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The Pittsburgh Steelers had an incredibly interesting 2019 season. It started in the offseason, with the crazy situation involving Antonio Brown.
The receiver was not happy and demanded a trade. That was granted to the Buffalo Bills, but then it wasn't. The trade fell through, but they eventually worked out a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders (then Oakland Raiders).
By the time the season started, all that was figured out, but Brown was still a talking point. With the season underway, it was supposed to be smooth sailing though.
That didn't happen. Ben Roethlisberger played in two games before an injury ended his season.
Without their superstar quarterback, things kind of took a tumble. They started the year 0-3. However, there was hope. That hope came in the form of newly acquired defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick.
With Fitzpatrick playing like a defensive player of the year candidate, the Steelers were much better. They went from 0-3, to 1-3, to 1-4 all the way to 5-4. After losing to drop down to 5-5, the Steelers won three straight to bounce up to 8-5. However, the winning stopped their for Pittsburgh and they ended the season 8-8.
Clearly, a lot of the right pieces are in place. With Roethlisberger set to return in 2020, they could be contenders for the Super Bowl if they add a few more key contributors. However, they need to be careful.
Here are two free agents the Steelers should avoid this offseason.
Antonio Brown
I had to do this one, because it actually makes some sense. Brown was making his apology tour, and that included (sort of) apologizing to Roethlisberger.
Meanwhile, the Steelers could desperately use some more weapons.
JuJu Smith-Schuster was supposed to be an even bigger star with Brown gone, but season one of that experiment was a flop. The receiver played in 12 games, reeling in just 42 receptions for 552 yards and three touchdowns. That came after a 2018 season that saw him rack up 111 receptions for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns.
While it might have just been a fluke season, it's hard to ignore the fact that Brown wasn't there to take eyes off of Smith-Schuster.
So maybe the Steelers should consider bringing Brown back, right? Wrong.
Pittsburgh can go after a number of great-to-good receivers and tight ends that could help the situation. Just make it so that Smith-Schuster has another big name next to him. Then James Washington and Diontae Johnson will be even better as well.
Brown is one of the best receivers the NFL has seen over the last few seasons. However, we've already seen the issues that were caused in Pittsburgh. The fact that they only got worse over the course of the last season should be enough to keep them away.
Brown could go somewhere, calm down and be great. But the Steelers don't need to open up that bag again.
Ryan Tannehill
The Steelers need a backup quarterback. That was proven last season. Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges had their moments, but also created some serious problems.
Pittsburgh lost quite a few games last season because one (or both) of those two struggled mightily, and kept them out of reach.
Roethlisberger will be 38 for the entirety of the 2020 season. After appearing in just two games in 2019, you have to wonder how much football he has left, and if he'll be able to remain healthy for a full season.
So Pittsburgh will definitely want someone who can replace him if need be.
Ryan Tannehill is coming off a breakout year that put him back in a good light. It also means he's going to be a little more expensive though. That isn't terrible, but he's still a risk, as shown by his 2019 postseason numbers.
Tannehill will be intriguing because they can sign him to a longer deal and have him set to replace Roethlisberger. What if Roethlisberger stays healthy and doesn't want to retire though? Then you're stuck with a slightly bigger contract.
Tannehill is too much of a risk to put money into when you still have someone ahead of him.
Instead, go after Blake Bortles, or someone who will be happy to take a cheap deal, but could still be a great option should Roethlisberger go down.
