Tim Benz: Why I'm 'out' on the 'all in' cliché for the 2025 Steelers
Ever since the Steelers-Dolphins trade was consummated Monday morning, I’ve heard this refrain a million times: “The Steelers are all in for 2025!”
"The Steelers are going ALL IN..
This is AWESOME and this is just what we needed"@ToneDigz #PMSLive #HereWeGo https://t.co/vggNOOTH1m pic.twitter.com/VLSRCcqlEV
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 30, 2025
"The Steelers are officially back!"@AdamSchein applauds the Pittsburgh #Steelers for finally going all in to try win some playoff games
????https://t.co/RTimOxpXmN pic.twitter.com/3ACJTymrTZ
— Mad Dog Sports Radio (@MadDogRadio) July 1, 2025
Former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum says the Steelers are going all in on 2025 with these Monday trades #steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/f7osiFbOjE
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) June 30, 2025
All Access Football Report: Steelers Declare 'All-In' Mantra https://t.co/vb5OtMconn
— All Access Football (@NFLDraftBible) July 2, 2025
Steelers all in on a Super Bowl run. Obvious. Welp, let's get it!!!!
— Steeler_Reg (@Reggie_Bflo) June 30, 2025
Yeah, well, consider me “out” when it comes to the “all in” hyperbole for this year’s edition of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Don’t get me wrong. I can see the logic behind the trade of Minkah Fitzpatrick for Jonnu Smith and Jalen Ramsey. I don’t have a problem with the deal at all.
I have a problem with the cliché “all in.”
I know, I know. “The Steelers are all in” is exciting to read. It feels good to say. It makes for good copy and great social media engagement.
It’s also not even close to true.
“All in?” Really? C’mon.
Via OvertheCap.com, the club has four quarterbacks on the roster at a combined $18.9 million against the salary cap this year. By that logic alone, the Steelers aren’t “all in.”
According to Spotrac, the organization still has $25 million in salary cap space for this year (15th in the league), and $97 million (fourth most in the NFL) next year. The team is far from overleveraged or mortgaging the future to make a push this year.
That’s not a complaint. That’s wise. But it’s also inconsistent with the narrative we are discussing.
As buzzy as it is to acquire a big-name, veteran, Pro Bowl cornerback in Ramsey, the Steelers also shipped out a big-name, veteran, Pro Bowl safety in Fitzpatrick.
That’s not pushing all your chips into the middle of the table. That’s changing a $100 bill for two $50s.
Indeed, Smith is a good player. I’m glad he’s coming up from Miami. He’s a quality addition at tight end. He’s also had one season over 600 receiving yards. Don’t get carried away.
Getting DK Metcalf for a second-round pick to pair with George Pickens? OK, that felt like “an all-in move.”
Well, until they traded Pickens. After the draft. For a third-round pick. Next year.
“All in” teams don’t make a move like that. They also don’t use Calvin Austin as their No. 2 receiver.
Sure. It’s July. That last part could change. That said, it was July of last year when I wrote that same thing about Van Jefferson too.
How’d that work out?
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Back to the quarterbacks, let’s drop the charade about Aaron Rodgers being an example of an “all-in” signing. Rodgers is here because the Steelers weren’t “all in” on Justin Fields and the New York Jets were.
Furthermore, Rodgers is an aging Hall of Famer on a low-cost, reclamation contract, just like Russell Wilson was. We can all hope the results will turn out better than the last five weeks of 2024 did for Russ. But, please, can we avoid pretending that the circumstances are all that different?
Don’t forget that Wilson was pretty good over his first seven starts. We should be so lucky if Rodgers gets the Steelers off to a 6-1 start this year and plays to that level.
I know that fans think they are paying the Steelers a compliment by parroting this “all in” nonsense. They’re not.
It’s actually a bit of an accidental insult.
By advancing this new trope, there’s sort of an underlying suggestion that the Steelers haven’t been “all in” when it comes to their approach in recent seasons.
I’m more critical of this franchise than just about anyone in this market, but I won’t go there. I honestly do think the Steelers have tried to compete for championships in recent years. They’ve just been tremendously flawed in doing so. But it’s not from a lack of effort. It’s a lack of execution.
As the eight consecutive years without a playoff win will attest.
Nah. The Steelers aren’t “all in” for 2025, no matter how many times a headline like that shows up in your algorithm.
If we’re being honest, they shouldn’t be. This team isn’t close enough to Super Bowl contention to be “all in” in the first place.
The Bills should be all in. The Lions should be all in. Given their QBs and roster construction, so should the Ravens and Bengals.
The Steelers should just be trying to get back to the playoffs and maybe get lucky enough to win a postseason game for the first time since 2016. Quietly, I bet that’s what they are thinking in the executive offices as well.
For Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan, that’s the beauty of running an NFL team in Pittsburgh. They never truly have to be “all in” on anything.
We’ll just keep telling them — and ourselves — that they are.
Whether it makes sense to say out loud or not.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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