Enjoying the moves that the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t make

I find myself wanting to start singing. This time, it is Garth Brooks “Unanswered Prayers” that comes to mind. If you are not familiar with music, it is basically to appreciate that sometimes what we want is not always what will work best for us in the long run.

I was reminded of this because it was announced on Friday by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Carolina Panthers were launching safety Tre Boston after just one season in their current three-year contract that he signed off-season.

In case you need a reminder, Boston was a player linked to Steelers at the free agency on several occasions. In addition, it was interesting that Boston’s free agency signings came after the NFL draft during the years it was available.

It all started in May 2017, when the Carolina Panthers waved to Boston after three years with the team after he was drafted into the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft. After his release, Steelers visited Boston, which finally signed with the Los Angeles Chargers less than two weeks later, for a year for less than $ 1 million. The next Boston off-season was a free agent again and was not signed until the end of July, when he landed a one-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals. After his year in Arizona, Boston was on the Steelers fans’ radar once again before finally returning to the Carolina Panthers in yet another one-year contract.

Now that we remember a little bit of what was going on, there were a number of Steelers fans that we are looking to add Boston as a free security to guarantee the Steelers secondary in each of these three seasons.

It is not that Tre Boston would not be an upgrade in each season. In 2017, he started 15 games and had five interceptions with the Chargers and followed up with three interceptions and a fumble recovery the following season in Arizona by starting 13 games. On their 2019 return to Carolina, Boston started 16 games and had three interceptions and a career record of 11 defended passes.

Had Boston landed in Pittsburgh in any of those seasons, he would have been an asset to high school. Perhaps Boston had found himself playing several years in Pittsburgh, and I’m sure it would perform admirably.

But the chances are that if Steelers hired Trey Boston in any of those seasons, it would not have paved the way for Steelers to negotiate All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick twice.

I would have been in favor of Steelers updating its secondary in those years, and I would not have complained if Steelers had signed Boston. But if they did, who knows what the Steelers’ secondary would look like today.

I’m not saying that fans shouldn’t expect the Steelers to get certain players, because they will find someone better. It doesn’t happen all the time. But when that happens, we need to assess what happened.

Anyone who is a fan for a significant period of time and keeps an eye on the players available in the NFL will eventually have a player along the way that they would like the Steelers to acquire. Sometimes yes sometimes no. This also includes the NFL draft. Sometimes, we fans were right and sometimes wrong. Sometimes the Steelers made a better move in the long run and other times they missed an opportunity.

I think what I mean is that when things work out better than we expected at the time, it’s good to recognize that there are sometimes greener pastures ahead.

Have you always wanted a player in particular who would not end up in Pittsburgh and now you realize it was the right move? Leave your story for the rest of us to remember in the comments below.