NFL free agency is upon us, and although it didn’t officially start until Wednesday, the sport saw a ton of movement in the days leading up to the new league year.

Kenneth Gainwell, the team MVP of the Pittsburgh Steelers from this past season, was not extended a contract by the Steelers and hit the open market. On Monday, he secured a two-year, $14M deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Given his role in the offense last year, his departure is a big one. Gainwell’s departure also puts him on a rare list of Steelers MVPs who did not play in Pittsburgh the following year. Since the Steelers introduced the award in 1969, only four times has the recipient not played for the team the next season.

So, today I wanted to look back on the odd list that Gainwell now joins.

Roy Jefferson

Drafted 18th overall for the Steelers back in 1965, Jefferson spent the first five seasons of his pro football career here in Pittsburgh. After recording just 13 catches in his rookie season, Jefferson quickly grew into a budding talent in Pittsburgh’s offense.

In his second year, he led the NFL in yards per reception at 24.1. In his fourth year, he led the league with 1,074 receiving yards and 76.7 yards per game. And by year five, Jefferson had a career-best 1,079 yards through the air to go along with nine touchdowns. He was also a first-team All Pro by the AP.

To say he found his footing in their offense would be an understatement.

But unfortunately, just as he was hitting his peak with the Steelers, he also found himself at odds with Steelers head coach Chuck Noll. Noll, who had taken the job before the 1969 season, saw his team struggle to a 1-13 season (to date, the worst in the franchise’s history), would go on to massively overhaul the roster in his second year.

That started with Jefferson, whose attitude in training camp in 1970 reportedly put him on a collision course with Noll. Eventually, he had the Steelers deal Jefferson to the Baltimore Colts in a deal that saw Pittsburgh net Willie Richardson.

Jefferson would go on to win the Super Bowl in his one and only year with Baltimore, and played the last six years of his career in Washington. Richardson, meanwhile, would never take a snap for the Steelers. He attempted to renegotiate his contract upon arrival in Pittsburgh, which prompted a subsequent trade to Miami.

Mike Merriweather

A stellar linebacker in his day, Merriweather was a gem in the third round of the 1982 draft. After just a nine-game rookie season, he really hit his stride in year two, where he played all 16 games and recorded three interceptions (including a pick six).

He had a career-high 15 sacks in 1984, which kicked off the first of three straight Pro Bowl seasons for the Pacific product. Though that streak snapped in 1987, he was named the team’s MVP. After the season, Merriweather was looking for a pay raise from the Steelers, something the organization wouldn’t oblige.

That put the two sides into a stalemate, ultimately leading to Merriweather sitting out the 1988 season when the Steelers did not reach his ask. Merriweather, 28 at the time of his hold-out, eventually turned his focus to finding a new place to play.

He threatened to sit out the 1989 season as well if Pittsburgh could not find a trade partner to deal him somewhere else. That trade eventually came when the Minnesota Vikings agreed to send a first-round pick back to the Steelers in exchange for Merriweather.

In Minnesota, Merriweather got the contract he desired, making $700K a year (my, how the times change) and made his displeasure with Steelers team president Dan Rooney known. Merriweather claimed Rooney wanted to rid the Steelers of veterans “like when Stalin came to power in Russia. He purged the whole party.”

Merriweather would play four years with the Vikings, although his numbers there never quite lived up to his time with the Steelers. Pittsburgh would use that first round pick to select guard Tom Ricketts.

Neil O’Donnell

By the time 1995 rolled around, Neil O’Donnell had manned the Steelers under center for several years. The 1990 third-rounder entered the 1995 season as their starter, and although he suffered an injury early in the season, O’Donnell would throw for just under 3,000 yards, 17 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions. He led the NFL with four game-winning drives.

O’Donnell’s crown of team MVP broke a 17-year drought for Steelers quarterbacks; no passer had won the award since Terry Bradshaw in 1978. Another quarterback wouldn’t win it with the Steelers until Kordell Stewart in 2001.

The Steelers went all the way to the Super Bowl that season, where arguably the two most iconic franchises met in Arizona. But O’Donnell’s magic had worn off by then. He suffered a three-interception game, including two that set Dallas up with short fields in the second half.

In the offseason, the Steelers opted not to extend O’Donnell’s contract, making him a free agent and making the heartbreaking Super Bowl loss the final chapter of his story in Pittsburgh. As a free agent, he signed in New York with the Jets, taking over the starting gig in 1996.

O’Donnell would bounce around in the NFL later in his career, but he still collected a paycheck until 2003.

Kenneth Gainwell

Spending the first four years of his career in Philadelphia, Gainwell crossed to the western side of the state when he signed a one-year deal with the Steelers.

During his time with the Eagles, Gainwell had yet to fully get the opportunity to reach his peak. He participated in a running back by committee approach in his rookie season, before Miles Sanders took the reigns in 2022 and D’Andre Swift in 2023.

Last season, the Eagles took the opportunity to sign Saquon Barkley in free agency, keeping Gainwell in mostly a depth role in the running back room. When he signed in Pittsburgh, that was the role he was expected to play. Sitting behind Jaylen Warren and battling with rookie third-rounder Kaleb Johnson for snaps.

Instead, Gainwell blossomed in the Steelers system, coordinated by Arthur Smith and led by Aaron Rodgers. Gainwell was Rodgers’ favorite target, with the Memphis product far-and-away leading the Steelers with 73 catches. He was a weapon in the short passing game in set career-highs in rushing and receiving yards. He was named the Team MVP, the first running back since Le’Veon Bell in 2016.

Oddly enough, the Steelers opted not to give him a new contract this offseason. Gainwell instead took his chance to cash in and scored a deal with Tampa Bay.