Minkah Fitzpatrick rode in from Miami last year to help cement a Steelers defense, filling in a gaping hole at safety.
There is no white horse waiting to bring them an inside linebacker to fill that larger hole this time. Devin Bush’s season-ending ACL tear leaves the Steelers pretty much with what they had, a group of three who will try to take his place: Robert Spillane, Ulysees Gilbert and safety/linebacker Marcus Allen. The only linebacker on their practice squad is Jayrone Elliott, a veteran outside linebacker.
Advertisement
Forget free agency; if there is an inside linebacker available there, he can’t be any better than what they have. Mark Barron, cut by them in March, signed with Denver at the end of August and went on injured reserve three weeks later. The only other alternative would be a trade. They did it two games into 2019 with Fitzpatrick, why not an inside linebacker? Many reasons why not. Good teams won’t part with good players. Bad teams with little hope for this season might be interested, but those who have decent inside linebackers have good money tied up in them and the Steelers are in no position to take on more salary cap right now or in 2021.
Take, for instance, Deion Jones of the Falcons, who are going nowhere at 1-5. The Falcons signed him before the 2019 season to a $57 million contract with $34 million guaranteed. Same with linebackers such as Blake Martinez of the Giants and Joe Schobert of the Jaguars. Both signed nice, rich contracts this year with good guarantees, which the Steelers cannot touch.
The Steelers may have in mind some hidden gem somewhere they are willing to pull in for, say, a 2021 draft pick in the second through fourth rounds. But on the face of it, it’s the trio above who will have to fill in for Bush.
The Fitzpatrick trade was something the Steelers had not done in 52 years. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t do it again if they could find the right inside linebacker. Finding one, finding an affordable one and finding an affordable one his team was willing to trade probably is asking too much.
“You go out and get Minkah last year when he was available. I thought it was a great trade,’’ said former Steelers coach Bill Cowher. “At the time you look at the situation the Steelers were in: You just lost your starting quarterback, what’s the best thing you can do? Let’s strengthen our position at safety. It was something you needed to address anyway, probably in the upcoming draft. Now you have a guy in his second year. I just think the opportunity to get him was so uniquely beneficial for Pittsburgh. It kind of fit their need, he was available and obviously as we look at it, that was a good trade.”
Advertisement
There’s more than a presidential election Nov. 3. That also is the NFL trade deadline, so the Steelers would have two weeks to consider all of their trade options. If they do trade for a player, it will be the first time in their history since the NFL merger they will have done so as the deadline approached.
They made three deals in 2019 after the season started but long before the trade deadline. They dealt quarterback Josh Dobbs to Jacksonville on Sept. 9, acquired Fitzpatrick on Sept. 16 and traded for tight end Nick Vannett on Sept. 25, more than a month before the deadline. Before that, they acquired tackle Levi Brown on Oct. 2, 2013, again a month before the trading deadline.
You have to go back to 1993 when they executed another in-season trade, and this one was to send Tim Worley to Chicago on Oct. 19. They dealt away Thomas Everett to the Cowboys on Sept. 19, 1992. The only other in-season trades in which they acquired players came in 1984, when on Aug. 9 they traded for tackle Steve August from Seattle and swapped no-names with the Bills in 1977.
That’s it. So why do the Steelers rarely pull off deals near the trading deadline, which used to be after the sixth week of the season and now comes after the eighth week?
Cowher explains: “When you get into the season, ‘This is our team.’ I never felt we were in a situation where one player could make a significant difference. And particularly if that player was available, why is he available? You don’t get rid of good players. I see free agency as one thing, I see trades as something else.”
The Steelers have options to replace Bush. None even remotely close to what they had in Bush, but the right mix might help them lessen the impact of his loss.
The most likely option in the short-term to replace Bush is in-house. It’s a daunting task to ask an incoming free agent or trade acquisition to assimilate immediately and be productive. Fitzpatrick did it last year, but it’s easier to ask that of a free safety than an inside linebacker.
