INDIANAPOLIS - In the next two weeks, the Steelers hope to figure out their situation at quarterback.
General Manager Omar Khan said earlier this week here in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine that the team has had talks with the representatives for both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in the hopes of getting one of the duo signed to a contract for the 2025 season before the opening bell of free agency March 12.
There's good reason for that.
Determining who will be at quarterback will determine what direction the team will go in the draft and free agency because the Steelers will want to build the best roster around that quarterback to be able to put the best product on the field as possible in 2025.
"I think we have some very talented people on the roster, and I think we will add some more talented people, and I think we have a chance," Khan said this week. "I really do."
That's not pie-in-the-sky thinking.
After all, the Steelers were 10-3 at one point in 2024. They were in first place in the AFC North until a four-game losing streak against some of the best teams in the league doomed them to a second-place finish and going on the road in the postseason.
It wasn't a pretty finish and nobody is happy or content with it. Nor should they be.
"We ended the season last year with five-straight losses, and that's unacceptable," Khan said. "We've got to be better. We have to be self-aware, and we have got to look ourselves in the mirror. And that goes for players, coaches and the entire organization from top to bottom. We've got to ask ourselves what went wrong and why? And how do we fix it? How do we make sure it doesn't happen again? And we have to get better."
You do that by adding talent, not subtracting it.
And the Steelers are in a position to do so, not only in the upcoming NFL Draft in April, but in free agency, as well.
Per Overthecap.com, the Steelers have approximately $60 million in available cap space. This is not a roster that will be shedding players to clear cap space in 2025. If the Steelers release a player, it's because he doesn't fit into the long-term plans, not because they have to do so to become cap compliant.
That hasn't always been the case as the team has been forced in the past to make some difficult decisions regarding its roster due to tightness with the salary cap.
So, while the Steelers were, in fact, not good enough in 2024 to compete for a championship, there is a belief that if they can continue building the roster, they can get there.
"At the end of the day, the goal is to acquire as many good players as possible at every position group," Khan said. "And that's the approach we take, and that's going to continue."
• The Steelers' wide receivers not named George Pickens or Calvin Austin III combined to catch 43 passes in 2024, obviously a total that isn't good enough.
That's why the Steelers appear set to address the position with a veteran addition or two in free agency this offseason.
It's also why the team would like to have a quarterback signed sooner rather than later.
"It is an ideal scenario where you'd like to have this done before the start of the league year," Khan said. "Obviously, who you sign impacts the type of receiver you know you may go after, or how you build the rest of the team. So, all of that has an effect."
There are a number of veteran options that will be available when free agency begins March 12. And Khan expects to be active in the free agent market this offseason.
"We just weren't good enough. You've got to score more," Khan said. "The reality is, you've got to score a lot of points in the league in 2025 football. You've got to score a lot of points, and we didn't score enough points. And there's a lot of reasons for that, and we've just got to be better."
One thing the Steelers weren't unhappy with was the job offensive coordinator Arthur Smith did. After averaging 17.9 points per game in 2023, they improved to 22.2 points per game in 2024. That was 16th in the NFL, one spot behind Kansas City.
"Arthur did a really good job," Khan said. "I like Arthur a lot, and we work well together. We have to resolve the quarterback situation, and once we get that resolved, we'll do our best to help surround that person with the right pieces to make Arthur's job a lot easier."
• The NFL is considering changing the rules of overtime in the regular season.
From 2017 to 2024, teams that won the opening coin toss of overtime won the game 56.8 percent of the time. That was up from 55.4 percent from 2001 through 2016.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast Pittonline@iheartmedia.com
Currently, if the team that wins the opening toss scores a touchdown on its opening possession, the game is over.
If that team kicks a field goal on the opening possession, the opposing team gets an opportunity to score itself.
But with the reduction of the overtime period to 10 minutes, a greater emphasis was placed on winning the coin toss to begin the extra period, largely because if the team that wins the toss goes on an extended possession, the team that loses the coin toss is left with little time remaining.
In the postseason, both teams get an opportunity to get the ball, even if a touchdown is scored on the opening possession.
Making the regular season rules coincide with what is done in the postseason is a possible solution, as is having the extra period go back to being 15 minutes in length instead of 10.
• The league also is looking at using its Hawk-Eye virtual measuring system to determine first downs rather than having officials measure it with the chain gangs on the field.
Finally.
Chain gangs would continue to be used on the sidelines as a backup, but the technology available would immediately inform officials on the field if a first down was achieved.
"We used this in the background last season, Kimberly Fields, NFL senior vice president of football operations said this week in Indianapolis. "The goal for 2025 is to continue to train our techs, who are the ones who will be utilizing the technology, finalizing all of our officiating processes and procedures around virtual measurements and testing the graphics for the broadcast and in-stadium, so fans in the stadium and watching on television can see what we're doing."
On-field officials will still spot the ball as before, but the Hawk-Eye cameras can be used to adjust the spot.
• The NFL informed teams this week that the 2025 salary cap will be set at $279.2 million.
That's an increase of nearly $24 million from 2024.
It also means the salary cap has gone up $100 million from 2018, when the cap was $177 million.
It's also a long way from where the league started in 1994, its first season with a cap in place. That year, the salary cap for all teams was $34.6 million.
