5 Steelers surprises which occurred over the last week
Each week our SCU staff and contributors picks the “surprises” from the Pittsburgh Steelers latest matchup. Check out more below to see which plays and situations surprised us the most!
Unfortunately, there weren’t many surprises in the Steelers 35-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. I think most people knew that Pittsburgh wasn’t going to hang with the unbeaten Philly side, especially with their coming off of a bye week.
Therefore, this column changes gears this week to look back at… the last week. And what a week it was!
Here are some of the headlines you may have seen, or some you may have missed.
Chase Claypool trade
This is the one that really sent tremors through Steelers Nation. While the rumors were swirling for a few weeks, I didn’t believe that the Steelers would actually go through with trading WR Chase Claypool.
The main reason I didn’t see it happening, is that Claypool was in year three of a four-year rookie deal, and had just come off of his best game against Philadelphia.
As a former second round pick, anything less than a “two” would’ve been counterproductive from a draft value standpoint. I also wasn’t certain that the Steelers had a true replacement for “Mapletron” and that his regression mirrored that of the league’s worst offense.
Then the final hour of this year’s NFL trade deadline hit and like that, Claypool was sent to the Chicago Bears for their 2023 second round pick. That pick, may end up being higher in the draft than the 49th overall selection used to acquire Claypool in 2020.
Basically, Steelers GM Omar Khan looked ahead quickly and pulled the trigger. While Pittsburgh will move through their next nine games without Claypool, they accelerated their post-player plans, where the receiver likely would’ve signed elsewhere in 2024 – and the Steelers perhaps, no guarantee, receive a compensatory pick for losing him. That pick would be, at best, at the bottom of the third round.
Instead of waiting for a potential pick in 2025, the Steelers no receive a pick in the very next draft valued currently as the 43rd overall selection.
If the Steelers continue to trend downward and finish with a poor record, their own choices may see them have three picks in the top 50 for the first time since 1989, when they drafted RB Tim Worley (7) and OG Tom Ricketts (24) in the first round, and S Carnell Lake (34) in the second round. Conversely, they haven’t had three picks in the top 75 since 2004, when they selected QB Ben Roethlisberger 11th overall.
With the current standings, the Steelers would own picks 4, 35, 43 and 69.
William Jackson III trade
And talk about fast movers! Within minutes of the Claypool trade announcement, news dropped that the Steelers were making another move, buying instead of selling this time for Washington Commanders CB William Jackson III.
Jackson, formerly one of the top defenders with the Cincinnati Bengals, was lured to Washington in 2021 with a $40.5 million contract. His time quickly flamed out, as he wasn’t a fit with their scheme and regressed.
Should the thirty-year-old have a bounce back with the Burgh, he’ll only attribute to a $3.1 million cap hit according to OverTheCap.com. It was also discovered that part of his per-game bonuses were cut with the deal and the Steelers wouldn’t be on the hook for much of Jackson’s contract this season, or next:
Upon the trade to Pittsburgh, the Steelers and CB William Jackson III agreed to wipe out the rest of his per-game roster bonuses ($44K a game) for 2022, per source.
Jackson is now due the rest of base salary ($2.777M), while his cap hit drops by about $350K.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 3, 2022
The #Steelers will get a $3.1M look at William Jackson for the remainder of 2022.
They then hold a $12.75M "option" for 2023 with which they'll have to decide on by March 17th, when a $2.5M roster bonus is due. https://t.co/Q90Yrd8b31
— Spotrac (@spotrac) November 1, 2022
The Steelers can save the entire $12.75 million if Jackson is released next offseason, making him a high reward acquisition at a time when the returning Ahkello Witherspoon was benched for James Pierre, and the rest of the Steelers cornerbacks can’t stay healthy.
The acquisition is similar to when the Steelers snagged 28-year-old Joe Haden from the Cleveland Browns in 2017, and should Jackson flourish with his former defensive coordinator Teryl Austin now calling the shots in Pittsburgh, he may find himself back to being a top defensive back in the league at a time where the team needs playmakers to turn their season around.
Calvin Austin won’t play this season
The news of Calvin Austin returning to practice and the Steelers opening a 21-day window for his activation from injured reserve, sparked excitement with fans groaning over the team’s current offensive woes.
Then, all of a sudden, Austin wasn’t activated, and will now be out the entire season. What went wrong?
If you listen to talking heads and clickbait media, they’ll tell you offensive coordinator Matt Canada didn’t know how to use Austin. No silly, that’s coachspeak for “I’m not telling you how we will use him.”
Unfortunately, he won’t be getting any use, not because of Canada or anyone else, but because he had surgery the other day to fix a lingering foot issue dating back to training camp.
There you go – injury, not coaching. Get well soon Calvin!
T.J. Watt wasn’t activated
Watt is practicing! His 21-day window is open! He’ll be back against Philadelphia… and… nope.
Oddly, the same coaching gripes didn’t surround this one, as I think most fans recognize it’s best for Watt to have sat another game, and then through the bye week, giving him a couple of more weeks to heal – and make sure he too doesn’t reaggravate an injury that would probably see the league’s reigning Defensive MVP out the rest of the season.
I’m all too certain Austin’s path to recovery may have spooked the Steelers into making this decision for Watt. It may be for the wiser, as he returns at an opportune time.
Chris Boswell: injured?
Talk about not catching any breaks.
The Steelers announced last Friday that K Chris Boswell was injured in practice and then ruled him out on Saturday – for Sunday’s game against the Eagles.
Teams don’t usually carry two kickers on their roster, and the Steelers had no one else to turn to from their ranks. They were able to quickly sign Nick Sciba, who was in camp all summer with the team, and fly him to Philly for the game.
I’m honestly surprised Sciba even got a jersey that fast – kudos to equipment managers!
But I’m also surprised Sciba is still signed to the practice squad, and with no further mention of Boswell’s status yet, you have to hope this isn’t something more serious that will see Boz sidelined for an extended period of time.
Matt Canada still has a job
And finally, yes, I’ve joined the bandwagon: why does Canada still have a job?
The Steelers offensive coordinator has driven that side of the ball into the basement, ranking last or near-last in every category while also trending as an all-time historically bad unit for the franchise.
It may not be the Rooney’s way to let someone go mid-year, but I truly felt this was a move they were going to be forced to make as the team acclimates itself to rookie QB Kenny Pickett and attempts to continue his development.
The bye week would’ve afforded two weeks’ worth of time for the Steelers to make some adjustments, but it appears that Canada isn’t going anywhere, and those adjustments may have to come from the same play caller that has failed to adjust thus far.
