First Call: Art Rooney II says O-line must get better, wants to keep Cameron Heyward, discusses Najee Harris’ contact
During his various media stops Tuesday, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II talked about Cameron Heyward’s future, Najee Harris’ fifth-year option and the state of the offensive line.
We have all of those quotes for you in Tuesday’s “First Call.” Plus, there’s news about a former Steeler who is in the running for an offensive coordinator vacancy.
Better upfront
One area where the Steelers could get better is along the offensive line. Team president Art Rooney II made those sentiments clear Monday during a meeting with reporters.
“I think we need to be better on the offensive line,” Rooney said. “Those guys got better as the season went on. There’s no denying that. We’ll assess where we are. If there are places we can make improvements, we will.”
One of those places might be at center. Throughout the year, Mason Cole received extended praise from his teammates for his work pre-snap in terms of communication and identification of opposing defensive alignments and work during the week with the running backs and quarterbacks. However, some issues in the blocking department and with shotgun snaps became problematic.
The team may also be wise to find another starting-worthy tackle so that Broderick Jones can move back to left tackle and Dan Moore can serve in a swing capacity.
The Steelers ended up 13th in rushing at 118.2 yards per game. Only eight teams allowed fewer sacks than the Steelers, who had 36.
Can Cam stay?
Regarding Cam Heyward’s future, Rooney said the Steelers would like the defensive captain back in Black and Gold for 2024 and perhaps beyond.
But Heyward’s health status may dictate that decision.
“We want Cam (Heyward) on our team this year and maybe going forward,” Rooney said. “He’s as solid of an individual in the locker room as you could ever want. That’s valuable to us. Unfortunately, (he) had some injuries to overcome this year. Hopefully, he gets healthy and comes back strong.”
Rooney wouldn’t disclose if the club is planning to ask the veteran lineman to take a pay cut heading into his 14th year.
“I don’t know if it would be fair to Cam (Heyward) to say too much about it at this stage of the game,” Rooney said. “Obviously, those are things we’ll get into as we get deeper into the offseason.”
On a recent edition of his “Not Just Football Podcast,” Heyward fired back at the idea of him taking a pay cut.
“I bust my butt in rehab, doing everything,” Heyward said. “I’ve got to let things calm down. Screw the people who keep talking about me getting a pay cut.”
Heyward’s cap hit is scheduled to be $22.4 million next year, which is the final season of his contract. Heyward missed six games because of groin injury issues. He totaled just two sacks and six tackles for loss. Those are the lowest numbers he has posted since he missed most of the 2016 season.
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After meeting with the media Monday, Rooney II sat down with Rob King on Steelers.com. One of the topics that came up was running back Najee Harris and the future of his contract.
Harris just completed his third year on his entry-level deal. As a former first-round pick, that means this offseason the Steelers have to decide if they are going to pick up his fifth-year option.
Despite three consecutive seasons over 1,000 yards to begin his career, Rooney says that decision is not a lock.
“A lot of thought, a lot of analysis goes into making those decisions,” Rooney told King. “We’ll be working on that as well as all the other things we have to do in the offseason, but that’ll be a key decision as we get closer to the draft in May.”
Harris’ projected fifth-year total is $6.6 million. As a comparison, on this year’s cap, that hit would’ve been roughly 3% of the Steelers’ team total.
Attention on Antwaan
A former Steeler is getting an offensive coordinator interview.
Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El is getting a look as potentially becoming the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator.
ProFootballTalk.com is reporting that the interview took place remotely last Friday before the Lions lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. The Bucs also interviewed ex-Browns offensive coordinator and former Pitt quarterback Alex Van Pelt on Monday.
This wouldn’t be Randle El’s first time as a coach in Tampa. He began his coaching career as an offensive assistant on Bruce Arians’ staff with the Buccaneers in 2019. Dan Campbell hired him up to Detroit in 2021.
Randle El was drafted by the Steelers in 2002. The last game of his first stint in Pittsburgh was the 2005-06 Super Bowl XL victory for the franchise in Detroit over the Seattle Seahawks. He threw a touchdown pass to Hines Ward in that game.
After a three-year tour in Washington, the receiver and punt returner returned to Pittsburgh to be part of the 2010 team that went to Super Bowl XLV.
Former Bucs OC Dave Canales left Florida to become the head coach of the Carolina Panthers.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.