Pittsburgh Steelers’ former defensive end Stephon Tuitt signed a five-year, $60 million deal with his team back in 2017. But five years later, he walked away from football at 29, and that decision might have cost Steel City a lot more than a retirement usually does.

Steelers insider Mark Kaboly appeared on 93.7 The Fan recently and broke down exactly how the front office ended up here.

“The Steelers got a little bit of bad luck there,” Kaboly said. “Because they chose Stephon Tuitt over [Javon Hargrave] – and rightfully so – then Tuitt retires the next year. Then, they’re kinda screwed there. So, had they known that in advance, they obviously would’ve kept Hargrave over Tuitt.”

Pittsburgh had Tuitt, Hargrave, and Cam Heyward on the same defensive line from 2016 through 2018. When Hargrave’s rookie deal expired, the Steelers let him walk over to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019. They’d already bet on Tuitt as the long-term starter two years before Hargrave’s exit with that five-year extension.

Tuitt played through 2020, missed all of 2021 with a knee injury, while also struggling to come to terms with his brother’s death. When he retired from Pro Football in June 2022, he cited his brother’s passing, finishing his degree at Notre Dame, and a call “to move beyond the sport of football” as reasons for hanging up his cleats.

Veteran DT Cam Heyward respected his decision, but also wanted him to come back to play the 2022 season. Fellow defensive tackle Tyson Alualu even asked him if he was sure about retiring. The Steelers hadn’t seen this coming, but now, they had to adjust on the fly.

Ironically, while Tuitt stepped away in 2022, that same year, Javon Hargrave posted 11.0 sacks, 37 solo tackles, two forced fumbles, and 10 tackles for loss with the Eagles. But the Steelers weren’t exactly left hanging.

Before Tuitt made his retirement official, Pittsburgh had spent five of its 2022 draft picks on offense and only two on defense. They brought in Texas A & M defensive end DeMarvin Leal and Ole Miss linebacker Mark Robinson. Had they known that Tuitt was going to walk away from football, the Steelers front office may have opted to bring another defensive end through the draft to develop, or kept Hargave locked in long-term instead.

Now, the room Stephon Tuitt left wasn’t empty, and it didn’t collapse. The Steelers allowed just 20.4 points per game that season, with 40 team sacks on the year. Cam Heyward, Tyson Alualu, Larry Ogunjobi, Chris Wormley, Isaiahh Loudermilk, and Montravius Adams were all locking down the defensive line, with the addition of Leal as a rookie.

Pittsburgh may have bet on the wrong long-term horse in Stephon Tuitt, but it didn’t break anything. It just meant Pittsburgh had to spend a year proving it didn’t need Tuitt as badly as the front office once thought.