Steelers offseason: Is a Pat Freiermuth extension worth it? Should they have drafted a CB over OT?

On his weekly Chipped Ham and Football podcast, Post-Gazette Steelers insider Brian Batko answers reader questions. Among them: Is a Pat Freiermuth extension really worthwhile for GM Omar Khan considering the tight ends injuries and uninspiring production? Should the team have selected a top NFL draft corner like Quinyon Mitchell, Terrion Arnold, Nate Wiggins or Cooper DeJean instead of the sixth tackle off the board in Troy Fautanu? Could QB Justin Fields be an option at another position like WR or KR if he fails to beat out Russell Wilson for the top QB job? What about undrafted free agent John Rhys Plumlee? And how quickly can Arthur Smith assemble all of his pieces on offense before the unit hits its stride?

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[Music] chip Tam and football that’s what Pittsburgh does what’s up everybody welcome back to the show Ryan batco with you as always from the Post Gazette gonna do something a little bit different on today’s show for the first time gonna just do a reader mailbag with questions I’ve gotten I was off last week so I didn’t do a normal mailbag and thus I’ve got a lot of stuff piling up and between that and really not a lot happening right now before OTAs begin a week from today I figured not we just get to some lingering questions get to some thoughts of the readers um you know get to get to some of what’s on your guys mind we’ve never done that here on this show so I figured why not you know we got to kind of invent something to talk about at this point in the NFL calendar anyway so might as well engage with you all while we do it and as always this show is brought to you by Pella no better place to get new windows and doors installed in your home than Pella who can help you save on energy costs year round schedule a free inhome consultation with your local Pella Windows and doors to find the right product for your home and your budget give them a call at 866-593-5470 [Music] all right uh like I said got plenty of questions here from the masses and we’ll go ahead and start with this one from uh Joe Z who wants to ask about probably the only real interesting contract extension question this off season for the Steelers here is the question from Joe is it really worth it to sign Fri MTH Pat Fri MTH obviously my unpopular decision would be emphatically no I like MTH for what it’s worth but not to a contract where he earns 10 plus million over the next 3 to four years Muth is a liability as a blocker and in the running game besides and possibly more important Arthur Smith had an extremely talented tight end in Kyle pittz who was underused in his last offense Smith basically ignored one of the most talented players on his last team last but not least his M’s concussion history added all up and it’s a hard pass for me curious as to your thoughts Joe uh thanks as always for reading and reaching out I completely disagree with you on this one I I think Pat Fruth is a very reasonable extension candidate for the Steelers and I’m not saying give him crazy money um but you know it’s it’s a position that’s starting to get paid a little bit more in recent years um certainly not going to put Fri Muth into the class of tight ends with George KD Travis Kelce or or anybody like that but I mean I think he’s been very reliable for you when he is on the field the injury stuff of course is unfortunate I think that would be baked into uh any extension you do with him and thus his asking price for himself but I mean I’ll tell you right now Tamm Hill is making 10 million a year for the Saints granted he’s not a typical tight end throw him out if you want Noah fance making 10 and a half million per year uh Dalton Schultz is is making 12 million per year Cole KT got 12 a half million from the Bears when they extended him which I think was an odd deal at the time uh maybe an overpay but he was coming off a big year in production touchdown wise I think F M’s he’s in with that group now you know Dawson Knox the bills got him for a little bit of a steal at just under 10 million annually you always got to factor in in inflation with with any position and you know players kind of trying to get that you know next one up uh bump up but I I I would do in the 10 to 12 million a year range for Pat Fruth I really would he’s been productive when he’s out there you know the Arthur Smith offense I don’t I wouldn’t use that as a detractor for for this argument I think it’s sometimes gets a little bit too much of a narrative rather than reality with what he was able to do with Kyle Pitts I know it was frustrating for Fantasy owners that Pitts wasn’t more productive with Atlanta but I mean the fact of the matter is he he runs so much tight end Centric stuff pits had over a thousand yards receiving as a rookie when Matt Ryan was his quarterback yeah he fell off the next couple years but the quarterback play wasn’t as good either down in Atlanta and you know he was hurt his second year he had 110 targets uh or excuse me 90 targets last season so I think some of that stuff gets overblown with Smith and is you know you don’t sign an offensive coordin or hire an offensive coordinator and expect it to be only a one-year thing so I mean I think F Muth is very much a part of the present in the future for the Steelers and the last thing I’ll say about it you know while the injuries are a concern what’s not a concern is he’s just the guy who gets it and if if Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin are are drafting guys from winning cultures and trying to establish that team first mentality again here in Pittsburgh I remember after that second Bengals game last year at home where F Muth put up a goose egg statline zero for zero on zero targets and he just said it doesn’t matter to him he will try to block his butt off and to your