The Steelers Are Just Throwing Shit at the Wall to See What Sticks

The Steelers have made plenty of uncharacteristic moves this offseason, but it's not clear that they actually got better.

In one of the biggest moves of the offseason (at least, on paper), the Pittsburgh Steelers traded safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a 5th-round pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith, and a 7th-round pick.  This trade is notable for a few reasons: a) this was, by and large, a rare player-for-player swap, with the two centerpieces (Fitzpatrick and Ramsey) being the coveted assets, instead of a prime pick; b) the Dolphins and Ramsey had no future together after the three-time All Pro requested a trade back in April, and the fact they were able to acquire an All Pro of their own was more than a little surprising; and c) the Steelers to continue to buck franchise trends by utilizing the trade market to a until-now unforeseen extent.

The fun part about a trade like this is, instead of waiting until next year to see which college athlete a team turns their draft pick into, we get to see how these players affect their rosters now.  The payoff is immediate (perhaps not always on the field, but from the fan perspective at least).

On the surface, this move makes sense for both sides.  The Dolphins needed to end the Ramsey drama one way or another.  Acquiring an elite safety – and someone who donned a Dolphins uniform for the first two seasons of his career – is a pretty sweet consolation prize for someone who was never going to play another down for the team.  Getting a fifth-round pick as a sweetener isn’t too bad either.

For the Steelers, this continues their “go-for-it” offseason.  You thought Aaron Rodgers was splashy?  So far this season, the Steelers have said goodbye to mainstays like George Pickens, Najee Harris and Fitzpatrick, and brought in household names like D.K. Metcalf, Ramsey and the aforementioned Rodgers.  For a team that typically likes to build in-house through the draft, this is a culture shock like no other.

The Dolphins needed to make this move – even a diminished Fitzpatrick (just one interception over his last two seasons) is still a quality player, and while Smith is a fine player at tight end, he’s more than replaceable, as evidenced by the Dolphins literally replacing him with the until-recently retired Darren Waller in another trade.  The Dolphins still intend on contending.  In order to stay in the theoretical hunt, the Dolphins needed to keep the talent level on their team steady, and that’s exactly what they did by bringing in Fitzpatrick.

As for the Steelers, though, this move is puzzling.  It’s fair to say that Fitzpatrick is not the same player he was three years ago when he was coming off his third All-Pro season, but it’s the same story for Ramsey.  Plus, Ramsey is older, and is locked in to a much more expensive contract that doesn’t expire until 2029.  And the addition of Smith adds confusion to a suddenly very crowded tight end room.  He does have familiarity with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, but with Pat Freiermuth established as the top dog at tight end, it’s hard to see where Smith fits in unless the Steelers are going to be running two-tight end sets indefinitely.

It’s likely the Steelers looked around their own division – with the Bengals sporting an elite tandem at receiver with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and the Ravens having a collection of pass catchers including Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely – and calculated that cornerback was a massive priority.  In fact, it was apparently worth it, in the Steelers’ calculus, to weaken an area of strength (safety) in order to fortify the cornerback position.

Well, corner has certainly been reinforced, though whether it’s to the degree the Steelers are imagining is difficult to say.  Ramsey is a very good player, but like Fitzpatrick, it’s been three years since he was playing at an All-Pro level.  Fitzpatrick may have made the Pro Bowl in 2024 mostly based on reputation rather than on-field performance, but what does that say about Ramsey, who missed the Pro Bowl for the first time since 2019 and for just the second time in his Hall-of-Fame career?

It should also be noted that Ramsey wasn’t the only cornerback addition the Steelers made in their defensive arms race to contain the explosive offenses in the AFC North.  Darius Slay, who won a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles last year, was also signed after being released by the Eagles.  Slay, like Ramsey, has an impressive resumé, but 2024 was a serious down year.  He missed the Pro Bowl after three-consecutive appearances, and also struggled with injuries, missing a combined eight games over the last two seasons.  He also failed to secure an interception for the first time since his rookie season.

