49ers All-Pro Explains Why He Didn't Choose Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the offseason in need of making a litany of moves in order to have success for the coming season.

After losing the cornerstones of the offense in George Pickens, Najee Harris and the entire quarterback room, they were in need of making some moves.

Landing DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith, the Steelers were mildly successful when it came to moves they made. But, not every potential move worked out for the team. The Steelers were rumored to be looking at Brandon Aiyuk and Christian Kirk for the second season in a row, and neither would end up joining the team.

However, there was another high profile signing that the Steelers missed out on. While fullback is no longer seen as the premium position it was in decades past, Kyle Juszczyk has been an elite fullback for nearly his entire NFL career. According to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, the Steelers attempted to land him but were unable to for reasons explained by Juszczyk in an interview with Tafur.

“It was a different experience,”Juszczyk said. “It was a chance to go look at a different team and I felt a lot of love from them. I got excited for a second about what possibly could be, about new beginnings and fitting into a new offense, all that type of stuff. And I genuinely enjoyed my time with Arthur Smith and Mike Tomlin so much. I have so much respect for those guys. But at the end of the day, it just wasn’t enough to trump what I had in San Francisco. I just couldn’t pull the plug."

The Steelers could certainly have used the services of the elite fullback, as their yards per carry were among the league's worst for the past couple seasons. His elite blocking would also have provided a cushion for the aging Aaron Rodgers, but at the end of the day he went on to stay with San Francisco to continue his illustrious career.