Steelers must make decisions on their free agents

compensation will be for the given year,” Colbert said. “It doesn’t preclude us from signing any of them to longterm deals.”

But the biggest decisions will be which unrestricted free agents to re-sign. The biggest and most significant priorities are a pair of former No. 1 picks — inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons and outside linebacker Jarvis Jones — plus running back DeAngelo Williams, receiver Markus Wheaton and backup quarterback Landry Jones.

The Steelers are not expected to pursue Jarvis Jones nor Wheaton and will likely look for a running back in the draft to replace Williams, who will be 34 in April.

When asked specifically about Jarvis Jones, a No. 1 pick in 2013 who has only six career sacks, Colbert said: “We haven’t closed the door on any of those guys. It would be short-sighted to do that. A lot of your free agents, they want to go and see what else is out there for them. I mean, that’s fine. That’s how this business operates. But we think we have a good enough relationship with the players we’ve had, and their representatives, that they’ll keep us in the loop.

“They might say they have a chance to get a fouryear deal at a certain time, at a certain compensation if we can match it or if we’re interested in matching it. We may or may not be. But I would say the majority of our players, if not all of them, would give us that right to at least stay in that conversation.”