{"id":770962,"date":"2026-02-23T12:01:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T12:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/770962\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T12:01:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T12:01:17","slug":"charlie-batch-names-one-surprise-free-agent-steelers-need-to-re-sign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/770962\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlie Batch Names One Surprise Free Agent Steelers Need To Re-Sign"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Steelers have many players set to become free agents<\/a> next month, but you won\u2019t hear much talk about Andrus Peat. A veteran offensive lineman, he served as depth for the team last season, but he is long in the tooth. At least for Charlie Batch, he is one under-the-radar player Pittsburgh shouldn\u2019t let leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019ve got to bring him back on a nice deal that ultimately, maybe you give him an opportunity to compete, who knows?\u201d he said of Andrus Peat on the Snap Count podcast<\/a>. \u201cBut that deal solidifies that offensive line, because the way that he developed throughout the course of the season and the way that he played, I think that is enough to enter the conversation and say, \u2018You\u2019ve done enough.\u2019 Yes, last year, but I think you\u2019ve done enough at least to be part of that tandem, meaning first-team, second-team, that allows him the opportunity to flourish\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Andrus Peat has been in the NFL for 11 years. The 2025 season was his first with the Steelers, and he was one of the last free agents to sign. Originally drafted in the first round by the Saints in 2015, he started 102 games for them. Gradually losing his starting job, he was a full-blown backup with the Raiders in 2024.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that Peat remained an unsigned free agent until training camp last year, when the Steelers added him in August. And he didn\u2019t do all that much here last year, so I can\u2019t possibly anticipate a land rush for his services.<\/p>\n

To Batch\u2019s credit, he was talking about free agents the Steelers would want to retain on the second wave. He\u2019s not talking about some dire need to sign him by March 11 or anything like that. While experienced depth is never a bad thing to have, is he indispensable?<\/p>\n

No, but it\u2019s worth considering their other options. One of the Steelers\u2019 most notable free agents this offseason is Isaac Seumalo. But fellow linemen Andrus Peat and Max Scharping are free agents also. Ryan McCollum is a restricted free agent, and they probably won\u2019t tender him.<\/p>\n

Assuming the Steelers re-sign Seumalo, are any of the other free agents needed? They would have either Broderick Jones or Dylan Cook as their swing tackle, whoever loses the starting job. Spencer Anderson would be the backup guard, and McCollum, if retained, would be the backup center. Teams like to carry at least eight linemen, though, and typically nine. There is Calvin Anderson, but that still leaves another spot.<\/p>\n

If the Steelers can re-sign Andrus Peat cheaply, which is likely, then Batch is probably right that he is one of the sneakier \u201cpriority\u201d free agents Pittsburgh ought to keep. They initially started him at left tackle<\/a> when Jones went down before he suffered an injury himself. When he returned, they trusted him enough to play in spots to kick Spencer Anderson out as a tackle-eligible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that right there, he is one name that I would pay attention to\u201d, Batch said of Peat. And while you might not hear much\u2014or any\u2014buzz, he makes a fair point about the Steelers\u2019 free agents. Not that there won\u2019t be plenty of veteran offensive linemen to consider<\/a> in free agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Steelers have many players set to become free agents next month, but you won\u2019t hear much talk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[12307,19747,7,6,520,57,2360,66632,426,691],"class_list":["post-770962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-andrus-peat","tag-charlie-batch","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburghsteelers","tag-snap-count","tag-steelers","tag-trending"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116119842806362402","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770962","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=770962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}