Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert has 18 players on his roster who will become unrestricted free agents in March. Five of them are in the secondary, a position group that could be in flux this offseason.
Of the four starters in the Steelers secondary, two are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents and two others are entering the final year of their contracts.
There might not be another position group on the team that has to get sorted out as much as this unit.
One of the top priorities will be signing two-time All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to a contract extension. He will make $10.6 million on a fifth-year option the Steelers exercised last year if he’s not signed to a contract extension.
The highest-paid safety in the NFL, Jamal Adams of the Seahawks, earns an average of $17.5 million a year, so Fitzpatrick’s second contract will be in that range. And just as it happened with T.J. Watt last summer, a contract extension likely would not come until late summer.
“That’s not really on my terms,” Fitzpatrick said Tuesday in a Zoom call with reporters. “I would love to get it done to guarantee the future and have it all done, but that’s up to the people upstairs when they want to get that done. There are some things they want to get done before they sign me. They have free agency coming up and all that stuff. That’s up to them.”
There are other contracts the Steelers must address first. Cornerbacks Joe Haden, Ahkello Witherspoon, Arthur Maulet and strong safety Terrell Edmunds will be unrestricted free agents in March.
Cam Sutton, the starting corner opposite Haden this season, is in the second year of a two-year contract that he signed last March.
“My hope is to get everybody back,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think we had our bumps in the road, but I think we were a really good secondary this year. I think we were challenged a lot and held up for the most part.
“If we can bring as many people back as we can, then that’s what we need to do. Cohesion is extremely important in the secondary. It’s not just about how fast you can run, how great you can play. It’s about how well you can communicate, it’s about everyone being on the same page, it’s about everybody seeing things the same way. You have guys going all over the place in free agency. It’s not easy. Hopefully, we can bring back as many people as we can.”
Then there is the matter of retaining senior defensive assistant Teryl Austin, who has coached the secondary the past three seasons.
“T.A. is a great coach,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m not going to talk too good about him because I want him to stay in Pittsburgh. And I know everyone else is trying to get at him.
“I love his attention to detail, the way he approaches the game, the way he lets his players have a voice. He’s played in the past, so he has a natural love for the game. It’s definitely reflected in the way he coaches. And he has experience as well so there’s not too much that he hasn’t seen in his circuit around the league.”
Next step for Freiermuth
Only five tight ends caught more touchdowns than Pat Freiermuth last season. And only 11 had more receptions.
Freiermuth quickly established himself among the top tier of players at his position as a rookie, but there is one area where he would like to improve next season. He’d like to provide more big plays in the passing game.
Freiermuth caught 60 passes for 497 yards and seven touchdowns, but his 8.3 yards-per-catch average ranked 85th among all tight ends in the league in 2021.
“With the year I had this year, teams are going to watch the short and intermediate routes with me — those flat balls, curls and stuff like that,” Freiermuth said. “I definitely have to get more comfortable when I’m asked to run down the field more and run those deeper routes. This offseason is big for me, being able to showcase that I can do that. I definitely have to get the ball down the field more.”
Steelers sign 12 to futures contracts
The Steelers signed some developmental players to futures contracts on Tuesday, all of whom spent time on their practice squad during the season. Defensive linemen Daniel Archibong and Khalil Davis, offensive linemen Nathan Gilliam and Malcolm Pridgeon, receivers Rico Bussey and Tyler Vaughns, outside linebacker Delontae Scott, defensive back Linden Stephens, tight end Jace Sternberger, defensive back Donovan Stiner, kicker Sam Sloman and long snapper Rex Sunahara were added to the 90-man offseason roster.
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: January 18, 2022, 4:59 p.m.
Updated: January 18, 2022, 5:04 p.m.
