Steelers Named Top Landing Spot for Free Agent Edge Rusher

The Steelers are being named as the favorites to land free-agent edge rusher Kyle Van Noy after the 2023 NFL Draft, according to Pro Football Focus, who predicted where the top free agents would land after the draft’s conclusion.

Brad Spielberger wrote that Van Noy makes plenty of sense for the team after the New England Patriots released him during in 2022, but he vastly overperformed his one-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. The rationale is quite simple, and it is the fact that there is still a clear need for quality edge depth for the Steelers behind Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt.

“The Steelers are set with their starters at edge and made a shrewd draft selection in Wisconsin’s Nick Herbig, who profiles as a similar player to Van Noy,” Spielberger wrote. “Still, Van Noy could be a nice rotational piece for the Steelers, as he also has the flexibility to play some off-ball linebacker — which isn’t a super deep position group for Pittsburgh.”

The idea makes plenty of sense. Having been in the league since 2014, Van Noy has racked up 33.5 career sacks across his stops in the NFL. With the Chargers a year ago, he played in all 17 games, starting in 13 of them and putting up 5 sacks on 46 tackles. That is a solid production profile that the Steelers do not have outside of their starters.

Right now, Pittsburgh profiles to have a battle between Nick Herbig, Quincy Roche, David Perales, and Emeke Egbule that are in the room. They released Jamir Jones, who was slated to have the OLB3 role in 2023, after he was arrested and charged with domestic battery in April. This is the type of position that could see someone versatile and savvy like Van Noy slot right into the rotation as a player that has a high floor.