point Joe I think he’s gotten better at that uh over the last you know handful of games from last season we know it’s never been his strength but I do think he’s putting in the time and the effort to to improve in that aspect he’s going to have to if if Nai Harris and Jaylen Warren Remain the focal points but you know he he’s just he’s not a me first type of player I think he’s a guy you win with I think he’s somebody who appreciates being a stealer I think he’s one of the good ones so for a lot of reasons I I would be all for a new uh a new deal for Pat Ferrar M nothing outlandish but I don’t know that he’s looking for that either uh he knows he hasn’t stayed healthy enough so I think the Steelers will ultimately work it out with him uh so I I would disagree with your question there on FR that as we get into OTAs and then mandatory mini camp sometimes that results in some movement but that’s also one that you know that might linger into training camp that might even go up to week one given that that’s their natural deadline for working out new deals all right next question as the birds are chirping behind me here in in shaylor this one Keith in Atlanta also a frequent contributor to the mailbags with the 20th pick should the Steelers have taken the first cornerback versus the sixth tackle would have been a great book end to Joey Porter for a decade once again I’m gonna say no no I did not have an issue with the Troy fanu pick over say uh you know Nate Wiggins or um quinon Mitchell out of Toledo I know of people myself included thought the Steelers would very much be interested in Cooper deene uh out of Iowa so yeah I mean the fact that they did pass on all those guys terion Arnold from Alabama was another one who went a few picks later to the Lions I I don’t have a a problem with that mainly because I think Joey Porter Jr as well as he played as a rookie and as fast as he was able to take to life in the NFL and you know Mike Tomlin trusting him enough to to follow opponents number one wide receivers both sides of the field he basically makes your second Corner a little less valuable of a position to your defense and your team don’t get me wrong everybody wants two great Corners because then what’s a team going to do you got to throw at somebody who’s locked down but everybody wants great players at every spot so you you’ve also got to try to do that at wide receiver at tackle in this case at guard at Center you know those positions took priority for the Steelers over finding a young running mate for an already young uh know star in the making it looks like to me and Joey Porter Jr so you know Darius Rush Cory trce you know th those are some young players who ideally they will make a push in training camp to to be that other starter if not and the safer more conservative option would probably be Dante Jackson who came over from Carolina in the Deontay Johnson trade you know he’s been there done that at the NFL level regardless of if it’s him or if it is one of the the young Avatar Corners uh Ryan Watts the the sixth round draft pick this year I tend to think that Steelers might see view him more as a safety we’ll find out uh once he gets out there uh with the rest of the team but I mean regardless of who it is because of Joey Porter Jr’s presence you don’t need to ask them to do quite as much you can give them more safety help they’re inherently going to be covering a lesser receiver than who Joey Jr’s on so no I that’s why I was not pounding the table for a corner when you frame it as six best offensive lineman in the draft versus first best corner I get it but you know I I don’t know that that was their reasoning or their thinking you’ve got to have two tackles out there at all times as well and uh you know I I wouldn’t have gone with any of those Corners that you mentioned uh or or that you would mention as 20th overall pick instead of Troy fanu so no I I think they did the right thing there okay next we’ll do a couple more here this one’s from Bobby B yo Bobby B he’s always emailing me good ideas good questions he says the more I think about fields and his freakish athletic ability does it not make sense to attempt to ask him if he’s willing to use it at wide receiver 2 that’s the banner that’s on the bottom if you’re watching on YouTube Bobby’s got a lot more to his idea here he says obviously I’m aware that suddenly changing positions often isn’t the best idea but the guy most certainly has the tools and doing so the Steelers keep him engaged playing football in learning the new offense enjoying the benefit of firsthand reads of Russell’s decision-making passing choices and Arthur Smith’s revamped route trees how could this not improve him in an event eventual QB role to me it seems to make perfect sense and Carries far less risk than throwing him in as a returner it also solves a problem of overpaying for a proven star receiver that is putting a lot on Justin Fields potentially playing wide out um you know I appreciate the Ingenuity Bobby and I’m I’m with you that using Justin Fields as a kick returner I I don’t actually think that that’s a realistic uh scenario for the Steelers I think Jaylen Warren threw it out there pretty jokingly on cam hayward’s podcast and he even referenced Danny Smith as being the one who brought that up and I I imagine that was more of just all those guys sitting in the Special Teams meeting and Danny Smith coming in with his gum and like hey hey we GNA put Justin Fields back there we G put Justin Fields back there and see what he can do y guys run run with the ball like so I don’t think that was a finely tuned meeting of they’re gonna kick it to Justin he’s gonna throw back across the field to Cordo Patterson he’s gonna have a wide openen Lane and we’re gonna break football former pit quarterback Max Brown who was one of my favorite people I covered on that beat did a video on uh his I think you can find it at