Chuks Okorafor Regrets Re-Signing With Steelers

The day after their season-ending loss to the Buffalo Bills brings waves of uncertainty for the many Pittsburgh Steelers players whose futures with the team are up in the air entering this offseason. 

But Steelers offensive lineman Chuks Okorafor, who signed a new three-year contract with the team before the 2022 season represents the eighth-biggest cap hit of anyone on the 2023 roster, was certain about one thing - if he had known rookie Broderick Jones would unseat him as a starting tackle, he wouldn't have come back to Pittsburgh. 

"If I had known that was going to be the case, I probably wouldn't have chosen to come back here," Okorafor said. "But at this point, there's nothing I can really do about it. It's kind of - I don't really know what I can say about it"

Okorafor, who started the first seven games of the regular season, was benched for a Week 9 contest against the Tennessee Titans and Jones took his place. Okorafor later explained that he had been demoted because of an incident on the field at the end of the previous week's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Jones, the Steelers' 2023 first-round pick out of Georgia, played well and held onto a starting job at right tackle through the end of the season. 

 Okorafor was asked if he'd be willing to return to Pittsburgh next season, but didn't give an answer either way. 

"I have no clue what's going to happen next year," Okorafor said. "I wish I could tell you now it's up to me, my agent and the [front office]."

Still, Okorafor believes he is still good enough to be a starter in this league and wants to find a place where he can do that - whether with the Steelers or elsewhere. 

"That's the plan," he said. "I feel like I'm young, I have a lot of ball left in me but I don't know what's going to happen."