelers have completed their draft pick signings. The team announced that they’ve signed second-round center Zach Frazier to his four-year rookie contract.

The West Virginia product got into 47 games during his collegiate career, including a 2023 campaign where he earned first-team All-Big 12 honors after not allowing a single sack. That performance helped put him firmly on the NFL map, and he was ultimately the second center off the board (behind Graham Barton) when he was selected at No. 51.

“They’re getting a hard worker who is going to give everything he has to the organization to win football games,” Frazier said in a team statement. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

The Steelers moved on from Mason Cole this offseason, opening a starting spot for Frazier. Considering the rookie’s versatility (he played both center and guard in college), the Steelers could shift Frazier around if necessary. The Steelers will also feature another rookie starting OL in first-round offensive tackle Troy Fautanu.

Today’s move completes the Steelers’ draft pick signings. The team’s entire draft class includes:

Steelers Notes: Fields, Harris, WR2

June 9th, 2024 at 11:13am CST by Rory Parks

Last month, there was some chatter that Steelers quarterback Justin Fields could see some action as a kick returner in 2024, with special teams coordinator Danny Smith raising the possibility at a team meeting. Steelers beat reporters were quick to throw cold water on the notion, and Fields himself recently did the same.

While acknowledging that Smith did indeed bring up the idea of having him return kicks, Fields said, “nah, I think everybody kind of interpreted it wrong. Coach Danny was basically just trying to send a message that no matter who you are, you could be on special teams. He just used that as an example” (via Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

Even if Fields is not deployed as a third phase player, his athleticism could be an asset in other ways, especially since Russell Wilson is expected to at least open the regular season as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback. However, as Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted during a recent chat with fans, head coach Mike Tomlin is not fond of taking out his starting QB to run gadget-type plays. Of course, the team would not necessarily need to remove Wilson from the game in order to take advantage of Fields’ athletic gifts, so it will be interesting to see whether OC Arthur Smith designs a package of plays for Fields as the 2021 first-rounder tries to unseat Wilson and prove that he can be the club’s long-term starter under center.

In that same conversation with fans, Dulac predicted that the Steelers will extend running back Najee Harris. Back in January, we heard that Pittsburgh was planning to exercise Harris’ fifth-year option, which would have kept him under club control through 2025. However, the Steelers ultimately reversed course and declined the option, which puts their RB1 on track to hit free agency next year.

Harris has been a model of durability and consistency throughout his three-year professional tenure, starting all 17 regular season games and topping 1,000 rushing yards each year. On the other hand, his heavy usage and efficiency issues — he has a career YPC rate of just 3.9 — likely informed the team’s decision to decline his option.

Despite their passing on the option, we heard that the Steelers would nonetheless be open to working out a deal that would keep Harris in the fold beyond 2024. The team’s policy of not negotiating contracts in-season and Harris’ own public frustrations with running backs having to settle for team-friendly pacts would seem to work against such a deal coming to fruition, so Dulac’s prediction is a noteworthy one.

Speaking of predictions from longtime Pittsburgh beats, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic says it would demonstrate “a lack of awareness and urgency if [the Steelers] don’t add a legit No. 2 [wide receiver] before the season starts,” and he believes the club will do just that (subscription required). Kaboly does not hazard a guess as to whom the Steelers might pursue, and 49ers GM John Lynch said his team is no longer talking trades involving Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk (Pittsburgh was one of the clubs eyeing Samuel).

Needless to say, a trade could come together at any time, and the trade market would seem to be a more likely source of WR2 talent than the free agent pool at this point in the year. At present, Hunter Renfrow (who is more of a slot option) and Michael Thomas (who has not turned in a healthy, productive season since 2019) profile as two of the top free agents available. In the meantime, players like Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III, Scotty Miller, Quez Watkins, Marquez Callaway, Denzel Mims, and third-round rookie Roman Wilson are competing for reps behind George Pickens.

Cameron Heyward Seeking Two-Year Extension, Wants To Finish Career With Steelers

June 7th, 2024 at 10:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

Cameron Heyward has made it known he wants another Steelers extension, and the team typically completes deals with its re-up candidates before Week 1. As of now, the standout defensive lineman remains tied to the four-year, $65.6MM contract he signed back in 2020.