It’s not like Ramsey or Slay are getting any younger either.  Ramsey will turn 31 this year, and Slay is already 34.  Cornerback is, traditionally, not a position that ages gracefully.  Speed, suddenness, reflexes – these are all traits corners rely on and they’re traits that don’t tend to improve as human beings get older.

The Steelers do have youth at the position with Joey Porter Jr. going into his third season, but he’s had an up-and-down career to this point.  The rest of the depth chart doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence either.  The Steelers will be relying on two veterans to stave off Father Time, and to do so without one of the league’s best safety-blankets (Fitzpatrick) protecting them on the back end.  You know who’s salivating at the idea of facing an aging Ramsey and Slay in one-on-one coverage without safety help over the top?  Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, that’s who.

The question marks go beyond the cornerback position too.  Question marks surround just about every move the Steelers made.

Is Aaron Rodgers even a good quarterback anymore, and if he is, is he really worth the headache?  Is D.K. Metcalf even an upgrade over George Pickens, even if Pickens was a walking-fight ready to break out?  Can Ramsey and Slay keep up anymore?  Can Juan Thornhill even be a 75% replacement for Fitzpatrick?  Nothing in Pittsburgh can be taken for granted.

And these are just the concerns surrounding their new additions.  There’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding their incumbents as well.  T.J. Watt is angling for a new contract, but the 30-year-old linebacker is coming off a mediocre (for him) season rushing the passer.  Cameron Hayward continues to be a beast in the interior defensive line, but he’s 36.  How much longer can the Steelers core continue to play at a high level on defense?

Offensively, there’s plenty of worries too.  The offensive line has been a problem for years, and though it appears they found a keeper in the second-round of the draft last year with center Zach Frazier, the rest of their investments in the line have left a lot to be desired.  Left tackle Broderick Jones was taken with the 14th pick in 2023, and he’s been a below-average tackle in the early-stages of his career.  Right tackle Troy Fautanu missed all but one game last year during his rookie season and is largely unproven.  Left guard Mason McCormick looks like a glaring weak spot on the line, while right guard Isaac Seumalo is solid, but nothing more.

The skill positions can’t be overlooked either.  Metcalf is a good player, but he’s one-dimensional and hasn’t developed the route-running to be a threat at every level of the defense.  He can burn just about anyone, but then again, so could Pickens.  Robert Woods, Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson don’t offer much behind Metcalf either, so more pressure will be put on Freiermuth and Smith at tight end to pick up the slack.  Freiermuth and Smith are both good players, but neither offer the kind of upside the Steelers need to really take pressure off teams who will undoubtedly double Metcalf at every possible opportunity.

Even running back isn’t a given to be an improvement over what they had in 2024.  Najee Harris and his three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust running style are gone, and to replace him, the Steelers drafted an almost exact carbon-copy in Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson.  Shifty, change-of-pace back Jaylen Warren will likely get an opportunity to prove himself as the lead back in 2025, but there’s a reason the Steelers have been reluctant to give him that kind of work.  He’s dynamic and a very good receiver out of the backfield, but this was his least efficient season as a pro and fumbles continue to be a recurring element of his game.

It’s obvious to anyone who’s been following the Steelers this offseason that their sights are set on the Super Bowl, but the path they’ve chosen is as head-scratching as trying to understand why someone would prefer Big K cola over Classic Coke.  The Steelers, for the most part, made lateral moves that didn’t really upgrade an aging roster.  They just swapped out big names for even bigger names, without getting a corresponding bump in on-field performance.  There’s no guarantee Rodgers is better than Russell Wilson was last year, and the same can be said for Metcalf/Pickens or Ramsey/Fitzpatrick.  For once, the Steelers made splashes in an offseason, but while those splashes would appear to be tidal waves based on reputation, the reality is they’re not much more than ripples.