As NFL news increases, Steelers fans are left wondering and waiting

Trades. New contracts. Franchise tags. Restructures. Players being released.

With less than a week until the start of the 2022 NFL league year, there has been a flurry of news around the NFL. With big-name quarterbacks both standing still and on the move, the last week has seen some shocking developments. There have also been some moves which were not as high profile. Some teams have restructured some contracts to help with the salary cap while others have parted ways with long-standing members of the franchise. Earlier this week, a quarter of the NFL saw teams utilize the franchise tag for the 2022 NFL season in order to hold on to certain players. There has certainly been plenty going on ahead of the craziness which is likely to ensue next Monday at noon when the legal tampering period begins.

But when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers, there hasn’t been news at all for almost a month.

Yes, there was Kevin Colbert speaking at the scouting combine and reports of players who the Steelers spoke with in Indianapolis, but there hasn’t been a formal announcement from the Steelers, or almost anything newsworthy, in quite some time. In fact, the last tweet from the Steelers PR Department, an account limited to only those they approve and who cover the Steelers, was the announcement of the hiring of Brian Flores as a defensive assistant on Saturday, February 19, 2022. While the official Steelers Twitter account did keep fans up-to-date on interviews for general manager candidates, that search has slowed because of the March 1 deadline where they now have to get permission to speak to any candidate employed by another NFL franchise.

So what kind of news could Steeler fans have been expecting over the last few weeks? Just to give an idea of some of the breaking news stories covered last year from the final week of February leading up to the new league year, they included:

Cam Heyward’s restructure
Ben Roethlisberger’s contract
ERFA signing: J.C. Hassenauer
ERFA signing: Marcus Allen
Compensatory draft pick announcement
B.J. Finney signing
ERFA signing: Robert Spillane

Even though the Steelers were dealing with a reduction in the salary cap in 2021, they still managed to sign some players to new deals, work a restructure, and signed their Exclusive Rights Free Agents. But in 2022, the only signing the Steelers have done was the ERFA signing of long snapper Christian Kuntz in January.

While some fans would be looking for the Steelers to get in on a lot of the big moves they have seen around the NFL, it’s not shocking they haven’t. But the fact the Steelers haven’t even re-signed any of their free agents to this point is somewhat surprising. Perhaps there is something big coming, and perhaps there is not.

At any moment, the news could start flowing for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they shape their 2022 roster. As they fill out parts of their roster ahead of free agency, moves could be coming fast and furious any time now. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if shortly after this article was published it is deemed unnecessary because the Steelers announce some sort of news in regards to the 2020 season.

One can only hope.