The Steelers have Heyward tied to a $16MM base salary and $22.4MM cap number this year, with the deal expiring after the 2024 season. Coming off an injury-plagued season, Heyward has still been one of the best defensive linemen in Steelers history. He ripped off a run of six Pro Bowls and four All-Pro nods (three as a first-teamer) from 2017-22 and does not look to be planning a near-future retirement.

Heyward is believed to be targeting a two-year deal ahead of his age-35 season, according to The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly (subscription required). This comes after a Heyward comment in January that did not guarantee he would even return for the 2024 season. The 2011 first-round pick signing a fourth Steelers contract would drop his 2024 cap number, but no agreement appears imminent.

Heyward did, however, return to OTAs this week after missing some time due to this contract situation. And he has no designs on testing free agency in 2025.

“There has been communication but nothing really to report on right now,” Heyward said of contract talks. “There are certain guys who are one-helmet guys. I want to be one of these one-helmet guys. There is a hunger and desire there, but that doesn’t mean hanging it up and calling it a career. I have more bullets to fire.”

Teaming with T.J. Watt to form one of the NFL’s best inside-outside pass-rushing duos in the modern era, Heyward said (via Kaboly) he is aiming to play through at least 2026. That would explain the two-year extension pursuit. It is not known what the Steelers have offered, if anything, at this point, but Heyward is coming off a down season.

The longtime interior D-lineman missed six games and underwent two surgeries — both groin procedures, the second of which coming just after the season — in a five-month span. Heyward finished last season with just two sacks and six tackles for loss, numbers out of step with the upper-echelon work he displayed in recent years. It would make sense if the Steelers were hesitant about authorizing another extension, seeing as Heyward’s production dipped during his injury-shortened season. Heyward is also the NFL’s oldest active D-lineman, though he is just two months older than the Saints’ Cameron Jordan.

The latter 2011 first-round draftee’s two-year, $26.5MM extension could be a roadmap for the Steelers, even if the two Cams do not function in the same role despite both technically labeled defensive ends. The Steelers’ 3-4 scheme features extensive inside-rushing work from Heyward, whereas Jordan has operated as an edge rusher throughout his career. Both Heyward and Jordan made the Pro Bowl each year from 2017-22.

The D-tackle market, after a 2023 boom that created a second tier and then this offseason’s Chris Jones and Christian Wilkins pacts, has changed dramatically since the Steelers extended Heyward in 2020. The impact defender — attached to a $16.4MM-per-year number — has dropped to 20th at his position in terms of AAV.

“I am looking to be here,” Heyward said. “The value is what we decide, but I think, for me, I want to be valued at my position. I understand I came off a rough season, but I don’t think it is a step down of where I can play. I think when I’m at the top of my game, I’m still a top-five player at my position. I play the run and the pass and I bring leadership, and it’s not anything I discount.”

Unless a new deal comes together quickly, Kaboly adds Heyward is not certain to participate in Pittsburgh’s minicamp. The veteran will attend, however. He staged a hold-in back in 2020, as a new CBA with language designed to curb holdouts was ratified, before signing his four-year extension.

The Steelers have both Watt and Alex Highsmith signed to big-ticket deals, and Minkah Fitzpatrick remains tied to a top-three safety accord. The team gave Patrick Queen a three-year, $41MM contract in March. The team is saving considerable money at quarterback due to its Russell Wilson–Justin Fields setup. With Diontae Johnson off the roster, no eight-figure-per-year contract is present on the offensive side of the ball for the Steelers.

This setup opens the door for defensive spending, but the Steelers’ front office will need to gauge how much more Heyward contributions it can expect as he aims to play into his late 30s.

Steelers Bring Back CB Cameron Sutton

June 7th, 2024 at 3:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

JUNE 7: Sutton will indeed come back to Pittsburgh for the league minimum. His $1.21MM base salary matches Russell Wilson‘s, though KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes the veteran cornerback will count $985K against the Steelers’ cap. Unlike Wilson, the Steelers did not guarantee Sutton any money, per OverTheCap.

JUNE 5: The Steelers already met with Cameron Sutton in the wake of his Lions release. The parties are huddling up again Wednesday, and a reunion will come to pass. Sutton is expected to rejoin the Steelers, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac.

A one-year contract worth the veteran minimum is the anticipated outcome here, Dulac adds. This would be a major step back for a player who was tied to an $11MM-per-year deal entering the offseason, but a domestic violence arrest brought a quick end to Sutton’s Detroit tenure. Sutton’s Pittsburgh return is indeed a go, with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero confirming the sides have another deal in place.

