Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 Exit Interviews: Montravius Adams and Tae Crowder

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 NFL season has come to a close. Because the Steelers are among the 31 teams who did not finish fulfilling their ultimate goal, they are in the process of wrapping up their season and moving forward into 2023.

Since the Steelers conduct exit interviews with all their players, we here at BTSC thought we would do the same. By outlining two players each day, we will be able to look at their season in retrospect as well as looking toward the future. Since Coach Tomlin has previously stated he starts his interviews with rookies, first year players, and those heading into free agency, we will do the same. To start, I paired a potential free agent with players on rookie contracts. Now that both of those categories are done, I’ll pair players under contract as we work through this process to eventually cover the entire Steelers roster.

Next up are nose tackle Montravius Adams and linebacker Tae Crowder.

Montravius Adams

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Position: Nose tackle
Years with the Steelers: 2
Years in the NFL: 6
Contract Status: Signed through 2025
Contract Details: $3,232,500 salary cap hit for 2023. Would cost the Steelers $732,500 in dead money if released and would save $2,500,000.
Games played in 2022: 17 regular season
Games started in 2022: 9 regular season
Snaps (regular season): 281 (defense), 45 (special teams)
PFF score: 48.9 (104th of 127)
Notable stats: Adams finished the 2022 season with26 tackles, one of which was for loss, and one pass defensed.

Notes: Even with the Steelers continuing to run a 3–4 defense, the nose tackle position has been utilized less and less with sub packages being the norm. Even though Montravius Adams started more than half the games for the Steelers, he still played only 26% of the snaps on the season. In fact, the only game in which Adams saw more than half the defensive snaps was Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens when he was on the field for 56% of the defensive plays. Taking over as the starter on the depth chart for Tyson Alualu in Week 4, Adams did the job of filling in as the nose tackle when needed but did not jump off the page as doing anything outstanding. While players like Adams are valuable, the Steelers would be in much better shape if their nose tackle was also a player they felt comfortable getting into the defensive tackle rotation in various sub packages. For this reason, Adams is likely to stick around on the Steelers roster but may not be a starter when the regular season rolls around if the Steelers are able to find an upgrade.

Tae Crowder

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Position: Linebacker
Years with the Steelers: 0
Years in the NFL: 3
Contract Status: Restricted Free Agent?
Contract Details: Supposed contract expiring with no dead money. The Steelers are able to offer a Restricted Free Agent Tender if they choose.
Games played in 2022: 13 regular season (New York Giants)
Games started in 2022: 8 regular season (New York Giants)
Snaps (regular season): 445 (defense), 160 (special teams)
PFF score: 29.6 (79th of 81)
Notable stats: With the New York Giants, Crowder had 45 tackles, three of which were for loss, 1.0 sacks, one forced fumble, and one pass defensed.

Notes: This is a player who finished on the Steelers 53 man roster in 2022 who many fans may have forgotten. Signed off the New York Giants practice squad when Marcus Allen went on the Reserve/Injured List ahead of Week 17, Crowder was inactive both games with the Steelers. Exactly where his contract stands is in question as Over The Cap still has him under contract with the Giants while Spotrac lists him with a 2022 contract with the Steelers but does not have him listed as one of their potential free agents. Although he is missing from many lists, Crowder is likely a restricted free agent for the Steelers. Whether or not they should offer him a tender to keep him around is one thing, but bringing Crowder in on a minimum deal would be ideal if the Steelers wanted to see even more if he can become useful in their defense. But Crowder went from starting every game for the Giants in 2021 and starting their first eight games this past season before being benched and ultimately sent to the practice squad. Whether or not he has anything left for the Steelers to utilize is unknown at this time.

Make sure you check back each day for another set of exit interviews. If you have missed any of the previous articles, they are listed here:

Kenny Pickett & Mason Rudolph
George Pickens & Miles Boykin
DeMarvin Leal & Larry Ogunjobi
Connor Heyward & Zach Gentry
Mark Robinson & Devin Bush
Jaylen Warren & Benny Snell Jr.
Calvin Austin III & Derek Watt
Najee Harris & Terrell Edmunds
Pat Freiermuth & Trent Scott
Dan Moore Jr. & Jesse Davis
Isaiahh Loudermilk & Chris Wormley
Tre Norwood & Damontae Kazee
Pressley Harvin III & Marcus Allen
Kendrick Green & J.C. Hassenauer
Alex Highsmith & Malik Reed
Kevin Dotson & Tyson Alualu
Ahkello Witherspoon & Cam Sutton
Myles Jack & Robert Spillane
Minkah Fitzpatrick & Karl Joseph
Levi Wallace & James Pierre
Miles Killebrew & Elijah Riley
T.J. Watt & Jamir Jones