Was Trai Turner the Steelers Best Lineman in 2021? Re-signing Him A Priority?

[Steeler Nation]

The Pittsburgh Steelers were in a predicament after All-Pro guard David DeCastro failed to recover from bone spurs in his ankle and was released in June of 2021. At that point, DeCastro was supposed to be the leader of a young and inexperienced group that had just lost Maurkice Pouncey to retirement, and Alejandro Villanueva to the Ravens via free agency.

Instead, the Steelers were forced to see what was available in a free agent market that had been picked over for three months. They settled on Trai Turner who was coming off an injury riddled season with the Los Angeles Chargers. His season was so poor that the Chargers released him one year after trading for him. Turner was instantly forced into a leadership role for the Steelers, and it was one he seemingly embraced from the start.

“There are questions from the younger guys, and I see from the standpoint that I’m the older guy here now,” Turner said. “But we have two really good coaches and we have a lot of support. So, me along with other coaches, we are going to give the right answers. We get on the same page and we ball. That’s all that matters.”

Now Turner is a free agent, and the Steelers seemingly don’t have his replacement on the roster. He signed a one-year, $3 million dollar deal with the Steelers last season, but is set to get quite a pay raise this off-season. Teams shied away from Turner last off-season because it was unclear if he was going to be healthy, but he showed this season that his health is back. But he isn’t the same player he was with the Carolina Panthers when he made five straight Pro Bowls from his rookie season on.

The Steelers will get Kevin Dotson back who missed almost the entire 2021 season with a high ankle sprain, but after a promising rookie campaign, 2021 was a huge disappointment. He was expected to make a large jump in year two, but from the get-go there were issues. It was reported at the time that the Steelers coaching staff was upset with Dotson’s off-season workout program. Video’s showed Dotson had been training, but the Steelers apparently didn’t like where his level of conditioning was at.

If Dotson doesn’t step up, then the Steelers are in dire need for a guard. You have the option of moving Kendrick Green to guard, but it might be a wise choice to make a run at Turner so you don’t have to be forced into that decision.

Turner will reportedly command a salary in the range of $18 million over three years according to Bleacher Report. But Pro Football Focus has him slated for a two-year contract worth around $12 million. If the Steelers have their choice, the two-year deal would be perfect for them. It would allow them to keep their leader on the offensive line as they transition to another offensive line coach. Oddly enough, the Steelers new offensive line coach Pat Meyer was with the Chargers while Turner was in Carolina, and then with Carolina after Turner was traded to the Chargers. So if precedent is set, then Turner won’t be returning.

Turner was rated the Steelers most improved player in 2021 by PFF. Obviously his previous number was with the Chargers, but he went from a 34.8 grade in 2020, to 68.1 in 2021. That placed him at #30 among 79 qualified guards.



Do you think the Steelers should make a run at re-signing Trai Turner? Let us know in the comment section below.

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[BamaSteeler52]

Seriously? This is a real question... He was by far the worst...
Looking at sacks, pressures allowed & TFL:
Chuks and Green were our two better lineman (Not with standing parts of Greens game that were not good that would not have a stat line)
Turner and Moore statistically the worse two. (Moore was a rookie not faulting him)
I did not mention Leglue or Hassenauer due to low snap count.

 

[Shane Falco]

Why? I think they could get more value out of a Penn Dot traffic barrel.

 

[Confluence]

"Bust Lineman"; mistake in title, obviously

 

[Fiji Mariner]

Priority for Turner

1) show him the nearest exit
2) hide any pens between him and the exit

 

[troymania]

Dear God No!!!!! He was a human turnstile. I wonder how many blown assignments he had last year?

 

[BLITZ]

resign him for the vet Minimum and then trade him to Denver for 3 1st round draft picks

 

[stillwright]

Lol....how many times did he let the guy right across from him simply run right by him? I would pass.

 

[Litos]

This article really missed by a wide margin. As crazy as it might sound chuks was our best OL player and turner shouldn't get 6M in the fa market. 4M would be a lot already

 

[BamaSteeler52]

Question is do we take an OG like Kenyon Green at 20 and say OG/OT Jamboree Salyer who offers position flexibility and Stand pat with Chuks and Moore.

 

[Ike Kelly]

Plenty of FA IOL available this year, and we have $ to spend it on. C or G and OT probably. At least 3 good C available two of them under 27 y/o too.

 

[SteelerFan448]

The Steelers could have 5 new starters on the offensive line next season and I would not be disappointed.

 

[madinsomniac]

He wasn’t as bad as people here think but he isn’t a priority… chuks sucked in run blocking green messed up a lot of assignments and he was kind of caught in between the two… i think he would be better besides at least one good olineman… but he is going to be relatively cheap compared to the bigger names out there

 

[Confluence]

He wasn’t as bad as people here think but he isn’t a priority… chuks sucked in run blocking green messed up a lot of assignments and he was kind of caught in between the two… i think he would be better besides at least one good olineman… but he is going to be relatively cheap compared to the bigger names out there

But he whiffed way too much for a former ProBowler. Maybe he got confused next to a rookie, but that is kinda the point of his being the veteran. For the same money, there must be better FA alternatives

 

[madinsomniac]

Question is do we take an OG like Kenyon Green at 20 and say OG/OT Jamboree Salyer who offers position flexibility and Stand pat with Chuks and Moore.

We need one anchor on the line… one guy to design the blocking schemes around… you don’t need 5 all pro types, just one and another above average guy and tge other three can be average… the best way to find those is definitely through the draft… ufas are stupid expensive at that level

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

We need one anchor on the line… one guy to design the blocking schemes around…

Yeah we just dont need one with a ship anchor in his pants

 

[TDX27]

I certainly didn't see Turner do anything to be given another contract off. Maybe vet minimum for him to compete and, more than likely, be a back up might work out OK but not hand the starter keys over to him.

 

[BamaSteeler52]

He wasn’t as bad as people here think but he isn’t a priority… chuks sucked in run blocking green messed up a lot of assignments and he was kind of caught in between the two… i think he would be better besides at least one good olineman… but he is going to be relatively cheap compared to the bigger names out there

He was good at one time. If remember correctly he stunk the year before with the Chargers. Rated 79 out of 80 guards. He is replaceable.