Advertisement
Faced with a similar scenario at the end of the 2017 season when Ryan Shazier and Tyler Matakevich were injured in the same game, the Steelers were able to immediately plug in Sean Spence, which was much easier as he was less than two years removed from a four-year stint on the Steelers’ roster.
Even then, the Steelers eventually went to a committee approach where Spence mostly played on first and second downs and L.J. Fort mostly played on sure passing downs.
That’s likely the way this ultimately plays out.
Here are the options:
In-house
Robert Spillane — Spillane will be their first and best option to replace Bush. It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where defensive coordinator Keith Butler or assistant Teryl Austin will give Spillane, who has 39 career defensive snaps under his belt, a role even remotely resembling Bush’s. Bush dropped into coverage almost 91 percent of the opposition’s pass plays in the five games he played this season. Spillane is more of a downhill, blitzing inside linebacker, very much like Vince Williams. You’d have to be worried to have Williams and Spillane on the field at the same time allowing teams to easily create matchup problems, especially with dynamic tight ends.
Ulysees Gilbert III — Gilbert was all the rave in the offseason, even though he never played a single defensive snap as a rookie. It was believed that Gilbert was going to spell Williams in the passing game, and he showed that he was capable in training camp. But Williams has been better than expected, and Gilbert has been dressed for only one of the five games and has yet to find his way onto the field for a defensive snap. He could pair with Spillane to mimic that Spence/Fort dynamic of four years ago.
Marcus Allen — A safety by nature, the Steelers moved him to inside linebacker midway through camp. He showed promise, but he’s not the answer. You cannot allow an inexperienced player — both in reps and at the position — to have any influence on a talented defense. There’s just too much risk involved with Allen.
Advertisement
Terrell Edmunds — Edmunds is a safety with a linebacker mentality. He wouldn’t replace Bush, per se, but could be part of the plan in a hybrid role that included either Mike Hilton or Cam Sutton rotating to the safety position. It’s not ideal, but it is an option.
Free agents
Nigel Bradham — Bradham is currently on the Broncos’ practice squad so the Steelers can poach him at any time. He might be the best fit for the Steelers because of his availability and his price tag, which is especially critical to a team tight against the cap. Bradham spent eight seasons as a starter with the Bills (2012-15) and Eagles (2016-19) and has collected 619 tackles, 8 1/2 sacks, three interceptions and five forced fumbles in his career. He is a solid downhill guy who isn’t bad in coverage. He may have lost a step but makes up for it with his whereabouts.
Darron Lee — Lee would be a good reclamation project on and off the field but there is likely too much baggage that comes along with the former first-round pick to give it real consideration. He was suspended twice by the NFL — first for violating the league’s PED policy and later the league’s substance abuse policy — and just was taken off the suspension list in Week 5.
Alec Ogletree — Ogletree spent time with the Rams, Giants and Jets. He was released by the Jets last week, which should tell you a lot about where Ogletree is in his career. Ogletree forced Barron, the former Steeler, to make the move from safety to linebacker while with the Rams due to an injury.
Trade
Jarrad Davis — The former first-round pick fell out of favor in Detroit as his snaps have dwindled. Like many unemployed or rarely used inside linebackers, Davis is more of a run-blitzing, downhill, sure-tackling linebacker than a coverage linebacker, but he isn’t a liability in coverage either. Mike Tomlin loved him coming out of Florida in 2017. The Steelers had him in for a pre-draft visit that year. Tomlin loves to reconnect with players whether through trades or free agency after the fact. Davis is a free agent next year after the Lions declined his fifth-year option. Many believed the Steelers were going to draft him in the first round in 2017. Luckily for them, they didn’t and took T.J. Watt nine picks later.
Avery Williamson — Everybody is basically on Adam Gase’s trading block in New York. He could be had for a draft pick, but like many other inside linebackers, he’s a good tackler and always around the ball but struggles in coverage. He is in the final year of a three-year, $22.5 million deal he signed in 2018. He would cost the Steelers a prorated portion of his $2.75 million base salary as well as a mid- to late-round draft pick.
(Photo of Avery Williamson and Le’Veon Bell: Wesley Hitt / Getty Images)
