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5 storylines to follow during Steelers OTAs and minicamp
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
MAY 22, 2025
The Steelers are one of many NFL teams scaling back on the number of organized team activities (OTAs) this spring. The league allows for 10 OTAs every year, but head coach Mike Tomlin only scheduled six along with the mandatory three-day minicamp in mid-June.
The subtraction of four practices comes as the NFLPA pushes to eliminate offseason work altogether. The union is pushing for the elimination of all spring workouts in favor of an earlier report time in July before training camps begin.
Five years remain on the current collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the union, but the reduced spring workload is appeasing the players in advance of future negotiations.
There are still plenty of issues the Steelers have to work out in the coming weeks. Here are five storylines to follow in OTAs and minicamp:
1. All eyes on Mason
Aaron Rodgers could end all the drama anytime now by signing his name on the dotted line and committing to the Steelers for the coming season. But until that happens, the starting quarterback is Mason Rudolph, who is back for another stint with the team that selected him in the third round of the 2018 draft.
Rudolph spent his first six seasons with the Steelers, serving mostly as a backup, before signing as a free agent in Tennessee last season. Now he’s back on a two-year deal amid the uncertainty at the position. It’s a bit ironic considering the Steelers drafted Rudolph with hopes he might succeed Ben Roethlisberger as the franchise quarterback. That never materialized as Rudolph struggled to win over Mike Tomlin, who played undrafted rookie free agent Devlin Hodges over Rudolph for a time during the 2019 season after Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending elbow injury.
But Rudolph persevered and finished his first Steelers tenure on a high note. He led the Steelers on a three-game winning streak to end the 2023 regular season that got the team into the playoffs. Then the Steelers let Rudolph walk in free agency and signed Russell Wilson and traded for Justin Fields.
It’s anyone’s guess why Rudolph wanted to return to the team that never really gave him a chance, but here we are with Rudolph entering OTAs atop the depth chart. It might only be for a matter of weeks, but for the first time in his career, he is QB1 at this juncture of the NFL calendar. How long it lasts only Rodgers knows, but it sure feels like Rudolph is Charlie Brown and Tomlin will eventually play the role of Lucy.
2. Captain comeback
After an injury-riddled 2023 season, there were calls for the Steelers to part ways with Cam Heyward, but he responded with one of the best seasons of his illustrious career at age 35.
Heyward had eight sacks and continued to be a force as a run defender. But how much longer can a defensive lineman in his mid- to late-30s continue to produce? It’s not as rare as one might think. Kevin Greene, Bruce Smith and Julius Peppers each had double-digit sack seasons when they were 37 years old. All three are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Heyward is on track to someday join them, and the Steelers need him to continue playing at an elite level because they are in the beginning of a youth movement up front.
It wasn’t a front-burner issue during the offseason because hand-wringing over the quarterback situation dominated the headlines, but the decline in play on the defensive line was dramatic last season. The Steelers defense is built around stopping the run and getting after the quarterback, and they failed miserably in both areas. The Ravens running for 299 in the playoff game sounded the alarms, but there were signs of a faltering play well before that. The Steelers gave up more than 100 rushing yards four times in their final six games of the season. The Eagles rushed for 120 against them in Week 15, and the Ravens put up 220 the next week.
That was a disconcerting development for the coaching staff, but the lack of a pass rush by the defensive line was just as troubling. Defensive linemen contributed just 12.5 of the team’s 40 sacks – and eight of those came from Heyward. Larry Ogunjobi (1.5), Keeanu Benton, Dean Lowry and Montravius Adams (one apiece) combined for the other 4.5. The lack of production prompted the Steelers to draft Derrick Harmon in the first round and Yahya Black in the fifth round.
It won’t be hard for either to crack the rotation. If Harmon shows anything in training camp, he’ll be a starter in place of Ogunjobi, who was cut in March. Black could find a major role with veterans Lowry, DeMarvin Leal and Isaiahh Loudermilk on the hot seat. Leal, a third-round pick in 2022, was expected to be a contributor by now, but he has one sack in his first three seasons and missed the final 12 games of last season with a neck injury.