A Steelers draft choice who played six seasons with the team, Sutton spent one season with the Lions. Several weeks after Detroit designated the veteran starter as a post-June 1 cut, Pittsburgh will sign off on another agreement. The initial Steelers-Sutton meeting occurred back in April, and although a suspension is expected in connection with Sutton’s arrest on a domestic battery by strangulation charge, the Mike Tomlin-Omar Khan tandem is comfortable greenlighting a reunion.

An early-March arrest warrant went out for Sutton, but the seven-year veteran did not turn himself in for more than three weeks. Sutton, 29, had been seen at the Lions’ facility between the warrant emerging and his eventual arrest. The Lions moved on from Sutton’s three-year, $33MM deal a day after the report of the warrant surfaced.

Police responded to a call pertaining to an alleged domestic incident in Lutz, Florida. Sutton fled the scene after this alleged battery; evidence of wounds was present on the woman’s body. Sutton owns a home in Pinellas County, Florida. It is not known if Sutton will be suspended this season, but that seems likely. Under the NFL’s personal conduct policy, players do not need to be convicted of crimes to receive NFL bans.

This certainly produces an interesting addition for the Steelers, who used Sutton as their No. 1 corner for a stretch earlier this decade. Sutton played well on the two-year, $9MM deal he signed in 2021, leading to the Lions’ pricier commitment last year. Sutton will have a chance to carve out a role in a CB contingent headed by 2023 second-round pick Joey Porter Jr. and recent trade acquisition Donte Jackson. Sutton started 39 games for the Steelers from 2017-22; 31 of those starts came between the 2021 and ’22 seasons.

The Steelers were believed to be interested in a third Sutton contract in 2023, but the team’s offer did not approach where the Lions went in free agency. Pittsburgh instead opted for a cheaper deal with Patrick Peterson, whom the team released earlier this offseason, and the Porter pick at No. 32 overall. Another Peterson deal had not been ruled out previously, but this Sutton signing would stand to reduce the chances the likely Hall of Famer returns.

Sutton is coming off a down season in Detroit. Pro Football Focus ranked the 5-foot-11 cover man 104th (out of 127 regulars) at the position in 2023, and the Lions have gone through with an overhaul at the position. Under Tomlin and DC Teryl Austin in 2022, however, Sutton finished in the top five (among corners) in passer rating allowed as the closest defender, per Next Gen Stats; he ended that season with a career-high 15 passes defensed. The Steelers will see if Sutton can rebound back in their system.

How the Steelers configure their reshaped CB group will be interesting. Although Sutton has experience in the slot, he has primarily been a boundary defender in recent years. The Steelers waited until Round 6 (Ryan Watts) to draft a corner this year. Via offset language, this agreement stands to cut into the dead money the Lions will see over the next two offseasons. Detroit took on $8.72MM in Sutton dead money this offseason.

Minor NFL Transactions: 6/5/24

June 5th, 2024 at 4:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

  • Released from IR via injury settlement: OL Ilm Manning

Cleveland Browns

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Waived/injured: WR David White

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

White suffered a torn ACL during one of the Jaguars’ practices last week, Doug Pederson said recently. The Jags signed White as a UDFA following a career at Western Carolina. White will revert to the Jags’ IR list if unclaimed, with this process generally leading to an injury settlement that moves the player off the team’s roster. White was among five UDFAs receivers the Jags signed this year.

A sixth-round Titans draftee back in 2021, Breeze was most recently with the Texans. He spent the second half of last season on Houston’s practice squad, staying on the AFC South champions’ 16-man unit until season’s end. No reserve/futures contract emerged for the Oregon alum, however. Breeze has played in 11 career games, splitting his career in Tennessee and Detroit.

Minor NFL Transactions: 6/4/24

June 4th, 2024 at 8:03pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Claimed off waivers (from Patriots): OL Andrew Stueber
  • Waived: WR JaQuae Jackson

Buffalo Bills

  • Signed: LB Shayne Simon
  • Waived/injured: OL Tommy Doyle

Cleveland Browns

Houston Texans

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Commanders

After missing most of the past two seasons due to a knee injury, Ryan Jensen announced back in February that he was going to retire. The Buccaneers made the move official today, although that won’t be the end of their cap commitment to the offensive lineman. As Greg Auman of FOX Sports notes, since Jensen’s contract was pro-rated, the Buccaneers will be hit with a combined $16.6MM in dead cap over the next two seasons.

