It’s always a bit concerning to be this deep into an NFL offseason and not have a definitive answer as to who your quarterback will be when the season rolls around. However, the Pittsburgh Steelers have still been busy working out the rest of the roster around the signal caller.
With Mike McCarthy now leading the charge in place of Mike Tomlin, the Steelers have high hopes for the 2026 season, provided they can find a capable quarterback. The Steelers have acquired several new pieces that have them receiving praise for the best offseason in the league.
ESPN’s Ben Solak ranked the Steelers as the most improved team so far this offseason, thanks to additions such as WR Michael Pittman Jr., RB Rico Dowdle and S Jaquan Brisker. The Steelers also brought back CB Asante Samuel Jr to keep some youth in the secondary.
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The biggest move so far has been acquiring Pittman from the Colts for a late-round pick swap. Pittman can pair well with DK Metcalf on the opposite side of the field, giving whoever is throwing passes for the Steelers in 2026 a couple of jump-ball targets downfield.
“Getting Pittman on the late-round pick swap,” Solak wrote. “The Colts were always going to trade him after they re-signed Alec Pierce, so they didn’t have a ton of leverage. And because Pittman is a true possession receiver, he needed to go to a team with a ton of targets to give out. There aren’t many such teams.”
Those targets are up for grabs in Pittsburgh because both Kenneth Gainwell and Calvin Austin III moved on in free agency. The Steelers signed Pittman to a three-year extension after the trade, so getting a new starting wideout in exchange for a sixth-round pick is a great deal. Pittman made 80 catches for 784 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
The biggest question left is what Aaron Rodgers will do. It seems like his two options are to retire or return to the Steelers, reuniting him with his former Packers coach. Rodgers has continued to be mysterious about his plans this offseason, and the Steelers hope to have an answer before April’s draft.
Defensively, the Steelers added some versatility to the secondary in Brisker and Jamel Dean and didn’t have to pay too much to get them. They also added some veteran size up front with Sebastian Joseph-Day to put him next to Derrick Harmon and Cameron Heyward. It might be tough to run on Pittsburgh next season.
“Dean is coming off a career year, but the Steelers didn’t pay him like he’s a CB1, so they might get a nice bargain there,” Solak wrote. “Joseph-Day is a perennially valuable rotational defensive tackle, and Samuel looked healthy in the limited time he played last season. Brisker is a low-risk gamble on another health question mark in a secondary that needs depth to maximize Jalen Ramsey’s versatility.”