3. Watt’s contract
What’s an offseason without some contract drama?
Last year it was Heyward, and now the Steelers could be in for another drawn-out negotiation with star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, whose last contract negotiation in 2021 did not get resolved until two days before the regular season started.
Watt isn’t likely to participate in any offseason work with the Steelers. Four years ago in training camp, he “held in” — the latest ploy by agents to put pressure on teams to sign their clients. Players report to camp with their teammates but refuse to practice until their contract situation is resolved. The Steelers will be fine with Watt making that stand again as long as he does eventually sign. They want him healthy for the regular season and know he’ll be in shape if and when he signs his new deal.
The issue for the Steelers isn’t Watt’s tactics in getting a new deal, it's whether they should match the money the Browns gave to Myles Garrett, who signed a contract worth more than $40 million per season. It was a deal that wildly threw off the edge rusher market. With Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons and Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson also seeking record-breaking deals, it might be a while before any of them sign.
Watt expressed his desire to remain with the Steelers the day after their playoff loss to the Ravens, but that does not mean the negotiation will go smoothly. The sooner the Steelers get the deal done the better, but it’s a complicated negotiation because the Browns overpaid Garrett.
4. Starting over at WR
There has been more turnover in the quarterback room than any other position on the team in recent years, but receiver is a close second now that the Steelers moved on from George Pickens and traded him to the Cowboys for draft picks earlier this month.
The only receiver on the roster with more than one year of experience with the Steelers is Calvin Austin III, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract. Everyone else is brand new.
If you’re searching for reasons why the Steelers offense has been so offensively challenged, look no further than the instability at those two positions. General manager Omar Khan set out to change the culture of the group by acquiring former Seahawk DK Metcalf. He’ll be counted on for production but also a manner of professionalism after Pickens and Diontae Johnson wore out their welcomes.
While Metcalf is the undisputed No. 1, the race is on to see who joins him in the starting lineup in a few months. This is an important spring for Austin and 2024 third-round pick Roman Wilson. Austin made major improvements in his third season and led Steelers receivers with four touchdown catches, along with 548 receiving yards.
Wilson, who like Austin is undersized, is coming off an injury-riddled rookie season that began and ended with stints on injured reserve. Khan already went out and signed veteran Robert Woods after the draft to add more depth to the position. Don’t be surprised if he adds another veteran to the mix later in the summer. In the meantime, it’s Austin and Wilson’s time to prove they’re worthy of more opportunities in the fall.
5. Making the switch
When first-round quarterbacks are busts, it can set a franchise back years. For a team like the Steelers that wants to build through the trenches, missing on first-round offensive linemen can be just as damaging.
The Steelers traded up to pick No. 14 in the 2023 draft to select Broderick Jones out of Georgia, the first building block in the reconstruction of their offensive line. Now, after a decline in his play in his second season, if Jones doesn’t begin to live up to his pedigree in 2025, there will be major doubts about how well Khan’s plan to build through the trenches is going.
Jones should not have any excuses in his third season. He’s back at left tackle after starting 27 games at right tackle the past two seasons. The Steelers needed Jones to play at right tackle because Dan Moore could only play on the left side. With Moore now in Tennessee, Jones will move back to left tackle, where he played at Georgia. The hope is that the switch leads to a big bump in his play.
In 2024, Jones gave up 11 sacks, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s six more than he allowed as a rookie. If not for an injury to Troy Fautanu in training camp last summer, Jones likely would have started the season on the bench.
The Steelers are looking for major improvement. If it doesn’t come, they’ll likely decline the fifth-year option on Jones’ rookie contract. That wouldn’t generate as much buzz as dealing Kenny Pickett after two seasons, but it would nonetheless be a failure by the front office and coaching staff to identify and develop a player at the most important position on the offensive line.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
MAY 22, 2025
The Steelers are one of many NFL teams scaling back on the number of organized team activities (OTAs) this spring. The league allows for 10 OTAs every year, but head coach Mike Tomlin only scheduled six along with the mandatory three-day minicamp in mid-June.
