The Pittsburgh Steelers overhauled its inside linebacker room before the 2023 season after Devin Bush Jr., Robert Spillane, Myles Jack, and Mark Robinson failed to provide enough splash plays in 2022. Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts entered the mix during the initial free agency period, and Kwon Alexander was brought in later to fill out the starting roster. Things were going well for the unit until injuries to Holcomb and Alexander in successive weeks landed them on the shelf for the rest of the season. Pittsburgh tried to adjust by bringing in some veterans, like Jack back, to soften the blow. The unit struggled mightily without two starters, however.
Steelers insider for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Ray Fittipaldo joined host Christopher Carter on The North Shore Drive Podcast to discuss some of the Steelers’ needs entering the start of the 2024 offseason. He thinks Pittsburgh should be digging into the off-ball linebacker market again in the 2024 offseason.
“We don’t really know what’s going on there,” Fittipaldo said about Holcomb’s injury status. “He was injured in mid-November. I think we can all agree that it’s more than a typical nine-month ACL injury that he had.”
Holcomb was lost for the season in Week 9 when Pittsburgh beat the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football. He had played in over 90% of defensive snaps in three of seven games before the gruesome injury, providing two forced fumbles, two passes defended, two quarterback hits, and 54 combined tackles.
The former Washington Commanders linebacker was coming off a serious foot injury, which caused him to miss most of the 2022 season on injured reserve. ACL injuries are challenging to come back from and, even then, can still have residual effects. Bush was never the same after he tore his ACL in Week 6 of the 2020 season.
Fittipaldo speculated that the team could bring Alexander back to pair with Roberts, but the team would likely still need another potential starter. He added that in his assessment of the off-ball linebackers in the 2024 draft class, a team likely isn’t getting an instant starter. That means turning to the free agent bin again in 2024 is more likely.
Steelers Have Some Veteran Options In Free Agency
The situation the Steelers had at inside linebacker at the end of the 2023 season wasn’t ideal. Pittsburgh is going to have to do some maneuvering of their cap to figure out exactly how much they’ll have to spend on outside free agents and retaining some of their guys. Inside linebacker is one of the spots they’ll need to add. Robinson has been a solid special teamer and is useful against the run on defense, but can’t be counted on as the third linebacker.
One name that’s been brought up as a potential option for the Steelers to pursue is Baltimore Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen. As an AFC North foe, the team is very familiar with him. He’s coming off a season that earned him AP All-Pro Second Team honors and his first Pro Bowl nomination, which could drive him out of Pittsburgh’s price range. He has a relatively clean bill of health, playing in full seasons for all four years of his career.
Another potential option is the other Devin from the 2019 draft class, Devin White. The 2020 Super Bowl champion was taken five picks ahead of Bush in that draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Like Queen, he also has an AP All-Pro Second-Team nomination and a Pro Bowl appearance.
Both Queen and White are coming off their rookie contracts, although White played the 2023 season on an $11 million fifth-year option.
Pittsburgh found a nice piece in Roberts in free agency last season. Now, it’s up to Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan and company to work on finding someone else to help them.
Do you agree Pittsburgh needs to address linebackers in free agency? Who would you target?
