A Letter From the Editor: It could be a winning offseason for the Steelers

The 2025 NFL Scouting Combine is wrapping up today, Sunday, and it is a huge stepping stone in the NFL’s year-long calendar. After the Combine fans are left in a fever pitch preparing for the upcoming NFL Draft, but there is so much more to the offseason than just preparations for the draft. There is free agency, and the acquisition of veteran players in a variety of ways.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers global fan base, there is tepid excitement for the upcoming offseason. While the team floundered its way to the end of the 2024 regular season, losing five straight games to end the season, fans were left with a feeling of “now what?” Confidence in the ownership, coaching staff and even front office hasn’t been this low since the pre-Ben Roethlisberger era in Pittsburgh.

When you put it that way, it shouldn’t shock anyone fans might be weary to be all-in for the offseason.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t facets of the upcoming offseason which don’t invoke some optimism into the fan base. Not only do the Steelers have a near full allotment of draft picks in the upcoming draft, but they also have salary cap space which hasn’t been seen since, well, the pre-Roethlisberger era.

The Steelers offseason could be shaping up to be memorable, for many reasons. Omar Khan and Andy Weidl have done a tremendous job in the early stages of their jobs as General Manager (GM) and Assistant GM. They have acquired top talent in free agency, and also hit on both of their two draft classes since taking over for Kevin Colbert.

But will that trend remain?

There’s no way to know, but based off the simple fact the front office will hold true to the principles they have set forth since taking over, you wouldn’t expect a step backwards. But that doesn’t mean questions don’t remain for this offseason.

Atop the list of questions is the biggest question mark on the roster, and that’s quarterback. How the front office handles this position, and money tied into the position, will be paramount. Will they overpay for a quarterback, thinking they are in win-now mode? Or will they pick up a bridge quarterback and start building the roster around the quarterback so they truly are a quarterback away from being a contender?

How do they spend cap space dollars outside of the quarterback position? Will they allocate more money to the offense, attempting to get both sides of the football even, not just from a financial perspective? Will they take a shot as some high end, proven talent who can step in right away and help the team in every possible way?

Will the front office be ready to part ways with players via trade, as they did in 2024? They shipped Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers, Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles, and acquired Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears. Was last offseason an outlier, or the new normal in Pittsburgh?

I know exactly what the skeptics are thinking as they read this. They’re thinking this “winning offseason” doesn’t necessarily equate in wins on the field.

And you’re right.

However, you have to string together winning offseasons, also called roster building/development, to be able to put a roster together which is worthy of success in both the regular season and postseason. The offseason is where the construction happens in every possible way. The next question is whether the organization has the coaching staff in place to take the developed roster and take it to the next level?

That’s a question to be answered in another article, but for even the skeptics out there know this offseason could be a winning offseason for the Steelers, and that’s part of the process of building this team into a contender once again.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the new league year to begin on March 10th.