For one of the winningest franchises in NFL history, regrets are certainly not the most common. The Pittsburgh Steelers have had more success than just about any other NFL franchise over the last four or five decades, and they are one of the most successful and well-run organizations in American professional sports history.
But everyone has a few regrets every now and again.
There are a few players, especially within the last 10 or so years, that the Pittsburgh Steelers gave up on way too soon. These may not be the three most striking examples in franchise history, but looking back over the last 10 years, these names stand out.
3 players the Pittsburgh Steelers gave up on way too soon
1. Martavis Bryant, wide receiver
You could make a pretty valid argument that the Pittsburgh Steelers actually held on to Martavis Bryant for the appropriate amount of time. The Steelers used a fourth-round pick on the ultra-talented wide receiver out of Clemson back in the 2014 NFL Draft. At Clemson, Bryant was surrounded by a bunch of absolute studs at the wide receiver position including the likes of Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins, both future first-round NFL Draft picks.
After biding his time for two seasons, he finally had a major breakthrough in year three where he caught 42 passes for 828 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging almost 20 yards per reception and showing off his big-play abilities.
As they have made a common practice of doing for over a decade now, the Steelers drafted Bryant with a low-risk fourth-round pick and he proved to be a great value pick almost right away, catching 14 touchdown passes in his first two NFL seasons while averaging over 17 yards per catch.
Unfortunately, after already getting suspended by the NFL for violating the substance abuse policy, Bryant would be suspended for the entire 2016 season. At the time, the report was that Bryant was not dealing with a “partying” issue but a “coping and depression” issue. Which makes the league’s handling of his situation all the more staggering.
Bryant returned for the 2017 season and caught 50 passes for over 600 yards. In the 2018 offseason, however, the Steelers traded Bryant to the Raiders for a third-round pick and decided to rid themselves of the apparent headache he was causing them. By December of 2018, the NFL had suspended Bryant yet again for violating the terms of his reinstatement.
Despite applying for reinstatement in 2019, he hasn’t played another NFL down since that season. This is a player who likely could have been one of the best receivers in the NFL over the last 10 years. Now 31 years old, Bryant is playing for the Vegas Vipers of the XFL.
2. Emmanuel Sanders, wide receiver
Have I mentioned the Pittsburgh Steelers have been absolute masters in the art of drafting offensive skill players?
If it hasn’t been said enough, it needs to be said again. They know how to draft offensive skill players better than most teams, especially beyond the first round. Yet another example of that is their selection of former SMU star receiver Emmanuel Sanders, a third-round pick (82nd overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Sanders was a key role player for the Steelers for his first couple of seasons, returning kicks and some punts while racking up 93 total targets in the passing game from 2010-11. It was his third NFL season that Sanders really started to get some decent run with the Steelers’ offense, and he had a mini breakout campaign with 44 receptions on 75 targets, the most of his NFL career to that point.
In his fourth season, Sanders made himself a coveted free agent by catching 67 passes for 740 yards and six touchdowns. It was enough to draw the attention of the Denver Broncos, who were fresh off of the most prolific offensive season in the history of the league. Denver lost wide receiver Eric Decker in free agency to the Jets and was somehow able to get Sanders at a bargain deal.
What’s more for the Broncos, Sanders actually canceled a visit with the Kansas City Chiefs in order to go and sign to play with Peyton Manning.
Sanders showed his potential in Pittsburgh, but that potential was fully realized in Denver where he became a Pro Bowl receiver. In his first season with the Broncos, Sanders caught 101 passes for 1,404 yards and nine touchdowns. That would begin a stretch of three straight 1,000-yard seasons from Sanders, who also became one of the best receivers in Denver Broncos history from 2014-19.
After being traded to the 49ers, Sanders got a shot at a second Super Bowl, but the Niners let Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs come back to win it.
He played through the 2020 season in New Orleans and in 2021 with Buffalo, all in all amassing over 7,000 receiving yards and 40 touchdowns in his NFL career outside of Pittsburgh.
3. Le’Veon Bell, Running Back
The Pittsburgh Steelers landed Le’Veon Bell in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Michigan State.
Have we mentioned the Steelers are really good at drafting offensive skill players?
The Steelers got Bell in the fold in 2013 and it took him very little time to become an every-down threat. He had almost 1,300 yards from scrimmage in his rookie year with the Steelers, followed by a four-year stretch of time where he averaged over 2,300 yards from scrimmage and 12 touchdowns per 17 games played.
Unfortunately, a contract dispute led to Bell sitting out the entire 2018 NFL season before he signed with the New York Jets in free agency in 2019.
We all know how the rest of the story has gone from that point on. Le’Veon Bell was no longer the dominant force we once saw in Pittsburgh. By the time he’d gotten to the Jets, he wasn’t the same guy at all. Did he have some issues off the field that perhaps caused the Steelers to draw a hard line in the sand?
Absolutely.
Did the Steelers give up on Bell too soon? Absolutely. This is one of those situations where both sides should have understood how badly they needed each other. The Steelers were still contenders in 2018. They narrowly missed the playoffs that year with a 9-6-1 record as the Ravens took the division at 10-6.
The contract issue in 2018 really turned out to be a bump in the road that Bell couldn’t recover from as a player. He was on a trajectory to be one of the league’s most dominant featured backs possibly ever.