Steelers have cap room for free agents

draft, generally keep their productive players by resigning them and fill in with selective players in free agency.

They try to head off their own stars hitting free agency with strategic contracts a year early, as they did recently when they signed Antonio Brown to a new five-year, $72.71 million contract before he could become a free agent in 2018. They also used the $12 million franchise tag to keep Le’Veon Bell under lock and key at least for one more season.

They are left with only one starter who will hit unrestricted free agency today, linebacker Lawrence Timmons. They would like him back, but unless there is a 12th-hour deal, he will first see what the market holds for him. Others have done that and returned, including Ryan Clark, who turned down a better offer to come back.

Clark, in fact, represented the type of free agent the Steelers usually sign. They find a younger player somewhat under the radar they believe can fill a hole for them at a reasonable price. Clark and, more recently, safety Mike Mitchell, who replaced him, and tight end Ladarius Green were those kinds of signings.

Are there those kinds of players available in the market they will pursue this year? Undoubtedly, and maybe they will sign a few in the coming days.

Last year, although without nearly as much room, they signed Green on the second day and tackle Ryan Harris six days after free agency began. Those were their biggest two signings of the period, but were nowhere near the big NFL signings.

Green was supposed to help take their passing game to another level for a tight end and also fill a gap left by the retirement of Heath Miller. Harris was signed to compete with Alejandro Villanueva at left tackle.

Neither worked out because of injuries. Harris has since retired, and Green’s future is unclear.

That won’t stop the Steelers from going after some similar free agents this time, and they do have positions that could use help — wide receiver, cornerback and outside linebacker to name three.

Their plan would be to draft at those three spots but landing a younger veteran free agent in the meantime could only enhance the roster.

Finding a top-flight cornerback or pass rusher in free agency is costly, and those two positions are among the strongest in the draft. They could try to land, say, New England cornerback Logan Ryan. He has good size and is physical, the way the Steelers prefer their corners, and he’s only 26.

But he should command a big contract after starting all 64 games in his four seasons with the Patriots. Several teams, including the Cincinnati Bengals, are said to be ready to pounce on him.

Why not the Steelers? It would be a bold move in free agency by a team that rarely makes them and the starting corners of Ryan and Artie Burns might turn a weakness into a strength.

It also might not be in their DNA.

The other position in which they could strike in free agency is to sign a veteran wide receiver. They last did that successfully with Jerricho Cotchery in 2011. With the uncertainty they have at their No. 2 spot, a proven vet could help steady things for Ben Roethlisberger until a rookie draft pick develops.

A Kenny Britt of the Los Angeles Rams might fill that bill. Or, yes, Torrey Smith of the San Francisco 49ers.

Both could be relative bargains in their late 20s.

What about outside linebacker? The Steelers once landed one of the best ever, Kevin Greene, in 1993. They did it again with James Farrior in 2002, an outside linebacker with the New York Jets.

The Steelers moved him inside, and he played 10 seasons for them. Both were used out of position by their previous teams.