3 options for the Steelers with Arthur Maulet headed into 2023

As the 2023 NFL league year set to kick off at 4 PM on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, there are a number of decisions that the Pittsburgh Steelers have to make with a fair amount of players when it comes to their status for this season. While some players are set to become unrestricted free agents, there are some still under contract with the Steelers whose future might be in danger simply because of the amount of salary cap space they would consume for this coming season. Although some players are more obvious if they will be kept on for another season, others are more up for debate.

With some great discussion with talking about the options for Myles Jack, I decided to extend the question to other players who have one year remaining on their contract and have a significant cap savings if they were cut. After discussing Mitch Trubisky, Ahkello Witherspoon, Gunner Olszewski, and Levi Wallace, next up is cornerback Arthur Maulet. How should the Pittsburgh Steelers handle his situation? For the most part, there are three options when it comes to Maulet and the 2023 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers:

Release

The salary cap savings from cutting Arthur Maulet is quite minimal. With a cap hit of only $2.29 million, Maulet’s savings would be only $1.79 million if released. Once factoring in displacement, it’s under $1 million in savings. So when it comes to the release of Arthur Maulet, it would be based solely on performance. If the Steelers think their secondary is covered otherwise, Maulet could be released now or simply not make the team come September.

Retain

As stated above, there’s really not much salary cap savings to be had in Arthur Maulet‘s contract. For this reason, unless he specifically is asking to not be in Pittsburgh anymore which doesn’t appear to be the case, there’s no reason to not keep Maulet around. But based on his contract, there’s also no guarantee that he makes the 53-man roster.

Extend

Of everyone covered so far, this one really makes the least amount of sense of the option to extend. There would be no significant salary cap savings in adding more years to his deal, and the Steelers are in transition at the position and making this decision next year to bring him back would probably be the wiser option. But if the Steelers really like him and want to make sure he’s around, then get him while the contract would be cheap.

So now that these three options are on the table, it’s time to look at what might be the best move for the Steelers before opening up the discussion, I’ll give my vote:

My vote: Retain

I believe the Steelers would be wise to retain Arthur Maulet… for now. In case anyone couldn’t tell based on my analysis under each one, I don’t see any reason to part ways with Maulet before September. But if he isn’t the best option at cornerback in the run heavy sets, the Steelers don’t have to keep him on the roster for 2023. Since this question is ultimately asking about now, this is why I chose to retain but keep in mind that the roster spot is not guaranteed.

So what do you think? Should the Steelers release, retain, or extend Arthur Maulet? Make sure you vote in the poll and leave your thoughts in the comments below.

In case you missed it, check out the same question for other players below: