There's Always Next Year: Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh spent the 2015 season as a sneaky AFC title contender that could never get all the pieces together on the field. Ben Roethlisberger missed time early. Star back Le'Veon Bell opened the season with a two-game suspension for DUI and marijuana possession, and ended it with a knee injury in November. Tackle Kelvin Beachum missed most of the season after tearing his ACL. Center Maurkice Pouncey missed the whole season with an ankle injury. And just when it looked like the Steelers would be able to exploit Denver's weak offense in the playoffs, the Bengals concussed their star wideout Antonio Brown.

The perpetual injury and suspension motion machine killed Pittsburgh in 2015. It doesn't have to in 2016. In fact, looking ahead to next season, I think Pittsburgh's offense arguably has the most upside in the NFL (and the defense should be in a good spot, too). Like Denver this year, they just need their stars healthy at the right time.

Coach and Quarterback Confidence Rating: 8/10

Offensive coordinator Todd Haley takes a lot of grief from snarky internet folks like me. We like to focus on his random one-carry games for backup running backs. We remember his conservative game plans as a head coach. We remember his facial expressions.

But Haley's transformation of Roethlisberger's system is downright amazing. Pittsburgh's quarterback used to be a gun-slinging, time-buying mad bomber—just look at how far ahead he is in times sacked among all quarterbacks since 2004. Over the past two seasons, though, Roethlisberger has been sacked just 33 and 20 times, down from his single-season high of 50 in 2009. And, by the way, he's still good enough to go deep and beat you.

We've been over Mike Tomlin before on VICE. He's a good head coach, but one with glaring flaws. The fact that this still puts him in the "respected head coaches" tier says a lot about how few coaches do more than dabble in game management.

Key Offseason Decision: How will the Steelers handle their offensive line?

Beachum is a free agent, as is guard Ramon Foster. Pittsburgh doesn't actually need to sign these guys back. They are reportedly intrigued by backup left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, to the point where they're willing to let Beachum test the market. Villanueva was bad last season in relief, but he wasn't a smoking crater.

The other factor is, of course, the cap space: the Steelers don't need to do much more than routine cap gymnastics here, but is it worth it? How far into The Blind Side do the Steelers believe?

Major Free Agents: T Kelvin Beachum, G Ramon Foster, DB Brandon Boykin, DT Steve McLendon, S Will Allen

Beachum has one year of great tackle play, and the torn ACL probably cost him a shot to have the biggest FA contract of the offseason (or get franchised). Foster is a good pass-blocking guard who should be in demand.

Boykin is a nice slot corner who was unceremoniously run out of Philly and didn't get a starting shot in Pittsburgh until near the end of the season. McLendon is a run-stuffing nose tackle with no pass rush ability.

Allen is probably a safety the Steelers can upgrade on. The real question there is whether they have the money to do so, or if they would they settle for bringing Allen back.

Cap Situation: $8,461,508—27th in the NFL

This does not count the cap fallout of Heath Miller's retirement. Pittsburgh doesn't have much cap fat it can cut easily, with only a few guys hanging around a $2 million break. Fill-in center Cody Wallace, that means you!

But there are a few things they can do to generate more cap space. A Lawrence Timmons extension to lower his $15.1 million cap figure is the easiest. An extension for guard David DeCastro to lower his $8.07 million cap figure also would make some sense.

Other than that, the Steelers still need to play it close to the vest. They currently have enough cap space to sign their rookie class, but not much more after that. That means re-signing Beachum or Foster would only happen via extensions or handing out signing bonuses to push cap space into future years.