his Twitter Max brown4 he has an e at the end of brown he does great analysis of of not just the NFL but college football he’s always thinking outside the box he he had a kind of a diagram of how it could revolutionize kick returns I don’t think that’s gonna happen I would just probably kick it to the other guy and now you’re down a blocker because you’re not going to ask fields to do that I don’t think he’s going to play a wide receiver either uh for the Steelers to me you can keep him engaged you could utilize his athleticism in the traits that Bobby mentions by having a a sub package for him where he comes in for Russell Wilson at quarterback and yeah there’s inherently going to be more of a designed rushing ability threat with him in there than 36y old Russ so I mean I think that is feasible for Justin Fields I don’t think lining him up out wide asking him to beat NFL Corners asking him to learn the nuances of that position you know you can still get knocked in the mouth playing wide receiver in this league um I shouldn’t age Russ he will be 36 you can still get knocked in the mouth playing wide receiver in this league too so uh no and plus Justin Fields like I know you you’ve got to be a volunteer and not a hostage but that’s a real good way to to uh to get on the bad side of one of your quarterbacks by saying hey why don’t you go learn wide receiver instead of getting these valuable reps with the offense That’s how little we think there’s a chance of you being thrown in under Center this year or earning the job because we’re gonna have you go learn a completely different position um so yeah I mean I know Bobby was just kind of basing that uh half-baked idea off of the you know Justin Fields kick return chatter that dominated Steelers Twitter for a little bit there but no uh the guy’s he’s a quarterback he’s trying to make it as a quarterback at the NFL level and I I still think there’s a chance he could do that so I I don’t think you’re going to see him lining up at the x or the Z even in a part-time uh role at all so no I’m I’m going to go ahead and and roll that one out man three questions and three that I’ve kind of shot down uh we’ll we’ll get to uh we’ll get to one or two more here depending on the timing and let’s go to the next one now from Ted W maybe more of a comment than a question but I like it and I like where it can go Ted W says that was a great interview with you as host and with your guest John rice plumbley on First Impressions he’s a person one can root for he’s a positive guy he will also scratch and Claw to play in the NFL if John rice performs very well and even plays better than Wilson or fields or Allen does he get a Bonafide chance of becoming the qb3 John rice plumbley is he’s about as interesting of a drafted free agent quarterback as the Steelers could have brought in we got to see him up close and personal a little bit in rookie mini camp over the weekend but for somebody like him I’ll be more curious to see how many reps does he get in OTAs how many reps does he get in training camp is he somebody who will get an extended audition in the preseason because I think the way he plays the quarterback position as somebody who’s very mobile very athletic played wide receiver talk about Justin field is playing wide receiver with the last question I there’s probably another guy in that same position group more likely to switch to receiver in the NFL than fields and that being plumbley who did it at Old Miss for a season I mean it’s probably a situation where he’s not going to look the best dropping back throwing against air throwing in drills you know those controlled settings but when you put him in a live situation where he can try to make Defenders Miss try to run away from rushers try to extend plays with his feet and you know maybe even run a guy over um that that’s where I think John rice Plumley becomes sort of intriguing and I think if as you know provided he sticks around I think he can make preseason games a little bit more interesting that’s you know it depends how much he’s going to play I think they’ll want to see a lot of Justin fields in those games assuming you know Russell Wilson you know probably gets a series in each maybe a series or two or three but you know with him being in quote unquote pole position as Mike Tomlin said many times you know that’s that’s going to be your opportunity to kind of gauge fields and his Readiness um of just the the overall trajectory of the quarterback competition but yeah I mean Kyle Allen was signed as the veteran third quarterback in the off season vet minimum deal cost them nothing to move on from him you could probably bring him back on the practice squad and you know I think it makes sense to have a guy like that who’s been around and seen a lot and you know been Josh Allen’s caddy it it helps to have that that set of eyes in the room but you know does it really matter having him on the active roster plumbley might be somebody who brings a little bit more to the equation in that sense so yeah I I give plumbley a real chance of of getting that qb3 job as somebody brought up in my chat Monday will there even be a qb3 on the 2024 Steelers because the NFL tweaked that emergency quarterback role that uh you can now have that player be elevated from the practice squad uh as one of the emergency quarterbacks so I mean it’s it’s still something that the Steelers might kind of cling to their tradition there but yeah I mean plumbley he should be fun to watch relatively speaking uh more so than Kyle Allen who’s been in the NFL and he’s kind of he’s just a guy uh you know Al be at one who’s good to have in the locker room all right last question comes from Sha M Shan says he got this to me after the draft but you know I’m just getting around to it now says I like what the Steelers are doing to rebuild the offensive line however having potentially three players at new positions