For the first time in many seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers made some real moves in free agency. For a team that typically takes a passive approach to free agency, seeing Pittsburgh not only lock up key in-house free agents but bring in top talent off the street was a welcome surprise.
With that, we decided to rank the four biggest moves of the offseason for the Steelers so far.
4-Mark Barron | Linebacker
The Steelers signed Barron in hopes of him becoming the speed inside linebacker who has been missing since the Ryan Shazier injury. This means they are also hoping they get the 2016 version of Barron and not the one from the past two seasons.
3-Donte Moncrief | Wide receiver
Moncrief is another guy who has underachieved during his career but some of it could be attributed to below average quarterback play. At worst he should split reps with James Washington on the outside and hopefully can help keep defenses honest.
2-Ramon Foster | Guard
There was a real worry the Steelers might not try to sign Foster back. But thankfully, even with a new deal for B.J. Finney, the Steelers decided to stay the course and give Foster a two-year contract extension, keeping the best offensive line in the game together.
1-Steven Nelson | Cornerback
Pittsburgh knew going into free agency they needed to add a starting cornerback and Nelson is a solid choice. He’s experienced and honestly played better than the numbers indicated on a porous Chiefs defense. He should plug in right next to Joe Haden and play well.
