The rest of the summer is going to be interesting for Pittsburgh Steelers OT Dan Moore Jr., as he finds himself in a similar position to former OG Kevin Dotson was in last year. If you’ve forgotten, Dotson was traded from the Steelers to the Los Angeles Rams as part of an additional late-round draft pick swap.
It was known last summer that Dotson would be competing for a spot on the Steelers’ 53-man roster shortly after the team signed two guards, Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig, early in free agency. Dotson, in case you’ve forgotten, also got a raise over the summer thanks to being eligible for a Proven Performance Escalator raise in his first three seasons in the NFL. That raise brings Dotson’s salary for the 2023 season to $2.743 million.
After Dotson failed to win the starting left guard role last summer as expected and Herbig remained as the backup swing guard for Seumalo and right guard James Daniels, the Steelers decided to trade for him, whatever the deal was, for the former fourth-round pick out of Louisiana-Lafayette, and in the process, the Steelers could clear some salary cap space in 2023.
Moore’s situation this summer is pretty tenuous, as the Steelers selected OT Troy Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft and then OT Broderick Jones in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft just a year prior. Jones is clearly the starter from the get-go this year, and Fautanu could end up being the opposing starter by Week 1. Honestly, it would be a shame if Fautanu isn’t available as a starter at the start of the 2024 regular season.
In addition to the addition of a new tackle in this year’s draft, Moore, like Dotson last offseason, received a base salary increase at the start of the new league year in March. This is also tied to him becoming eligible for the NFL’s Proven Performance Escalator. In case you’re curious, the increase Moore received earlier in the offseason means he’s scheduled to make $3.366 million in 2024. That’s a pretty penny for him if he becomes a reserve player by the start of the 2024 regular season.
So is there a chance Moore could be traded to another team after the preseason? Overall, it’s somewhat likely, especially if the Steelers can sign one of their other tackles and prove he can be a backup to their primary swing tackle this summer. Dylan Cook and Spencer Anderson are the leading swing tackles available to release Moore later this summer. Both were on the Steelers’ 53-man roster last season.
The most important thing to note about Moore and him heading into the summer is the fact that he really only seems capable of playing left tackle. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged that last season, and Moore basically said the same thing last week. Going forward, if he has to play right tackle for the Steelers, it would probably take a lot of injuries. A lot of injuries.
For now, it’s all just speculation as to what Moore’s status will be after the preseason. But it’s almost certain that Moore won’t be released in any form until the preseason is over. After all, the Steelers need to stay healthy at the tackle position all summer, and it’s not like other teams are going to make exorbitant trade offers for Moore every day. With all of this in mind, we saw what ultimately happened with Dotson last offseason, and it certainly seems like Moore is following the same path this summer.
