Three Pittsburgh Steelers FA’s Still With A Fighting Chance

We’ve been touching on free agency for the last four months.  Training camp is around the corner, and there’s still a chance that the Pittsburgh Steelers will sign a free agent at the last minute before players arrive in Latrobe.  Here are three unsigned free agents who still have a ‘fighting chance’ of getting signed prior to camp and hope to find their way onto the roster by mid-August.

Oct 27, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel (99) warms up prior to the game against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Brett Keisel

This one is surprisingly a hot button topic for some folks in Steeler Nation.  Once a fan favorite, “The Beard” is seeing more resistance from his own fan base in re-joining the team than he does from an offensive lineman when pass rushing the quarterback.  Keisel is old (36) and he has lost a step, but as Scott Brown from ESPN points, Keisel could be a great mentor for rookie Steelers lineman Stephon Tuitt.  Tuitt is the type of player that will need to develop slowly, and it could prove detrimental to the future of the defensive line if Tuitt is thrown into the fray too early and without a safety net.  That’s not the Steeler Way as it were when it comes to developing young talent within this organization.

I think Brown is right, and it’s something I’ve been saying (to much pushback from readers) for the last two months when he writes that the Steelers would be smart to bring him back for another year and probably will by training camp.  Keisel’s chances are the best out of any FA that is still waiting for that phone call.