Jones at left tackle Frasier at Center fanu at right tackle is a lot of change in NFL lore says o lines need time to develop chemistry in addition the entire offense needs to learn Arthur Smith’s system wondering if you think it will take the o line the skill guys and coaches some time to get on the same page lots of potential with this offense but perhaps it will take some time to come together maybe weeks six through 10 before this group fires on all cylinders yeah and you didn’t even mention new quarterback Sean so you know obviously everybody who does come back from 2023 players and coaches are also getting to learn Russell Wilson and Justin Fields as they get uh adjusted to life as Steelers so yeah I mean I think that’s a very fair point and you know it’s a double it’s every team in the NFL has changed from one year to the next but there’s very little continuity with the Steelers offense that’s probably a good thing when you look at what they’ve done on that side of the ball the last couple years but you know you’ve got George Pickins Nai Harris Jaylen Warren Pat FR MTH and you know a few linemen as the holdovers other than that yeah you’re going to be relying on a lot of young guys I wrote about Roman Wilson on Monday and how he’s you know the ideal kind of you want him to step up as that wide receiver two more so than a or quz Watkins um you know in the veterans that they signed this off season for that group if if you can get the Pickins Wilson combo right away that helps but I’m also not you know expecting that uh they’re they’re going to be you know AB Juju from the start uh the offensive line yeah as much as everybody myself included given the Steelers a in the draft for landing foul tanu and Frasier in back toback rounds a lot of people didn’t think they would be able to get that equation to work with a top tackle and a top Center so you you expect both can start right away but it would probably be a little bit uh irrational to not think there could be some Growing Pains I I think back to the 2021 draft Naji Harris coming in Fri Muth Kendrick green Dan Moore you know the latter of those two uh sort of un somewhat unexpected starters right away and you the the Steelers took a leap of faith that that o line would be good enough and it was n you know they were overwhelmed a lot of the times so they they did eventually you know come together enough to make the playoffs but it wasn’t uh it wasn’t always pretty to say the least so um there’s been a lot of change on offense from the Steelers from year to year in recent Seasons you know Ben was learning uh kind of a lot of new receivers in 2019 after Antonio Brown uh was was dealt to the Raiders and in 2020 uh Ben was coming back from injury so that was that took some getting acclimated too 21 Matt Canada was coming in as your offensive coordinator 22 new quarterback Mitch trubisky can he pick it there should have you know continuity was kind of the Saving Grace of last season I think a lot of us at this time a year ago were saying Kenny picket and Company have no reason not to hit the ground running that’s why you brought Matt canadaa back for a third season and we saw that that didn’t happen either so maybe uh you know having a veteran like Russell Wilson and somebody who’s been you know running an offense for the F past five seasons and Arthur Smith They’ll know how to work out some of those adjustment challenges quickly but yeah I mean the the young guys don’t necessarily know what they’re getting into at this level that it probably helps that you drafted some older rookies who were very experienced you didn’t get a bradi Jones type in the first round certainly an amarius Mims who ended up going to the Bengals before the Steelers picked Troy fanu somebody like that would have had even a steeper learning curve I suppose so yeah I mean those are reasonable uh statements for for Shawn to make there you know I don’t think anybody will have the patience for week uh week six let alone weeks nine or 10 for this thing to start jelling but yes I I think it’s important to remember despite some of the excitement around the offense right now with what they’ve invested into it this defense might have to do a lot of the heavy lifting right off the bat uh it’s they they’ve got a lot more of the incumbents returning and a lot more of the star power on this team to begin with so yeah I mean maybe I can do a deeper dive at some point on you know teams replacing that many starters on the offensive side of the ball with a new coordinator how they tend to Faire but that’s probably a good a good tea up for OTAs maybe we’ll talk about that uh later in the week on the Northshore Drive with Chris Carter um or or he maybe he and Ray will that this is going to be a pretty pertinent OTAs period as far as significance of OTAs goes you know so uh we’ll we’ll get a chance to preview that until those uh kick off next Tuesday we’re in a little bit of a lull right now I’m sure players will start trickling back into town any day now thanks as always for checking us out uh thanks to everybody who has asked me questions via email Twitter chats what have you um hope you know hopefully we can get to more throughout the rest of this week but appreciate you finding us here on the chip Tam and football show hopefully you were able to put up with me I know there’s a lot out there to watch uh we’ll be back with a guest next week but figured the the mailbag episode it would be a good time for that so appreciate you tuning in as always I’m Brian batco we’ll be back Wednesday with the Northshore Drive and make sure you’re checking out all of our other shows podcasts stories everything we’re doing here at the Post Gazette otaa is right around the corner four straight weeks of vaguely football things happening on the south side that we will be covering in full force uh we’ll see you next time appreciate it have a good rest of the week