If you are one of the Pittsburgh Steelers' hardcore fans, the NFL season must feel like heaven for you. During the months without those thrilling Sunday games featuring Steelers games however, you will also miss the online conversations with fellow Steelers fans and those sleepless nights as you try to figure out which player to draft for your fantasy team in the upcoming season.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' George Pickens lines up during training camp in 2024.
There are many things you can do to survive the long, dreary offseason, and that’s what we will explore in this list.
Football-Themed Games
It may not have the same rush as Sunday night games, but football-themed games can still teach you valuable skills for a better experience this season.
For instance, you can explore those training modes in football video games to practice specific skills. Plus, it also keeps your mind sharp as you come up with strategic decisions like choosing formations and substitutions, among many other moves. You can also improve hand-eye coordination, reaction time, spatial awareness, and your overall cognitive skills as you get to play these games on your device.
Free Agency
Free Agency is the time when NFL players with expiring contracts can negotiate and sign contracts with other teams. Technically, those player’s contracts do not expire until the free agency kicks off.
During this time, you can also evaluate the moves and see how teams can benefit from factors like team needs and contract terms, positional value, and player upside, among many other things.
NFL Salary Cap
The NFL salary cap limits are a big factor that influences negotiations between players' unions and league management. They limit teams’ and players' ability to negotiate higher salaries. This limit is established each year and is likely based on the league's revenue–sharing agreements.
With the NFL salary cap, fans can determine if their favorite team has good general managers, as the best GMs will find ways to build a competitive roster. Meanwhile, bad GMs misspend their budget on positions that don’t give enough value to the team. While the salary cap aims to ensure a fairer share of the league’s profit, it does not guarantee parity between teams.
Steelers.com
Steelers GM Omar Khan smiles as his master plan unfolds in 2023, but he will have to do even better in 2024.
The NFL Draft
The NFL has a year-round calendar, and the NFL Draft is perhaps one of the biggest moments in the league. This is where all 32 NFL teams gather to pick new players from the college football ranks. The draft has produced big moments, from shocking trades that altered a team’s destiny in the upcoming seasons to those humble transitions of overlooked players to become the next stars of the league.
But besides the league players, analysts and fans also await the NFL Draft. This event allows spectators to assess the league’s future as it allows the teams to start from a clean slate, as they try to rebuild and strategize for the upcoming season.
NFL Training Camp
The NFL training camp intends to narrow down the 90 prospects to 53 recruits. This sounds a bit harsh, but you should know, as an NFL fan, that sports leagues need to make tough decisions to showcase the best players for the season.
Moreover, training camp is also a chance for rookies to stand out. You might have watched players who have been around a while slowly making their way towards the field. They want to be on the season’s roster, so they will try to make their mark in training camp.
For managers, it’s the best time to see which players plate well together. It’s good to see the initial chemistry before they get to actually work with others. The goal is to find duos or trios that complement each other’s playing styles and perform beautifully together.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (x: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers' training camp huddle led by Mike Tomlin.
Wrapping Up
Every NFL season serves us lots of actions that it might be difficult to detach ourselves from those moments. So, we should use the offseason to take a breather and prepare ourselves for a brand new season. This way, we can move forward with a renewed perspective about our favorite teams and players, allowing us to speculate with a sound mind the following season.
