Mar 10, 2016 3 min read

The Steelers finished off – or at least that is how it looks – a solid week to open the offseason by officially signing tight end Ladarius Green on Thursday.

It was a rare early free agent signing for the Steelers, who typically wait for the dust to settle before diving in and sifting through the bargains.

But, they felt that the tight end position was a big enough need and the rookie class this year was weak enough that the team pulled the trigger on a quick deal with Green.

What will Green bring to the table as a replacement for Heath Miller? Athleticism for sure.

Miller was a great, great player for a long time. He’s the best tight end in team history.

But a knee injury he suffered in 2012 had robbed him of much of his speed and was basically a catch-and-get-tackled guy the past few years. Miller was still savvy about finding the open spots on the field and could be relied to catch almost everything to come his way, but he didn’t put any fear in opposing defenses.

Green has the ability to do that.

At 6-6, 250 pounds, he’s a matchup problem for opposing teams. And with Le’Veon Bell coming back – another matchup issue – the Steelers should have a potent offense.

That move, coupled with the earlie re-signings of Ramon Foster and Darrius Heyward-Bey means the Steelers will largely bring back their offense from last year, with the additions of Maurkice Pouncey at center, Green replacing Miller and Bell joining DeAngelo Williams in the backfield.

That could be deadly.

• The defense still needs some work.

William Gay and Robert Golden have been re-signed. That’s a good start.

Gay has been their best corner the past couple of seasons and Golden showed that he can, at the very least, be a spot starter at free or strong safety in the mold of Will Allen.

At this point, however, Golden would be your starting safety and the top three corners would be Gay, Ross Cockrell and Senqez Golson.

That’s likely pretty much on par with what the team had in the secondary last season.

People keep pushing Eric Weddle’s name as a possibly signing for the Steelers, but I don’t see the team going after a 31-year-old safety who has one interception in the past two seasons combined.

Weddle’s also getting interest from other teams – most notably the Raiders – who have to spend a bunch of money this offseason to get to the spending limit for NFL teams. They’re likely to overpay for the services of an aging veteran.

So that’s not happening.

I still like David Bruton of Denver as a possibility. He’s had some talks about re-signing with the Broncos. But perhaps they’ll get too concerned with their quarterback position and the Steelers can swoop in with an offer of a chance to start and steal him away.

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler also is reporting the Steelers have some interest in Detroit defensive end James Jones, a natural 4-3 player.

Why?

As Kevin Colbert said last month, the Steelers play so much nickel, with four guys with their hands in the dirt, that adding a true rush end might be a possibility.

James Harrison could certainly help fill that role, since you don’t want him dropping into coverage much at this point in his career, but so could Jones, who has 28 career sacks, including 4.5 last season.