Mark Madden's Hot Take: Don't expect Steelers to make impact early in free agency

NFL free agency kicks off at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

The legal tampering period, not to be confused with the age of consent, kicks off at noon Monday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have lots of salary cap space, approximately $34 million. They normally don’t.

The Steelers could make impact on the first day of free agency. They normally don’t.

Here’s betting they still don’t.

When you rarely do something, you don’t really know how to do it. So, the Steelers figure to botch the first wave of free agency.

During that first wave, you call up the player you want, ask what he wants, then give it to him. You overpay. The Steelers will negotiate instead.

Cincinnati will sign Tampa Bay center Ryan Jensen to a huge contract while the Steelers continue to negotiate.

So, despite delusions of grandeur created by all that cap room, don’t be surprised if the Steelers’ free-agent acquisitions are as bland as usual. Bargain shopping.

Maybe there will be one exception.

There have been exceptions occasionally, like Ryan Clark, James Farrior, Kevin Greene and Jeff Hartings.

Those players came to Pittsburgh with reputation and resume. All played well as Steelers. But that’s four players over almost three decades. The Steelers draft and develop.

All the quarterback talk has died down.

If the Steelers settle for Jacoby Brissett, they might as well settle for Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins. My bar for a QB signing goes no lower than Mitch Trubisky.

You might be amazed by how little changes with the Steelers between the last game of 2021 and the first game of 2022. (Retiring Hall-of-Fame quarterback and free-agent departures duly noted. What’s incoming will underwhelm.)