The Pittsburgh Steelers extended right tackle, Chukwuma Okorafor to a three-year, $29.25 million deal last off-season. The offensive line was much more of a concern a year ago than it is now, so keeping Okorafor was important for having some continuity in the trenches. Still, fans were hesitant on whether or not he was worth that kind of money. A year into that deal, the verdict is still out.
The five-year offensive tackle showed some improvements without a doubt, but he was still too inconsistent to be worth that kind of money. As Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review points out, it's not a foregone conclusion that Okorafor is on the team next year. Okorafor himself seems to be aware of the business nature of the NFL, as he could very well be searching for a new team this off-season:
“Who knows? I can’t be surprised by what might happen [this off-season]. Everyone knows what might happen or what might not happen, so we will see how things play out," Okorafor said after the season via Adamski. "I mean, of course [I would love to be back], I signed a multi-year deal. I did that because I wanted to be here and I want to play here. So, hopefully I am."
Like some of the other guys on the offensive line, Okorafor's best ability in 2022 was his availability. Of course, all five linemen started all 17 regular season games, including Okorafor. He's now started 50 total games over the past three seasons, which has included two playoff appearances. Of the 81 qualified offensive tackles in 2022, Pro Football Focus ranked Okorafor 61st with a 61.2 overall grade. In three seasons as a starter, his highest PFF grade was 62.2 in 2021, when he still ranked 61st out of 83 qualifying offensive tackles.
Offensive line is still seen as a need for the Steelers, an area that they can choose to address either in the draft or free agency. With three top-50 selections in the 2023 NFL Draft, general manager, Omar Khan may very well opt to draft an offensive tackle or left guard. Peter Skoronski out of Northwestern is a name to watch, but he may not make it to the Steelers' first-round selection, which is 17th overall.
Khan now has a few decisions to make with the offensive line, including Okorafor and his contract. If they were to cut the starting right tackle, the franchise would incur a dead cap hit of $6.17 million. That seems unlikely, as Khan likely wants as much money as possible to be able to spend some money in free agency. NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal did recently predict that the Steelers could cut either Okorafor or left guard Kevin Dotson.
Pittsburgh could very well restructure Okorafor's deal as well, which is probably the most likely option. Lastly, they could just ride out this contract for one more year and then cut him next year with a less significant dead cap hit. Regardless, Okorafor made it clear that he wants to stay in Pittsburgh. That means something, so he'd probably be willing to restructure his deal for the benefit of the team.
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