The Browns cleared up their depth chart a bit by cutting kicker Lucas Havrisik, leaving the organization with Dustin Hopkins and Cade York to compete for the starting job. Havrisik got into nine games with the Rams last season, connecting on 15 of his 20 field goal tries and 19 of his 22 extra points. In other kicker moves, the Commanders have added Ramiz Ahmed in the wake of the Brandon McManus release.

AFC Staff Updates: Shazier, Ravens, Chiefs

June 3rd, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Patrick Queen has arrived in Pittsburgh and the Steelers are hoping that he will fill the role as a top three-down, off-ball linebacker that the defense has lacked since the medical retirement of Ryan Shazier. While Shazier can’t put on the pads and join Queen out there, the Steelers may be getting the next best thing, as Shazier has been assisting the coaching staff during the first two weeks of organized team activities, according to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic.

Shazier isn’t working with the linebackers right now, as you may rightfully assume. The former linebacker is reportedly helping out running backs coach Eddie Faulkner in OTAs. Still, Shazier will be around for Queen to pick his mind, and after seeing how much Queen’s game improved with the arrival of a leader like Roquan Smith in Baltimore, having Shazier on the sideline may be just what Queen needs as he regains an LB1 role.

Here are a few other staff updates from around the AFC, starting with a couple of departures in Queen’s old clubhouse:

  • The Ravens are saying goodbye to three longtime staffers from their front office this offseason. The team announced today that senior advisor to the general manager Pat Moriarty, senior player personnel executive Vincent Newsome, and senior video operations advisor Jon Dube are all transitioning out of their roles. Moriarty has been with the franchise since they were the Browns in 1994. He has long been key in the team’s management of their salary cap. Newsome, a former NFL safety, worked as a high-profile pro scouting executive, analyzing other rosters and keeping a close eye on the waiver wire. The team tabs him as being instrumental in the acquisition of such key veterans in the past as Matt Birk, Anquan Boldin, Elvis Dumervil, Steve Smith, and Eric Weddle.
  • Lastly, the Chiefs recently promoted Will Christopherson, per Neil Stratton of SucceedinFootball.com. Christopherson had been working as an NFS scout since joining Kansas City in 2022. He’ll now work as an area scout, patrolling the mid-Atlantic region.

Minor NFL Transactions: 6/3/24

June 3rd, 2024 at 7:55pm CST by Ely Allen

Monday’s minor NFL moves:

New England Patriots

  • Signed: WR David Wallis
  • Waived: OL Andrew Stueber

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Patriots are letting go of 2022 seventh-round pick Stueber. In two years with the team, the Michigan-product has yet to appear in an NFL contest, spending his rookie season on the reserve/non-football injury list and his sophomore campaign on the practice squad. He’s replaced by Wallis, an undrafted rookie free agent out of Randolph-Macon College. Wallis had attended New England’s rookie minicamp on a tryout basis and left without a deal, but he’ll get an opportunity now. In 42 games at the Division III level, Wallis caught 146 balls for 3,144 yards and 34 touchdowns.

Jenkins is an undrafted free agent from last offseason. Coming out of LSU, he signed with the Jaguars but was released from IR at the start of the season. He’ll now have a chance to make a depth impact in a Steelers receiving corps with question marks behind the presumed starters. He takes the spot of Barcoo, who hasn’t appeared in an NFL contest since 2020.

Steelers Sign Round 1 T Troy Fautanu

June 3rd, 2024 at 4:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

Using a first-round pick on a tackle for the second straight year, the Steelers have revamped their situation at this position. The more recent of the two investments, No. 20 overall pick Troy Fautanu, is now signed.

The Steelers agreed to terms with Fautanu on Monday, locking him down through the 2027 season. This contract, as all first-rounders’ do, includes a fifth-year option that will need to be exercised or declined by May 2027. Fautanu joins Broderick Jones as Pittsburgh’s hopeful long-term tackle answers.

Rumors about Pittsburgh using Fautanu at right tackle, and sliding Jones to the left side have emerged, but the team could also opt to bring the Washington product along slowly — as it did Jones in 2023. The team still rosters three-year LT starter Dan Moore, though he has struggled at points over the course of his rookie deal. One season remains on Moore’s rookie contract, pointing to a near-future reality in which the Steelers roll out a Jones-Fautanu tandem.