The subtraction of four practices comes as the NFLPA pushes to eliminate offseason work altogether. The union is pushing for the elimination of all spring workouts in favor of an earlier report time in July before training camps begin.
Five years remain on the current collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the union, but the reduced spring workload is appeasing the players in advance of future negotiations.
There are still plenty of issues the Steelers have to work out in the coming weeks. Here are five storylines to follow in OTAs and minicamp:
1. All eyes on Mason
Aaron Rodgers could end all the drama anytime now by signing his name on the dotted line and committing to the Steelers for the coming season. But until that happens, the starting quarterback is Mason Rudolph, who is back for another stint with the team that selected him in the third round of the 2018 draft.
Rudolph spent his first six seasons with the Steelers, serving mostly as a backup, before signing as a free agent in Tennessee last season. Now he’s back on a two-year deal amid the uncertainty at the position. It’s a bit ironic considering the Steelers drafted Rudolph with hopes he might succeed Ben Roethlisberger as the franchise quarterback. That never materialized as Rudolph struggled to win over Mike Tomlin, who played undrafted rookie free agent Devlin Hodges over Rudolph for a time during the 2019 season after Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending elbow injury.
But Rudolph persevered and finished his first Steelers tenure on a high note. He led the Steelers on a three-game winning streak to end the 2023 regular season that got the team into the playoffs. Then the Steelers let Rudolph walk in free agency and signed Russell Wilson and traded for Justin Fields.
It’s anyone’s guess why Rudolph wanted to return to the team that never really gave him a chance, but here we are with Rudolph entering OTAs atop the depth chart. It might only be for a matter of weeks, but for the first time in his career, he is QB1 at this juncture of the NFL calendar. How long it lasts only Rodgers knows, but it sure feels like Rudolph is Charlie Brown and Tomlin will eventually play the role of Lucy.
2. Captain comeback
After an injury-riddled 2023 season, there were calls for the Steelers to part ways with Cam Heyward, but he responded with one of the best seasons of his illustrious career at age 35.
Heyward had eight sacks and continued to be a force as a run defender. But how much longer can a defensive lineman in his mid- to late-30s continue to produce? It’s not as rare as one might think. Kevin Greene, Bruce Smith and Julius Peppers each had double-digit sack seasons when they were 37 years old. All three are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Heyward is on track to someday join them, and the Steelers need him to continue playing at an elite level because they are in the beginning of a youth movement up front.
It wasn’t a front-burner issue during the offseason because hand-wringing over the quarterback situation dominated the headlines, but the decline in play on the defensive line was dramatic last season. The Steelers defense is built around stopping the run and getting after the quarterback, and they failed miserably in both areas. The Ravens running for 299 in the playoff game sounded the alarms, but there were signs of a faltering play well before that. The Steelers gave up more than 100 rushing yards four times in their final six games of the season. The Eagles rushed for 120 against them in Week 15, and the Ravens put up 220 the next week.
That was a disconcerting development for the coaching staff, but the lack of a pass rush by the defensive line was just as troubling. Defensive linemen contributed just 12.5 of the team’s 40 sacks – and eight of those came from Heyward. Larry Ogunjobi (1.5), Keeanu Benton, Dean Lowry and Montravius Adams (one apiece) combined for the other 4.5. The lack of production prompted the Steelers to draft Derrick Harmon in the first round and Yahya Black in the fifth round.
It won’t be hard for either to crack the rotation. If Harmon shows anything in training camp, he’ll be a starter in place of Ogunjobi, who was cut in March. Black could find a major role with veterans Lowry, DeMarvin Leal and Isaiahh Loudermilk on the hot seat. Leal, a third-round pick in 2022, was expected to be a contributor by now, but he has one sack in his first three seasons and missed the final 12 games of last season with a neck injury.
