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The Pittsburgh Steelers saw another mediocre season end with an early playoff exit in 2024, matching their status quo over the last decade. Without many other options, the Steelers are forced to pursue a trade in the 2025 NFL offseason if they ever wish to break the pattern.
After beginning the year at 10-3, the Steelers lost their last five games of the year. Practically everything fell apart at the seams, but the consistent approach Mike Tomlin instilled on both sides of the ball dissolved down the stretch. Entering the offseason, a significant portion of the team enters free agency, giving Pittsburgh a lot of cap space to work with.
Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Najee Harris, Van Jefferson, Cameron Sutton, Donte Jackson and many key players will become unrestricted free agents in March. Few teams will endure more turnover than the Steelers are potentially on track for over the offseason.
While the influx of cap space gives them flexibility in free agency, the Steelers will need to be active in the trade market to sustain themselves in the 2025 NFL offseason. Depending on who they are able to maintain, Pittsburgh could be in store for wholesale changes over the summer.
CB James Bradberry
The Steelers are set with Joey Porter Jr., who has emerged as one of the top defenders in the league, as their top cornerback. However, they have yet to find a competent counterpart to supplement him on the left side.
Jackson, a seven-year veteran, started opposite of Porter in 2024, to mixed results. Jackson ended the year with a mere 50 player grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking in the bottom 20 percent of the position. He signed a one-year deal in the 2024 offseason, making it likely the Steelers let him walk in 2025.
Re-signing Sutton, who started in the slot for most of the year, would be a bigger priority. However, injuries limited a 29-year-old Sutton to a career-low nine games in 2024. If general manager Omar Khan can work out a team-friendly deal, Pittsburgh would welcome him back to the team with open arms, but there is still a fair chance he will also find a new home.
Either way, Sutton is no longer the player he once was earlier in his career. The Steelers still need a suitable running mate for Porter, which they could find in James Bradberry. The eight-year veteran missed the entire 2024 season, forcing him to watch rookies Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean thrive in his absence. Bradberry is set to enter a contract year in 2025, one that will see him rake in over $5 million.
With Mitchell and DeJean firmly locked into the Philadelphia secondary, Bradberry's contract has become a huge liability. He is more than likely to play for a new team in 2025, giving the Steelers an opportunity to strike with a trade offer.
WR Deebo Samuel
Few players of Deebo Samuel's caliber had a worse 2024 than he did. A drop-filled season resulted in just 806 scrimmage yards, the fewest of his career since an injury-riddled 2020 campaign. With the San Francisco 49ers prepared to negotiate several lucrative extensions in the 2025 NFL offseason, Samuel is one of the marquee names at the top of the trade block.
Even if the 49ers are not looking to move him, Samuel could very well force his way out. Once known as the engine of the San Francisco offense, he will potentially enter 2025 as the fourth or fifth option in the passing game. Jauan Jennings' fourth-year emergence and rookie Ricky Pearsall continued development could easily surpass him in the pecking order. Samuel is just three years removed from requesting a trade before signing a pricey extension.
Regardless of the concerns, Samuel is still one of the league's most diverse and dynamic receivers when healthy. The Steelers desperately need help at wideout. Nobody knows what will happen with George Pickens in the 2025 NFL offseason, but even if he returns to Pittsburgh for another year, he has never had stable help to truly elevate the passing game.
Entering 2025, Samuel will have one year left on his current contract, a $15 million cap hit. The price will be high, but it may be one that could finally elevate the Steelers' offense past its current vanilla form.