The Steelers viewed Fautanu as a superior prospect to Jones and looked into trade-up avenues, but the recent left tackle starter for the national championship game-bound Huskies dropped to No. 20 in a tackle-rich draft. Playing left tackle opposite eventual second-round Ravens draftee Roger Rosengarten, Fautanu became a high-end tackle prospect during his Washington stay. The 6-foot-4, 317-pound blocker earned first-team All-Pac-12 acclaim while blocking for Michael Penix Jr.

It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh arranges its blockers come Week 1. The team kept Jones on the bench behind Moore and then-RT Chukwuma Okorafor to start last season, but the Georgia prospect took over on the right side midway through. The Steelers cut Okorafor earlier this offseason; he is now competing for the Patriots’ LT post. One of the team’s first-round tackle investments will be a right tackle in the not-too-distant future, however, as Moore’s time in Pittsburgh appears to be winding down.

Should Fautanu supplant Moore as a starter, this season will mark a shift for a Steelers team that has used midlevel investments at tackle for many years. Jones represented the first Round 1 tackle to see extended time with the Steelers since Wayne Gandy in 2002. The team has used an array of blockers chosen outside the first round, most recently slotting the likes of Moore (fourth round), Okorafor (third round) and UDFA Alejandro Villanueva into its lineup. The Steelers will aim for a higher ceiling with Jones and Fautanu.

Latest On Steelers’ Depth At OLB

June 1st, 2024 at 3:45pm CST by Ely Allen

Outside linebacker is not a position of need for the Steelers. Star pass rusher T.J. Watt led the NFL last year with 19.0 sacks, and though the team’s other starter Alex Highsmith only notched seven last year, he showed what he’s capable of with a 14.5-sack campaign in 2022. Those two are going to be on the field a majority of the time, but after watching Watt miss the playoffs last year and seeing an aged Markus Golden depart in free agency, Pittsburgh has made a number of offseason moves to solidify their depth at the position.

Last year’s rookie fourth-round pick out of Wisconsin, Nick Herbig, is the only other edge rusher returning from last year’s roster. According to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, Herbig is getting first dibs at the OLB3-role in 2024. In his first season of NFL play, Herbig saw less than a quarter of the snaps that Watt and Highsmith did but was up there in playing time with Golden. Despite the limited snaps, Herbig made the most of his time on the field, logging 27 tackles, five tackles for loss, three sacks, three quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.

That means this year’s rookie third-round pick, NC State’s Payton Wilson, will not be the first outside linebacker off the bench in his first season. Wilson also wasn’t necessarily known as a pass rusher in Raleigh, so it might just mean that Herbig and Wilson will sport different roles in 2024. Herbig may be the first player off the bench in pass rushing situations, and Wilson may be the first guy in during rushing or drop back scenarios. Wilson is on the roster as an outside linebacker for the Steelers as Patrick Queen, Cole Holcomb, and Elandon Roberts patrol the middle. Wilson was disruptive in college, sporting 48.0 tackles for loss to his name, but only logged 15.0 sacks in that time. His versatility as a linebacker with seven career interceptions and 20 passes defensed in college mean that Wilson and Herbig could both be utilized off the bench equally but in very different situations.

Another offseason addition the team made was the claiming of former division-rival Jeremiah Moon off of waivers. A former undrafted player from Florida, Moon spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad for the Ravens but made one start in eight game appearances in 2023. Like Wilson, Moon has never been much of a pass rusher but was an effective tackler during his time in Gainesville.

Joining the position room as rookies alongside Wilson are undrafted signees Julius Welschof and Jacoby Windmon. Windmon, who saw time in college at UNLV and Michigan State, is more in the mold of Wilson and Moon. Welschof, who attended school at Michigan and Charlotte, is a former defensive lineman, though he wasn’t much of an established pass rusher in college.

While Golden only played 70 more snaps in the regular season than Herbig in 2023, when Watt was injured in the playoffs, that OLB3 role became huge. With Watt being no stranger to injury over the past two seasons, who will man that role going forward is an important distinction. As of right now, Herbig is getting the first opportunity to earn that role. He’ll likely hold onto that responsibility as the top pass rusher off the bench while Moon and the rookies fill more versatile roles on the defense in 2024.

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