3. Watt’s contract
What’s an offseason without some contract drama?
Last year it was Heyward, and now the Steelers could be in for another drawn-out negotiation with star outside linebacker T.J. Watt, whose last contract negotiation in 2021 did not get resolved until two days before the regular season started.
Watt isn’t likely to participate in any offseason work with the Steelers. Four years ago in training camp, he “held in” — the latest ploy by agents to put pressure on teams to sign their clients. Players report to camp with their teammates but refuse to practice until their contract situation is resolved. The Steelers will be fine with Watt making that stand again as long as he does eventually sign. They want him healthy for the regular season and know he’ll be in shape if and when he signs his new deal.
The issue for the Steelers isn’t Watt’s tactics in getting a new deal, it's whether they should match the money the Browns gave to Myles Garrett, who signed a contract worth more than $40 million per season. It was a deal that wildly threw off the edge rusher market. With Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons and Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson also seeking record-breaking deals, it might be a while before any of them sign.
Watt expressed his desire to remain with the Steelers the day after their playoff loss to the Ravens, but that does not mean the negotiation will go smoothly. The sooner the Steelers get the deal done the better, but it’s a complicated negotiation because the Browns overpaid Garrett.
4. Starting over at WR
There has been more turnover in the quarterback room than any other position on the team in recent years, but receiver is a close second now that the Steelers moved on from George Pickens and traded him to the Cowboys for draft picks earlier this month.
The only receiver on the roster with more than one year of experience with the Steelers is Calvin Austin III, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract. Everyone else is brand new.
If you’re searching for reasons why the Steelers offense has been so offensively challenged, look no further than the instability at those two positions. General manager Omar Khan set out to change the culture of the group by acquiring former Seahawk DK Metcalf. He’ll be counted on for production but also a manner of professionalism after Pickens and Diontae Johnson wore out their welcomes.
While Metcalf is the undisputed No. 1, the race is on to see who joins him in the starting lineup in a few months. This is an important spring for Austin and 2024 third-round pick Roman Wilson. Austin made major improvements in his third season and led Steelers receivers with four touchdown catches, along with 548 receiving yards.
Wilson, who like Austin is undersized, is coming off an injury-riddled rookie season that began and ended with stints on injured reserve. Khan already went out and signed veteran Robert Woods after the draft to add more depth to the position. Don’t be surprised if he adds another veteran to the mix later in the summer. In the meantime, it’s Austin and Wilson’s time to prove they’re worthy of more opportunities in the fall.
5. Making the switch
When first-round quarterbacks are busts, it can set a franchise back years. For a team like the Steelers that wants to build through the trenches, missing on first-round offensive linemen can be just as damaging.
The Steelers traded up to pick No. 14 in the 2023 draft to select Broderick Jones out of Georgia, the first building block in the reconstruction of their offensive line. Now, after a decline in his play in his second season, if Jones doesn’t begin to live up to his pedigree in 2025, there will be major doubts about how well Khan’s plan to build through the trenches is going.
Jones should not have any excuses in his third season. He’s back at left tackle after starting 27 games at right tackle the past two seasons. The Steelers needed Jones to play at right tackle because Dan Moore could only play on the left side. With Moore now in Tennessee, Jones will move back to left tackle, where he played at Georgia. The hope is that the switch leads to a big bump in his play.
In 2024, Jones gave up 11 sacks, according to Pro Football Focus. That’s six more than he allowed as a rookie. If not for an injury to Troy Fautanu in training camp last summer, Jones likely would have started the season on the bench.
The Steelers are looking for major improvement. If it doesn’t come, they’ll likely decline the fifth-year option on Jones’ rookie contract. That wouldn’t generate as much buzz as dealing Kenny Pickett after two seasons, but it would nonetheless be a failure by the front office and coaching staff to identify and develop a player at the most important position on the offensive line.
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