Author: kate.magdziuk

Pittsburgh’s draft slot is now official

With the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 NFL season officially having come to a close, their spot in the 2025 NFL Draft is officially locked in. The Steelers will be picking 21st in the draft order after their 10-7 finish and first-round exit in the playoffs.

Though compensatory picks have yet to be awarded, here’s a look at the Steelers’ projected picks by round as it stands to close out the Divisional Round, per Tankathon. Keep in mind that the position of these picks may shift given that some of the teams whose picks the Steelers hold are still in playoff contention.

Steelers 2025 draft picks

• Round 1, Pick No. 21
• Round 2, Pick No. 52
• Round 3, Pick No. 83
• Round 4, Pick No. 121
• Round 5, Pick No. 161
• Round 6 — None
• Round 7, Picks No. 223, 229, 245

Steelers draft pick notes

Thanks to plenty of wizardry from Steelers GM Omar Khan, there are a few trades to be aware of when assessing Pittsburgh’s collection of draft picks in 2025. Here are a few considerations worth noting:

• The Steelers owned both their own 2025 fifth-round pick, as well as a fifth-round pick acquired from the Los Angeles Rams acquired in the Kevin Dotson trade. The Steelers traded one of these picks to acquire WR Mike Williams from the New York Jets, but it’s unclear which of the two draft picks were involved in the trade.
• The Steelers sent a conditional sixth-round pick to acquire QB Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears that would escalate to a fourth-round pick if he played more than 51% of offensive snaps in 2024. Fields played 36.14% of offensive snaps, so the pick will be a sixth-rounder.
• The Steelers acquired a sixth-rounder from the Houston Texans in the trade of Kendrick Green.
• It’s unclear which of the sixth-round picks (Steelers, Texans) that the Rams and Bears received in their respective trades.
• In 2022, the Steelers traded a 2025 conditional sixth-round pick for William Jackson III and a 2025 seventh-round pick. Though it hasn’t explicitly been acknowledged that the conditions of the pick were not met, it would appear that is the case, as the Steelers traded away two sixth-round picks since, including one to the LA Rams and the aforementioned sixth-rounder sent for QB Justin Fields.
• The Steelers acquired two seventh-round picks from the Philadelphia Eagles in the Kenny Pickett trade — the two most favorable of the Broncos, Eagles, Falcons and Saints picks.
• The Steelers sent a conditional seventh-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings in 2022 for OL Jesse Davis. It’s unclear if the conditions of the trade were met, so the team may or may not own its draft pick.
• The Steelers sent a seventh-round pick to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for LB Preston Smith. It’s unclear what draft pick was sent for Smith.

Free agency is right around the corner…

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 season is over, and they enter 2025 with more questions than answers and a whole slew of pending free agents whose departure (or re-signings) could shape the future of what’s to come.

Here are four pending free agents the Steelers should consider bringing back in the 2025 NFL season.

QB Justin Fields

At one point this season, it looked like the Steelers would almost surely bring back Russell Wilson on a long-term contract. However, a five-game skid to close out the season should, at the very least, give the organization some pause when it comes to a potential second contract. Justin Fields, however, seems to have gained momentum as the team’s potential starter in 2025, having gone 4-2 in his short stint as QB1 prior to Wilson’s return from injury.

Fields brings a ton of athleticism that enables him to extend plays (and create) with his legs, while also having the ability to pass from the pocket — a true dual threat that offers a similar skillset that we once saw from Wilson in his prime.

The Steelers spent his first year with the team adjusting some of his mechanics (particularly in regard to his footwork) to help get back to his roots, and he’s now got a year under his belt in Arthur Smith’s run-friendly offense. With the right offensive system (and the right weapons in place), Fields could be a fairly low-cost option with long-term upside. At just 25 years old, the former first-round pick posted a career-best 93.3 NFL passer rating, 9% sack rate, 0.1% INT rate and 42.9% successful pass rate per Pro Football Reference.

RB Jaylen Warren (RFA)

The Pittsburgh Steelers passed on Najee Harris’ fifth-year option, citing the fact that it wasn’t yet clear what direction the offense was heading, Harris said himself. It is worth wondering if the potential to re-sign backup Jaylen Warren wasn’t also a factor in the equation, though. Warren, a third-year former UDFA out of Oklahoma State, dealt with some injuries throughout his 2024 campaign that forced him to miss three games altogether (and likely affected his overall efficiency to some degree). Over the past two seasons, however, Warren’s 31% missed forced tackle rate is tied to lead all RBs (min. 250 rush attempts), averaging 4.8 yards per carry (9th) and 3.5 yards after contact per rush attempt (6th). He may not be the type of workhorse that Harris has been, but the 2025 NFL Draft class is rich and deep at running back, and Warren is a very affordable complement for this roster that very much values running the football.

ILB Elandon Roberts

The Steelers made some splash plays at ILB over the past year, signing Patrick Queen to a three-year, $41 million deal that made him the highest-paid free agent in team history, as well as drafting rookie Payton Wilson out of NC State — arguably the best inside linebacker in the 2024 draft class, though health concerns saw him fall down draft boards. Still, with Cole Holcomb a potential cap casualty heading into 2025, Roberts should be considered a priority to retain for what he offers in terms of depth and his abilities as a run defender. Despite playing his fewest defensive snaps since the 2020 season, Roberts notches 10 pressures — the second most he’s ever had in a season — and was the team’s highest-graded run defender per PFF, credited with the fifth-most defensive stops all season.

WR Ben Skowronek

There were plenty of flaws in all phases of gameplay for the Steelers in 2024, but a consistent bright spot was the contributions of Danny Smith’s special teams — and Ben Skowronek was a big part of that. Though he totaled just 69 receiving yards over 10 games this year, he made several key plays on special teams, including the recovery of a muffed punt against the Cleveland Browns in Week 14.

Despite playing just 11 total games in 2024, Skowronek tied for the second-most tackles on special teams and earned the Steelers’ fifth-highest special teams grade on the year per PFF.

Which Steelers free agents would you like to prioritize re-signing in 2025? Check out the full list of Steelers free agents here!