Steelers Among Betting Favorites to Land $141 Million Edge Rusher
The Pittsburgh Steelers could end up making some big moves during the 2024 NFL offseason.
They met with Russell Wilson amid questions about their quarterback situation.
Now it is starting to seem like Diontae Johnson could be a trade candidate.
They’ve also already cleared quite a bit of cap space with cuts during this offseason.
One sportsbook seems to think that the Steelers could use that space to make a big splash at a position where they’re already pretty strong.
According to Steelers Now’s Alan Saunders, BetOnline currently has the Steelers lister at 5/1 to be Los Angeles Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack’s next team.
That gives them the second best odds to land Mack, behind only the Detroit Lions who are listed at 2/1.
A Resurgent 2023 for Khalil Mack
Mack’s career had hit a bit of a lull after his first season in Chicago. After racking up 12.5 sacks in his first season with the Bears, he didn’t reach double digits in any of his last three with the team.
That led the Bears to trade him to the Chargers for a second-round pick, which was much less than they gave up to get him from the Raiders.
His first season in LA was his fourth in a row without reaching double digit sacks.
Then he had a massive 2023 season.
Mack set a career high with 17 sacks and had 36 pressures in the season. The impressive performance earned him a Pro Bowl nod and ninth place in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Unfortunately, that probably won’t be enough to convince the Chargers to keep him around in 2024 because it would be very expensive.
Mack’s contract carries a cap hit just over $38.5 million and the Chargers can save more than $23 million if they cut him.
If the Chargers decide to move on, Mack should have plenty of interested suitors, but it would be very surprising if the Steelers were one of them.
The Strongest Part of the Steelers
Over the course of the offseason, there will be plenty of rumors that arise with varying levels of believability.
This feels like one that has no believability at all.
Mack is obviously a talented pass rusher, but that’s one of the few things that the Steelers have plenty of right now.
Regardless of how the Defensive Player of the Year voters may have felt about it, Pittsburgh has the best edge rusher in football on their roster.
T.J. Watt just led the NFL in sacks for the third time in four years. During the 2023 season, he racked up 19 of them.
He also had 50 pressures and forced 4 fumbles.
Watt isn’t the only elite option in their pass rush.
Alex Highsmith might not get the same kind of attention as Watt, but he has been extremely impressive through his first four years in the NFL.
In 2022, Highsmith had 14.5 sacks and tied for the league lead in forced fumbles with 5.
His numbers dipped quite a bit in 2023 as he only had 7 sacks, but he still had 26 pressures, which was only two less than the previous year.
Signing Mack wouldn’t be cheap and it’s not a move the Steelers really have any reason to make unless they trade one of these guys for some reason.
There are definitely much better bets available for Mack’s next team
