Steelers takeaways from owners' meetings: Art Rooney II responds to NFLPA report
Rooney wasn't concerned with the Steelers' No. 28 ranking because, he said, the report was "presented to the media" rather than to the team. The Pittsburgh Steelers' top decision-makers, including head coach Mike Tomlin, general manager Omar Khan and team owner Art Rooney II, have publicly addressed their team's issues at the NFL's annual meeting. The team had a significant overhaul in their quarterback room within a month, including changing the line from Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and Russell Wilson. The Steelers also received an F-minus from the NFLPA report card for their treatment of families. Despite this, they have invested $10 million in the expansion and upgrades of the weight room in 2016, and are currently in the process of upgrading the weight facilities. They also plan to expand their kitchen facilities and media workroom. Despite rumors of interest in Diontae Johnson, Tomlin denied a trade request for the trade, but said he liked his game and made a decision to keep him.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Mark Kaboly in Sports
ORLANDO, Fla. — The NFL’s annual meeting concluded this week at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes resort with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ top decision-makers speaking extensively with local reporters for the first time in a month or more, discussing what happened the last several weeks, why it happened and what might happen moving forward.
Head coach Mike Tomlin, general manager Omar Khan and team owner Art Rooney II spent a little more than an hour combined going over a unique offseason for the Steelers, after they revamped their quarterback room within a month, going from Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Allen.
There were a lot of other nuggets revealed, too. Here is what we learned.
A year after finishing 22nd in the NFLPA report card that polled players about their respective teams, the Steelers fell to 28th in the rankings this year.
The report noted, “There is little confidence among respondents in the willingness of club owner Art Rooney II to invest in a better workplace.”
Rooney was not particularly happy with the poll.
“We prefer to get our feedback directly from the players,” he said. “Not even sure where that comes from. It doesn’t get presented to us. It gets presented to the media. So, as far as I’m concerned, it’s more of a media opportunity for the Players Association as opposed to a serious effort and constructive criticism. But having said that, we look at improving our facilities every year, and we’ll continue to do that.”
The Steelers finished with an F-minus in the treatment of families. They have always prided themselves on being a family-run organization.
The Steelers are limited with space on the South Side because they share a facility with Pitt. Still, they invested $10 million in the expansion and upgrades of the weight room in 2016, with conditioning coach Garrett Giemont saying it might be “the most advanced weight room in the NFL” at the time. They are in the process of upgrading the weight facilities and have also upgraded their kitchen facilities and media workroom and provided a bigger meeting area for the offensive linemen.
The Steelers hired offensive coordinator Arthur Smith nearly two months ago in a pretty matter-of-fact way, officially interviewing only two other candidates.
Tomlin finally addressed the hiring publicly this week, and he said about what you’d expect regarding the former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator and Atlanta Falcons head coach. Smith is known for his run-first mentality, one of the main reasons the Steelers hired him.
“I respect his approach to ball,” Tomlin said. “His values are very evident in looking at his tape, and they are aligned with things that we value, controlling the game through our bigs and building from there. And then also I got close relationships with some people who were significant in his development and helped him establish some things that he strongly believes in. Guys that I’ve had an opportunity to work with, like Munch (Mike Munchak), for example.
“And so, you know, it was a great deal of comfort and beyond comfort, it was a great deal of excitement in terms of bringing him on board.”
Smith had numerous connections to the Steelers. He began his career in Tennessee, where he worked with Munchak, Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Mularkey, who were all assistants under the Steelers with Tomlin or Bill Cowher.
Behind Derrick Henry, Tennessee had the league’s third-best rushing attack (138.9 yards per game) and the 10th-best scoring offense (23.3 points per game) with Smith running the show in 2019. The next season, the Titans averaged 168 rushing yards per game and more than 30 points.
With Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren in Pittsburgh, Smith offered a good fit for what the Steelers want their offense to look like.
“He brings a lot of experience,” Rooney said. “We’ve been on the other side of the line of scrimmage from him for a while now. And we’re always impressed with his approach to the game. And so, we’re excited about having Arthur as well.”
