{"id":758203,"date":"2026-02-17T12:11:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/758203\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:11:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:11:23","slug":"should-the-steelers-re-sign-left-guard-isaac-seumalo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/758203\/","title":{"rendered":"Should the Steelers re-sign left guard Isaac Seumalo?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Steelers don\u2019t have a particularly impactful class of free agents entering the new league year. None of them will demand a king\u2019s ransom on the open market, and only two to three could be classified as true starters. But one of those starters was a piece of the team\u2019s arguably most-improved unit in 2025: offensive lineman Isaac Seumalo.<\/p>\n

Losing Seumalo in the offseason would hardly be a death knell for the Steelers, but it would leave a question mark at left guard. At the same time, the veteran is 32 and had his fair share of struggles in 2025.<\/p>\n

Should the Steelers re-sign Isaac Seumalo in free agency?<\/p>\n

Seumalo was a solid starter in 2025, playing some good football near the end of the year. However, he did struggle with inconsistency over the season, and as he continues to play deeper into his 30s his play isn\u2019t likely to improve.<\/p>\n

PFF<\/a>, for what it\u2019s worth, listed Seumalo as allowing three sacks in 2025. His 74.8 grade ranked 12th at his position, with him ranking much higher as a pass blocker (fourth) versus as a run blocker (26th). He may no longer be a long-term building piece, but teams will definitely see him as a starter in free agency.<\/p>\n

Seumalo is currently in the final month of a three-year, $24 million deal he signed with the Steelers in 2023. Now, Spotrac<\/a> has Seumalo\u2019s market value listed at $9.6 million per year. Given another major cap increase, an uninspiring free agent class, and the constant demand for quality lineman, that doesn\u2019t feel far off from reality.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a contract the Steelers could afford. Depending on what salary cap-saving moves the team makes this offseason, it will be looking at around $40 to $50-plus million in cap space entering free agency.<\/p>\n

If the Steelers decide to go in a different direction at guard in free agency, there are options but not many sure things. Bills guard David Edwards is a good player who will earn a big payday, but the other big names (Kevin Zeitler, Joel Bitonio, etc.) are all Seumalo\u2019s age or older. Names such as James Daniels and Alijah Vera-Tucker are under 30 but each have struggled with major injuries in recent years. There are some more developmental youngsters \u2014 Zion Johnson, Dylan Parham, and Ed Ingram, to name a few \u2014 who would be boom or bust additions.<\/p>\n

And also, don\u2019t forget that Pittsburgh will have a lot of picks in the upcoming draft, including a projected four on Day 2 \u2014 a great range to find a developmental guard.<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s no obvious right answer, the strategy I\u2019d follow would be signing Seumalo \u2014 or a similar starting-caliber veteran if he\u2019s too expensive \u2014 to a reasonably priced one to two-year deal, while also targeting a guard in the second or third round of the draft. That keeps the offensive line\u2019s momentum from 2025 rolling into 2026, while also setting up future success.<\/p>\n

A final argument for keeping Seumalo \u2014 although it\u2019s hard to definitively prove from the outside \u2014 would be that he brings a veteran presence to an extremely young Steelers offensive line where the other four starters are all on rookie contracts. Seumalo is not a sure-fire re-sign candidate, but definitely deserves some consideration ahead of a big offseason in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on re-signing Isaac Seumalo for 2026? Join the BTSC community and let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Steelers don\u2019t have a particularly impactful class of free agents entering the new league year. None of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":758204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,6,520,57,81740,13209,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-758203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-pittsburgh","11":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-discussion","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-free-agency","14":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","15":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116085909866699205","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=758203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}