Mark Madden's Hot Take: A lazy, but not boring, list of Steelers' top offseason stories

Much about sports coverage these days revolves around rankings or lists. It’s lazy, predictable and boring.

I haven’t done enough to prove I can be all those things. Or have I? Anyway, here are the top 10 Pittsburgh Steelers stories of the offseason.

1. The Steelers are not a lot better. If they have improved, it’s marginally. The Steelers still have gaping holes at center, wideout and cornerback and not enough at other positions, like inside linebacker. Their offensive weaponry is subpar. The draft is unlikely to plaster over everything, and the Steelers don’t like to play rookies anyway.

2. The Steelers are rotten at tight end. Pat Freiermuth only caught 32 balls last year and doesn’t block. Darnell Washington doesn’t catch.

3. The Steelers aren’t going to move Broderick Jones from right tackle to left tackle, where Jones was drafted to play and absolutely belongs. The coaches are in love with left tackle Dan Moore Jr. even though he stinks by most metrics.

4. It’s a competition between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields at quarterback, but not in the traditional sense. If Wilson excels, he’ll price himself out of a contract extension and give way to Fields in 2025. That’s if Fields is agreeable to being affordable. Whoever plays cheap wins the “competition.”

5. So far in his career, Fields is a bum. He’s played 40 games, thrown 30 interceptions and fumbled 38 times. The Steelers emphasize protecting the ball. Fields doesn’t. He’s far from being the Steelers’ long-term answer at QB.

6. The Steelers are absolutely not going to sign Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott if he gets to free agency next year.

7. The biggest story might be Mike Tomlin ceding decision-making power in the Steelers’ hierarchy. There’s no way to confirm that, but the offseason’s flavor is suddenly bold, not vanilla. The signing of kick-return big shot Cordarrelle Patterson in the immediate wake of the NFL adopting the XFL kickoff method was extremely un-Tomlin. Full credit to GM Omar Khan, assistant GM Andy Weidl, owner Art Rooney II, the ball boy, whoever.

8. I still doubt the Steelers defense, by far the NFL’s highest-paid. Inside ’backer Patrick Queen is a great get. But the Steelers’ defense recently has been big names dotting a unit that performs mostly mediocre. Queen could be just another star on a defense that doesn’t live up to its pedigree and payroll.

I promised a top 10 earlier. That’s just eight.

But I feel like I’ve done enough and anyway, most top-10 lists have a handful of legit items completed by filler. I’ve indulged lazy by staving off boring. Not that this piece is entirely devoid of fluff.

But if you want 10:

9. Kenny Pickett acted like a big baby.

10. Diontae Johnson is going to hate playing for Carolina.

Coming soon: my mock draft!