In what was something of a surprise, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed free-agent tight end Eric Ebron to a two-year, $12 million contract on Friday. After opting to restructure the contract of Vance McDonald rather than release him, we thought the Steelers were done with the tight end position.
Here are three things the signing of Ebron means for the Steelers.
A commitment to using tight ends in the passing game
There was a time when the Steelers loved using two tight ends on a regular basis. But we saw this philosophy go to the wayside in favor of more sets using an extra offensive lineman instead. Ebron is easily the best receiving tight end on the team and so you have to assume the goal here is to get him and McDonald on the field together as weapons for Ben Roethlisberger.
The end for Nick Vannett
It’s sort of ridiculous the Steelers are going to give up on a player they just traded for last season. But it’s more ridiculous the Steelers traded for Vannett in the first place. Vannett didn’t offer much in terms of a receiving threat when they traded for him and now they have to own that mistake with the signing of Ebron.
No tight end early in the draft
I had really hoped the Steelers would select one of the elite tight end prospects in this year’s draft after cutting McDonald loose. But the combo of keeping McDonald and spending big money on Ebron likely takes tight end off the board completely in the draft.