The Steelers traded Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers for cornerback Donte Jackson after Johnson wanted out of Pittsburgh. Tomlin denied that Johnson requested the trade, but the return of Jackson for Johnson said otherwise.
Tomlin tried to acquire Jackson in the past and said he likes his game. Still, it’s hard to give up a top-notch receiver and win a trade. But Tomlin made it sound that way.
“We had an opportunity to get D-Jack (Donte Jackson),” Tomlin said. “D-Jack is a guy that we evaluated probably several times since he’s been in the league when he came out of LSU, when he faced free agency. You know, we needed some assistance in depth and quality players at that position. And so, we made the move. They needed Diontae, we needed D-Jack, who was a good exchange.”
Now, the Steelers have issues at receiver instead of cornerback.
With Johnson and Allen Robinson out, the Steelers have loaded their receiver room with names but not much in the way of proven options to be the No. 2 behind George Pickens. Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins and Cordarrelle Patterson won’t put much fear into many defenses. Instead, they are role players, along with holdover Calvin Austin III.
The Steelers have not been willing to bump up their offer to free-agent wideout Tyler Boyd, making that signing a longshot. That leaves the draft as the primary avenue to replace Johnson and find a legitimate threat next to Pickens.
The Steelers seem fine with taking a wait-and-see approach to the receiver position.
“The draft is probably unusually deep at that position and has been for the last several years,” Tomlin said. “I just think that receivers and those that cover them come probably a little bit more ready-made in today’s game than maybe in years past. I think it’s the evolution of seven-on-seven football for high school kids. I just think their development, the skills relative to their positions come with a higher floor.”
The Steelers have been scouting receivers hard since the combine and have brought in a couple for visits.
With the draft less than a month away, the Steelers still have plenty of holes to fill. It became quite evident this week that the Steelers are most interested in four positions — right tackle, center, receiver and cornerback. So don’t be surprised if they go in that order come the end of April.
Center is the most pressing need, but a second-rounder would be ideal for them. That’s where West Virginia’s Zach Frazier is expected to go. Right now, if I am handicapping the first three picks, I would guess tackle, center and receiver, but things can change in a hurry.
Khan has more than a handful of decisions looming over the next couple of weeks in terms of contracts but steered clear of making any definitive statements this week.
The most significant decision that must be made relates to the newly acquired Justin Fields’ contract. The deadline to pick up Fields’ fifth-year option — which would cost the Steelers $25.7 million in the 2025 season — is May 2. With Russell Wilson on board as the starter, everything suggests Khan won’t pick up the option, which would put Fields on track to hit free agency after the 2024 season.
However, Khan could always offer Fields an extension now that would give him some guaranteed money (but less than the fifth-year option) over the next two years until they can see how he fits with the organization this offseason.
Khan sidestepped that question as well as questions about a potential Wilson extension before the season.
“We’ll see how all of that shakes out. There’s a lot of time between now and then,” he said.
He was also noncommittal on picking up Najee Harris’ fifth-year option — which would cost $6.8 million in 2025 — or extending Cameron Heyward, who is set to count $22.4 million against the salary cap in the final year of his contract.
“We’ll talk through those things,” Khan said. “There’s still a lot of time, but you know, Cam (Heyward) is going to be here. And so, we’ll figure it out.”
The Steelers have changed how they’ve done a lot of things organizationally. But some things will never change — like not negotiating contracts in-season, even for a quarterback like Wilson or Fields.
“I think regardless of position, I don’t think those certain policies like that one are going to change,” Khan said.
The team’s rule to not negotiate contracts in-season stemmed from the start of free agency in 1993. Some players were upset that certain players were extended in-season and others weren’t. The Steelers got off to a poor start to the season, and the locker room was a mess. Rooney determined afterward that the team would not negotiate in-season anymore.
And the Steelers have followed their self-imposed rule since.
Topics: Football, NFL, Pittsburgh Steelers