Ladarius Green (89) catches a touchdown pass while defended by Cleveland Browns strong safety Donte Whitner (31) during the third quarter last year at Qualcomm Stadium. Photo Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are never big spenders in free agency, but they did invest $20 million in former San Diego tight end Ladarius Green this year, their one big move during the NFL free-agency frenzy. Green will take the place of Heath Miller, who retired after 11 seasons.
Green, a four-year veteran, will bring a different dimension to the Steelers’ passing game. Where Miller in recent seasons was a safety valve of sorts for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger after age had robbed him of his speed, Green possesses 4.5 speed in the 40-yard dash and has the size to be a main target in the red zone. That’s something the Steelers have sought desperately in recent seasons even when Martavis Bryant was playing. Now that Bryant is suspended for the entire 2016 season, Green figures to be even more important for the offense.
The Steelers also signed two other outside free agents. They signed former Denver tackle Ryan Harris to compete with Alejandro Villanueva for the starting duties at left tackle. They also signed former Indianapolis and San Diego defensive tackle Ricardo Mathews for depth along the defensive line.
As is the case most years, the Steelers spent most of their salary-cap money signing their own free agents. The most important of that group was starting left guard Ramon Foster and starting cornerback William Gay.
Gay is a dependable player who has gotten better with age and Foster is coming off his best season after making the team as an undrafted free agent in 2009. The Steelers also signed safety Robert Golden, who for the moment, is penciled in as the starting strong safety, and receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who adds depth to the receiving corps.
By concentrating mostly on offense during free agency, the Steelers have set themselves up to go heavy on defenders in the draft. The Steelers need to draft a cornerback who can compete for a starting position. They need to draft a safety who can compete for a starting position. And they need to draft an interior lineman who can compete for the starting nose tackle duties after Steve McLendon signed with the Jets in free agency.
This draft is stocked with quality interior defensive linemen. The Steelers can probably wait until the second or third round to find a quality nose tackle. They are expected to address cornerback and safety early in the draft as well.
If the Steelers take either a corner or safety in the first round it would be breaking with tradition. They haven’t selected a corner in the first round of the draft since they took Chad Scott in 1997. And they haven’t taken a safety in the first round since selecting Troy Polamalu in 2003.
The Steelers are fortunate that this is considered a quality draft for corners. Five are projected as first-round picks, and one of them should be available to them when they select with the No. 25 overall pick.
The safety class is not as deep, but there are a few quality players who might be available in the second or third round.
The Steelers have seven picks in this year’s draft, and it would not be surprising if they use five, maybe six, of them on defensive players.
