The Pittsburgh Steelers traded away a Pro Bowl wide receiver and lost a Pro Bowl running back in free agency this offseason. The good news is that they had spares for both. The original Pro Bowlers had outlived their functionality within the team, and the rise of the new Pro Bowlers made the excision that much easier to swallow.
Following the 2019 NFL Draft, Head Coach Mike Tomlin spoke to Trey Wingo about the state of his team, and when the host asked him about the fact that they lost both Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell this offseason (Bell of course was already gone for the 2018 season), he said that “there’s been a cleansing, if you will”.