Could Steelers Splash Come From Super Bowl Roster?
The entire nation is preparing to watch Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. Do you think the Pittsburgh Steelers brass will be watching? You bet, but not for the reasons the average football fanatic will be. With free agency on the horizon, the front office is busy scouting possible additions to assist them in their pursuit of playing in this game next February. These are clearly two of the best rosters in the entire league, so surely there is someone that Pittsburgh could poach in the spring, right? That’s true. The most intriguing name to keep an eye on is Philly defensive tackle Milton Williams.
A breakout season in the final year of your rookie contract is music to an agents ears and Williams play in 2024 has positioned him for a date with a hefty bag of cash. He’s registered career highs on critical categories such as sacks (5), pressures (40) and pass rush win-rate (17.7%) according to PFF. While the depth along the Eagles defensive line certainly helps keep him fresh, it also suppresses his box score numbers from being even more gaudy. Seeing how productive he’s been during his fourth year as a pro, it will leave NFL teams wondering just how much more havoc he could cause if even more work was put on his plate.
He’s not the biggest dude, nor the longest but when you pop on the film, it doesn’t take long to figure out how he’s so disruptive. What Williams lacks in measurables, he more than makes it up for it with explosiveness. His quick first step matches his absurd testing numbers and can cross face in a blur but where he’s really grown has been his advanced hand usage. His hands are both powerful and swift and whether it’s been two hand swipes or swim moves, they’ve been difficult for opposing blockers to match all year long. He’ll also occasionally catch blockers off guard with good hand placement inside and use his natural leverage to walk them back into the pocket.
While defending the run isn’t his specialty, he’s far from a dud in this regard. In defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s system, Williams is tasked with a difficult assignment up front, often aligning in a 2i up front to allow them to maintain their light box philosophy despite being listed just 290 pounds. As crazy as it seems, his skill set would actually flourish moreso with increased reps as a true penetrating 3-tech, allowing him to really tee off into the backfield instead of playing more gap-and-a-half in the trenches.
Last season, they fielded the leagues most expensive defense and by now, we all know that the Steelers ideology is to build the team with that mindset in tact. Whether they should still be fully buying into that doctrine is a conversation for another day. However, we just saw them make a splash signing to lure Patrick Queen away from an AFC North rival. We know that Cam Heyward, soon to be 36-years old, isn’t going to be able to anchor this front forever. Larry Ogunjobi hasn’t come really all that close to living up to his contract but Williams is young enough to be a enticing running mate for Keeanu Benton, as they look to lead the Steelers defense into the next era of Pittsburgh football.
The final piece to this puzzle? Andy Wiedl, current assistant general manager, was in Philadelphia back when the team selected Williams with a third round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. There’s an obvious connection there and given his scouting background, it would be negligent for the franchise to not at least discuss this is a possibility. While in Mobile, Steelers Now beat writer Alan Saunders observed the coaching staff keeping a watchful eye over the defensive line group which could mean that this position is higher up on the priority list than we originally thought heading into the offseason. Whether it’s through free agency or the draft, it’s reasonable to expect at least a moderate investment here relatively soon.
Spotrac currently projects Williams his market value to be three-years, $36 million (12.M APY). That seems cheap based on how he’s performed in 2024. Howie Roseman, the current Eagles general manager, is the best in the business in terms of roster building and there’s a chance that he doesn’t even let him leave the building. Philadelphia is creative in how they handle the cap but they have other free agents, most notably linebacker Zach Baun, that will command both their attention and money when the new year turns over.
Keep an eye on #93 on Saturday night. Who knows, he may not have to move very far in the next couple months.