The Pittsburgh Steelers have a very finite window to capitalize on the hire of Mike McCarthy. As we just saw with Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders, if not done properly, could result in a very quick regime.
The Steelers have not won a playoff game since 2017, but they also have not won less than 8 regular season games since 2003. This gives McCarthy a very specific goal of having at minimum 8 wins, as well as potentially winning a playoff game.
In order to have a successful 2026, the Steelers must add to their already aging roster, and attempt to return their defense to a Top-10 unit. Along with new head coaches often come new players who have had previous ties, and with McCarthy, you can look at both his Packers and Cowboys tenures for players.
There is one player on the Dallas Cowboys that seems to be on the outs, and he has a connection to McCarthy dating back to 2016, and that’s defensive tackle Kenny Clark. *Prediction*
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The connection to Mike McCarthy is the end all be all here, since Clark played for three seasons under the new Steelers head coach. The biggest question for this proposal, is why would the Steelers make this move with Derrick Harmon, Keanu Benton, and Cameron Heyward?
The Steelers trio on the interior, is arguably the best in the league, but first off there’s been rumors around Heyward potentially leaving Pittsburgh as he’s on the final year of his contract. The same goes for elite interior pass rusher Keeanu Benton, who is mainly a pass-rushing specialist, still takes up valuable snaps.
At the end of the day, whether the Cowboys release Clark and the Steelers show interest, or the Cowboys are looking to offload him, Pittsburgh should be on the phone ASAP especially given the fact that he wouldn’t cost more than a Day-3 draft pick.
Why the Cowboys Need to Move Off of Kenny Clark:
This leaves Dallas with an obvious choice. Cutting Clark would free Dallas of his entire contract and free $21.5 million in cap space, regardless of if they do it before or after June 1. The problem with this is the fact that they won’t get anything in return, so why not reach out to teams to see if they could even get a Day-3 pick in return.
It’s understandable that some Cowboys fans won’t want to get rid of Clark because he was just acquired from the Packers, but with serious cap problems brewing with Dak Prescott, Ceedee Lamb, Quinnen Williams, and potentially George Pickens, they need all the help they can get.
They’re already spending big bucks on two high quality defensive tackles Quinnen Williams and Osa Odighizuwa, so there’s no need to keep Clark at that price rate. The Cowboys are heading into 2026-27 with the current most projected cap allocated to the interior defensive tackle position.
In just seven games with Dallas, Williams had 23 total pressures, and his impact was consistently felt.
All in all, the Dallas Cowboys have some serious moves they need to make regarding George Pickens, but getting rid of Kenny Clark is a real possibility. Whether it is a cut or a trade, the Steelers with Mike McCarthy undoubtedly should be interested.
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