Feb 10, 2016 3 min read

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The Steelers will explore signing Josh Norman.

There, I wrote it.

Why? Because they will. It’s what they do. They consider all of their options, even outlandish ones such as giving up the draft picks or money it would take to sign Norman, the Carolina Panthers cornerback who could wind up being designated that team’s franchise player rather than let him hit open free agency.

Why bring this up?

As I was tooling through my Twitter feed, I noticed that one of the many web sites that keep track of what reporters are writing about the Steelers and then re-writes it for their own site had a post that said the Steelers were considering signing Eric Weddle.

With a little bit of digging, I found that the site, which I won’t name, was basing this on a post on ESPN that said the Steelers will explore all of their options in the secondary, from drafting Eli Apple to signing Weddle.

No kidding?

As Jeremy Fowler’s story lays out, the Steelers will look at all of their options in the next couple of months to attempt to improve their secondary. But nowhere in the story is there anything that says or quotes anyone as saying the Steelers might sign Weddle, the 31-year-old former Pro Bowl safety from San Diego.

That’s not, however, what the rewriters posted. They posted that the Steelers are interested in Weddle. Then, they included a quote from Mike Tomlin praising Weddle, because, you know, Tomlin never praises the other team’s players before they play Pittsburgh.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to sit in the room and listen to Tomlin make the Browns sound like the second coming of the 1985 Bears and 2007 Patriots combined.

Perhaps the Steelers will be interested in Weddle. But to tip their hand in that regard at this point would be considered tampering since he is still under contract to the Chargers for a few more weeks.

Anyone writing that they are interested in him would be dealing in speculation.

Which brings me back to Norman. I will speculate that the Steelers would be interested in Norman, who has turned himself into one of the best corners in the NFL.

But I can also say they’re not going to sign him.

Now, Eric Berry on the other hand. . . Just kidding.

Let the rumors continue.