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The Pittsburgh Steelers entered 2019 with Vance McDonald at tight end. At the time, it looked just fine, as McDonald had a breakout 2018 campaign.
But then, McDonald went on to log just 38 catches for 273 yards and three touchdowns, highlighting the Steelers' need for a more productive tight end entering free agency.
Now, to be fair to McDonald, it's not like Pittsburgh's quarterback situation was great this past year, as Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges handled the position for most of the season.
Still, prior to 2018, McDonald had never even posted 400 yards in a single season, so perhaps his breakthrough year was more of a mirage than anything else.
As a result, the Steelers have signed Eric Ebron to bolster their pass-catching corps, and it should prove to be a very good move.
First of all, it was a two-year, $12 million deal. That is a very cheap contract for a guy who is two seasons removed from registering 13 touchdown catches. Yes, he was limited to just 11 games in 2019 due to ankle surgery, but his potential as a red-zone threat is obvious.
Second, the Steelers will be getting Ben Roethlisberger back in 2020. Now, whether or not Roethlisberger will be 100 percent at age 38 after missing most of 2019 is a legitimate question. But lets for a second assume that Roethlisberger will, at the very least, be a significant upgrade over what Pittsburgh trotted out under center this past season.
Adding Ebron into the mix will absolutely bolster an offense that was in dire need of a boost, because before bringing in Ebron, the pass-catching corps was basically JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson and, well, not a whole lot else.
Not only does Ebron represent a big target in the red zone, but he is a guy who can consistently catch passes and move the chains, which is something the Steelers didn't really have in McDonald.
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Ebron has twice caught over 60 passes, and he has also finished with over 700 yards twice, so he has a track record of being productive.
With Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown gone, Pittsburgh is still trying to recover offensively. We don't really have much of a sample size to go off of yet, because, again, Roethlisberger played just two games in 2019, but what we have seen thus far hasn't been good.
Fortunately, Smith-Schuster and Johnson both have potential (Smith-Schuster has already shown it), and Ebron will serve as a buffer and as someone who can provide the Steelers' aerial attack with some balance.
Is he Travis Kelce or George Kittle? No, but he is still a solid tight end who should absolutely make Pittsburgh's offense better.
Pittsburgh did not have a ton of cap space entering free agency, so it had to rely on shrewd signings to improve. Ebron is just that; a guy who can come in and give Roethlisberger a security blanket while helping open up Smith-Schuster and Johnson downfield.
It remains to be seen just how good the Steelers' offense will be in 2020. Like I said: it depends a whole lot on Roethlisberger's health. But Ebron definitely makes Pittsburgh a more threatening unit than it was this past year.
