DL Armon Watts joining the New England Patriots is one of the unfortunate free agency loses that has gone unnoticed.
After being signed in the winter of last year, Watts performed admirably in a reserve defensive line role.
He finished with 15 total tackles, 6 solo tackles, a half sack, 3 quarterback hits, and 16 total pressures, making him quite effective in terms of performance per snap.
He was actually listed as a player who the Steelers couldn’t afford to lose early in the offseason by Pro Football Focus. That might be a bit extreme, but he was a huge contributor to the squad the previous year, particularly during the first half of the campaign when Cameron Heyward was sidelined with a groin ailment. He had a very good 76.2 overall grade from PFF, which included a 73.8 against the run.
In a recent interview, Watts was questioned about his decision to sign with the Patriots. It ultimately depended on the interest level and most likely the contract that was made available.
A guy like Watts would have been beneficial to the Steelers’ defensive line depth, but instead of using Watts, they signed DL Dean Lowry to take up Watts’ rotating position from the previous campaign.
Watts signed a $3 million, one-year contract with the Patriots. Although the Steelers might have given him a little more than the veteran minimum, it is obvious that their offer was not accepted. Lowry was signed to a five million dollar, two-year contract.
Although the depth of the defensive line is a little greater now than it was following Watts’ departure, more room has to be added. Heyward is in the latter season or two of his career, Ogunjobi hasn’t performed up to the expectations of his contract extension thus far, and the position doesn’t have much young talent outside Keeanu Benton.
It’s likely that the Steelers will select a defensive lineman in the middle rounds of the draft because they have already brought in six different players for pre-draft visits.
