The Steelers think they may have the best offense in the NFL, but they still have one big hole to fill at tight end, and the player they signed to fill it remains out with no expressed optimism he will return any time soon.
Ladarius Green signed a four-year, $20 million contract in March as the Steelers' premier free agent for 2016, coming from San Diego. Yet he has not practiced a down with them yet. He had surgery on an injured ankle in January, did not participate in any spring practices with his new team and opened training camp nearly two weeks ago on the physically unable to perform list, where he remains.
Mike Tomlin, asked Wednesday if Green were coming along, replied simply, "He's on PUP."
As time marches on, and Green runs alone on another field while his teammates practice at Saint Vincent College, the question looms: Did the Steelers bungle their top free agent signing?
Tomlin affirmed early in training camp that they knew what they were getting when they signed Green. But never before have the Steelers signed a top free agent who could not practice in camp because of an injury or surgery that occurred before they signed him.
It is reminiscent of Chuck Noll's worst trade when he dealt productive wide receiver Frank Lewis to Buffalo in 1978 in exchange for tight end Paul Seymour. Seymour failed the Steelers' physical because unbeknownst to them he had had surgery on his foot. They sent him back to the Bills. However, there was no contingency in the trade. The Steelers were left empty handed and the Bills kept Lewis, who went on to have six more good years in Buffalo. Seymour never played another game.
That may not be the case with Green, who will at least miss their first preseason game Friday against Detroit. Perhaps he will join his new teammates on the practice field next week and begin his climb toward replacing the great Heath Miller at tight end.
But the expectations are sinking so low that when Ben Roethlisberger talked about the tight end situation Tuesday, he did not mention Green. Asked how Green was coming along, Roethlisberger answered with a two-shoulder shrug.
The quarterback who had built such a rapport with Miller for the past 11 seasons is taking a wait-and-see approach to the entire group of tight ends.
"The hard part about it is, the guy you had here before wasn't exactly an average guy," Roethlisberger said of Miller, No. 2 on the franchise reception list with 592. "That has been my message to those guys, 'Don't try to be Heath.'
"I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet because I see flashes from all of them at times with really great stuff, and then you see some stuff that is just, man, come on there's got to be more."
Roethlisberger noted that they not only lost Miller but also veteran Matt Spaeth, who "was a heck of a blocker."
The tight end group after Green is, well, mostly green. Jesse James caught eight passes as a rookie last season. Xavier Grimble never has played an NFL game; he spent last season on the Steelers' practice squad and 2014 on those of the 49ers and Patriots. Michael Cooper, signed last week, and Paul Lang are undrafted rookies.
David Johnson, an H-back, has the most experience of them all but he's mostly a blocker. He spent five years with the Steelers and the past two in San Diego before returning as a free agent.
"We count on and ask the tight end to do a lot in this offense _ blocking in the run, pass game, do a lot of catching," Roethlisberger noted. "I think right now they're trying too hard and putting a lot of pressure on themselves."
If they do not find the right fit at tight end, the Steelers could deploy more wide receivers, spread out halfback Le'Veon Bell and use fullback Roosevelt Nix to block more as alternative schemes.
"I think it's still early for that," Roethlisberger said. "I don't want to jump to that conclusion yet. The good thing is if we do need to do some stuff where it's four wide receivers, or you keep two tight ends in and put Le'Veon out and don't ask him to block in the pass.
"We have options. We'll wait to make any crazy decisions on that until we get a little further on, and each week may dictate some different groupings, some different schemes, things like that."
