Pittsburgh Steelers sign K Laith Marjan

Laith Marjan's three-year, $3.1M deal with Pittsburgh earns a C+ Contract Value Index (CVI) — a fair-market signing at the kicker position that carries minimal financial risk but equally modest upside expectations. At a $1.04M AAV, this is a budget-tier contract consistent with what teams typically allocate to depth specialists and roster-competition pieces at the position, and the nearly non-existent guarantee of $15K signals that the Steelers view this as a low-commitment flier rather than a locked-in starter solution. There's no production data here that screams franchise kicker, and at that salary floor, the CVI reflects exactly what this deal is: a roster-building move, not a cornerstone investment. The three-year length is the one element worth scrutinizing — at a position where performance variance is high and the market can move quickly, locking in even a nominal commitment over multiple years on a kicker with this limited security structure suggests the team is either developing competition or hedging against another option falling through. With the regular season still roughly 99 days out and the Steelers sitting as the AFC's No. 4 seed, the special teams picture matters more than it might in a rebuilding scenario, and Pittsburgh can't afford instability at a position that swings close games. The CVI lands where it should for a low-floor, low-ceiling depth signing — serviceable if Marjan wins the job, essentially costless if he doesn't.