The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a very subpar free agency period so far. They did execute a trade to bring in DK Metcalf and pay him $132 million in new money, but their performance on the open market has been less than ideal. They signed a handful of aging veterans and re-signed quarterback Mason Rudolph as Plan B, since they missed out on many quarterbacks, along with the fact that they are still waiting on Aaron Rodgers to hurry up and make a decision on where he wants to play.
While making an appearance on 93.7 The Fan, Mike Florio was asked about the Steelers' latest proposals to change the rules to make it easier for teams to bring prospective free agents in during the legal tampering period and do business with them. He called the team out for foolishly doing things by the books.
"It sounds like the Steelers are one of the teams that don't tamper, and they're afraid they're going to get caught," explained Florio. "One of the takes I had last week in the aftermath of the Seahawks signing Sam Darnold, I said: 'There's no way in h*ll the Seahawks didn't have a deal in place with Sam Darnold before they agreed to trade Geno Smith.'"
While tampering before the allotted time is illegal, it happens all the time. Teams will negotiate with free agents in February and early March, and it is very rare that anyone gets in trouble for it. 31 teams in the NFL use that tactic and abuse the fact that other franchises won't rat them out to the league. It seems like the Steelers are the outlier in this case.
Florio continues on to talk about how the Steelers' ideas completely differ from one like the Seattle Seahawks, who allegedly agreed to terms with Sam Darnold before they could legally negotiate.
"The flip side is the Steelers agreed to trade for DK Metcalf without having a quarterback deal in place," Florio mentioned. "I think that anytime somebody suggests that the former rules be changed to allow things that people are already doing, they're the Pollyanna that isn't breaking the rules the way that others are -- because as it stands now, you can talk to players' agents, you can negotiate a deal all the way to conclusion, and it can basically be announced to the world... but you can't set up a visit until 4:00 eastern on the first day of official free agency... the Steelers are foolishly complying with the rules. This is their proposal to change the rules, so they can do the things that other teams are already doing."
The Steelers' rule proposals were to allow teams to talk directly with players during legal tampering, as opposed to their agents, along with allowing those players to travel to the team facilities once terms are agreed upon, as opposed to the new league year. Everyone already does it, as Florio mentioned, so it doesn't make sense why the Steelers would be so concerned with it, unless they abide by those rules.
They couldn't get Darnold because the Seahawks allegedly cheated and locked him up before they were even allowed to talk to him or his agent. When Justin Fields wanted to "test the market," he was likely in the process of negotiating already. Meanwhile, the front office sat on their hands and seemingly tried to be morally correct.
Steelers' Compliance Circles Back To Complacency
The old saying is "if you ain't cheating, you ain't trying." If the Steelers are caught breaking the rules, the men up top would have to pay a fine out of their own pockets. Why would they risk that if Super Bowls are not their ambition?
