The 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers campaign was the first in nearly 20 years without Ben Roethlisberger. And while it looked bleak for a while, Kenny Pickett and company came around and kept Mike Tomlin’s record of never finishing below .500 intact. Now the team heads into the 2023 offseason, so here are a few bold Steelers offseason predictions.
After a 2-6 start, the Steelers rebounded in the second half, finishing 7-2 down the stretch, including four straight wins to finish the season. Along the way, the team’s defense stepped up, the offensive line gelled, and Kenny Pickett looked like a legit NFL QB.
In 2023, the team is looking to make the leap from 9-8 to playoff contention, and if they can fix a few major holes on the roster, they should be able to do that this NFL offseason. With that in mind, here are a few bold Steelers offseason predictions.
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4. Sign LT Taylor Lewan
The Steelers came into the season with one of the presumed worst offensive lines in the league. And in the first half, that fact bared out. However, once the team settled on a lineup of LT Dan Moore Jr., LG Kevin Dotson, C Mason Cole, RG James Daniels, and RT Chukwuma Okorafor.
For the most part, this group is solid and will continue through the 2023 NFL offseason and into the next campaign. The one exception is left tackle Dan Moore Jr. The lineman struggled all season and finding an upgrade should be a priority.
Luckily for the Steelers, a franchise left tackle just hit the market when the Tennessee Titans cut Taylor Lewan.
Lewan was the No. 11 pick of the 2014 NFL draft and started 100 of his next 105 games in the NFL while making three Pro Bowls along the way. The tackle-turned-Barstool-podcaster has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, missing 30 games in the last three seasons.
That said, when healthy, Lewan is still one of the best blindside protectors, and the bold Steelers offseason prediction here is that the team takes a chance on the veteran.
3. Cut QB Mitchell Trubisky
Along with drafting Kenny Pickett in the first-round last season, the Steelers also brought in veteran QB Mitchell Trubisky to start the season in case Pickett wasn’t ready. By Week 5, though, Pickett was the team’s starting QB.
Now, Trubisky is still on the books for $10.6 million. That’s a big number for a quarterback who won’t play much, if at all in 2023, especially because the Steelers are just in the bottom half of the league at $-328,887 over the salary cap.
Trubisky only has $2.6 million in dead cap, so cutting him loose will save the team $8 million.
This is a cut that needs to happen, and then the team can address the backup QB spot. They can either sign a low-cost veteran to back up Pickett, or they can bring back Mason Rudolph, who would be interested in returning if Trubisky leaves town.
2. Draft CB Christian Gonzalez
The 2023 NFL Draft is a defensive-heavy draft, especially in the secondary. That works out perfectly for the Steelers, who are in danger of losing cornerback Cameron Sutton in free agency this NFL offseason.
The best way to safeguard against losing a top CB is drafting another one in the 2023 NFL Draft with pick No. 17.
The ideal pick for the Steelers at this spot is Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez. The former Duck is 6-foot-2 and a prototypical outside cover corner who can step right in and replace Sutton in a one-for-one way. However, the thing that makes Gonzalez a great pick is that he also makes sense if Sutton stays.
In addition to his height and strength, Gonzalez is also blazing fast and lightning quick. That means he could easily jump into the slot if that ends up being the Steelers' area of need this NFL offseason.
1. Get Kenny Pickett to the next level
The final bold Steelers prediction is that the offensive coaching staff does everything they can to get Kenny Pickett to the next level in 2023.
Matt Canada is coming back as offensive coordinator in 2023, and whether Steelers fans like that or not, he does have a solid understanding of Pickett. And this is crucial as nearly all great NFL QBs make their big leap between year one and year two.
There are some notable exceptions, such as Troy Aikman and Josh Allen, who developed slightly later, but overall, if Pickett isn’t demonstrably better next season, he may never turn into a Pro Bowl signal-caller. That's what's at stake for the QB this NFL offseason.