Steelers Are The Beneficiaries Of One Of The Absolute Worst Deals In The NFL

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been under fire recently for some questionable moves in recent years. They have had plenty of steals, but people remember the possible mistakes more than the great deals, and that is still the case for general manager Omar Khan. Moves like trading away a second-round pick to get receiver DK Metcalf and giving him a massive raise have definitely drawn a lot of criticism after hitting a career-low in receiving yards, and getting into an altercation with a fan that cost him the last two games of the 2025 regular season. 

As mentioned before, that's just one move in a flurry of plenty of decisions. One of those big moves was to actually not sign a player and let another team make a poor choice instead. In a recent article from Bleacher Report, Brad Gagnon brought up a former Steeler as one of the worst contracts in the NFL currently.

"Even before signing this deal, [Dan] Moore had surrendered a league-high 12 sacks in 2024 and was a fourth-round pick who never really performed better than a borderline starter with the Steelers," Gagnon said. "In his debut season in Tennessee, the 27-year-old gave up eight more sacks."

Many Steelers fans were shocked at how long of a leash Dan Moore Jr. had at blindside blocker, and it didn't help that injuries essentially made it so there was no competition for his starting spot in 2024. At that point, Pittsburgh had used their two previous first-round picks on offensive tackle, so it wasn't like they were not trying to replace him, but he just kept making it back on the field. 

The Tennessee Titans should have taken this as a warning sign but did not. He led the NFL in sacks allowed in 2024, he had absolutely no position flexibility, and Pittsburgh did everything it could to replace him. Everything said that paying Moore would be an absolute disaster waiting to happen. Tennessee didn't listen, and it's part of the reason why it keeps getting high draft picks.

The idea was that Moore would be learning under one of the most respected offensive line coaches in Bill Callahan, as opposed to one that many people did not like in Pat Meyer. That did not last long, as Callahan left the team when his son, then-head coach Brian Callahan, was fired. Now, the Titans have this $82 million money pit playing blindside blocker, and it would be hard to get out of his contract now. 

On one hand, Moore did decrease his sack totals by four in 2025. The problem is when he's making $50 million guaranteed, allowing eight sacks still won't cut it. The Titans have a very young quarterback that they want to develop, and most players like that don't develop well when they're getting pummeled on a regular basis. If Cam Ward is going to thrive, he needs better left tackle play. 

Steelers Get An Exciting Reward For Long-Term Future

Because of the sheer amount of money the Titans gave Moore, the Steelers received a third-round comp pick in return. That pick was used to select offensive lineman Gennings Dunker in the 2026 NFL Draft. He likely won't start immediately, but that's more to refine his mechanics and make sure he can be this great guard that Pittsburgh believes he will eventually be. 

As long as Dunker does not allow a metric ton of sacks in any given season, he would be a major upgrade over Moore despite playing a different position on the line. Either way, losing him and allowing the Titans to massively overpay for him helped the Steelers find the final piece to this young offensive line. When Tennessee is paying a hefty dead cap to cut Moore, Pittsburgh's line will be thriving.

What do you think about the Steelers benefitting from the Titans giving Moore a massive contract? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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