The Steelers have had plenty of success over the course of their history, but that doesn’t make them any different from anyone else when they miss the playoffs.
Changes come when teams fall short of the postseason and that’s just what General Manager Kevin Colbert says is coming to Pittsburgh this offseason. Colbert suggested that some of the changes could have been made in past years, but that this season’s results meant they have to be made now.
“When you’re 12-4 and a playoff team, sometimes you get mesmerized by your success and you get a little reluctant to change,” Colbert said, via Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “If we don’t change a roster that produced 8-8, we’d be silly to expect a better result.”
Colbert said he didn’t expect to use the franchise tag this year and suggested that the team would wait to see what the market dictated before re-signing any of their own free agents. Wide receiver Mike Wallace, cornerback Keenan Lewis and running back Rashard Mendenhall are some of the Steelers set to become free agents after the season.
There weren’t many specifics about what kind of changes the Steelers might be making, although Colbert did single out the running game “didn’t produce the way we anticipated.” He also confirmed that Chris Rainey won’t be part of the solution that problem by saying that the decision to waive Rainey as soon as possible will not be reversed.
