The Steelers have extended one year contract offers to four of the team’s six restricted free agents. Starting right tackle Willie Colon was offered the second-highest possible tender, $2,521,000. If Colon receives an offer from another team that the Steelers decline to match, Pittsburgh would receive a 2010 first-round draft pick in return. Cornerback William Gay, backup tight end Matt Spaeth and punter Daniel Sepulveda each received tenders of a little more than $1 million. If any of the trio signs elsewhere and the Steelers decline to match the contract, Pittsburgh would receive a draft pick in return—a fifth rounder for Gay, a third rounder for Spaeth and a fourth rounder for Sepulveda. (These picks correspond [...] Continue reading →

Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton has eschewed unrestricted free-agency, signing a three-year $21.3 million contract just before yesterday's 4 p.m. deadline for designating franchise players. It’s a surprisingly large contract—especially when one considers Hampton’s age (33 in September), and the fact that he would have earned $7 million in salary this year had he been designated the team’s franchise player. In essence, the Steelers got no discount for giving Hampton a multi-year deal. However, signing Hampton enabled Pittsburgh to use its franchise tag on kicker Jeff Reed, who will earn a salary of $2,814,000 in 2010. With the future at nose tackle now assured, expect cornerback, middle linebacker, and perhaps free safety to be priority [...] Continue reading →

The Oakland Raiders have done it again, handing out another contract that is way out of line with the league’s pay scale. Last offseason the Raiders signed CB Nnamdi Asomugha to a three-year $45 million contract (one that could be worth up to $50 million, with $28.5 million guaranteed). Around the same time, Oakland made P Shane Lechler the highest paid punter in league history, signing him to a four-year $16 million contract. No doubt, Oakland has to overpay players to keep them from testing unrestricted free agency, but these contracts were (and are) insane. Now ESPN is reporting that Raiders PK Sebastian Janikowski has agreed to a four-year $16 million contract, with $9 million guaranteed (which almost seems like a bargain [...] Continue reading →

Since 2004 the previous season’s Super Bowl winner has opened at home on the Thursday prior to Kickoff Weekend. That means the New Orleans Saints should be playing in the Superdome on Thursday, September 9, a date that no doubt gives the NFL schedule makers pause, as it coincides with the peak of hurricane season. Looking at the list of the Saints’ 2010 home opponents (Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers) it seems highly likely that the Steelers will be the Saints’ opponent that night, as such a game would feature the two most recent Super Bowl winners. Most of the other candidates can be eliminated on the basis of being [...] Continue reading →

If Pittsburgh wants to use its franchise tag on nose tackle Casey Hampton (to prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent on March 5), it will cost the team $7,003,000, according to figures released yesterday by the NFL Players Association. That amount represents the average of the top-five salaries of defensive tackles in the NFL. Hampton earned $6,452,084 last year (including the prorated amount of his signing bonus). Another candidate for being designated the team's franchise player is placekicker Jeff Reed, as the tender for a kicker is a relatively modest $2,814,000. Theoretically, the Steelers could use their franchise tag on free safety Ryan Clark, though it seems unthinkable that the Steelers would be willing to pay [...] Continue reading →

Another of the big decisions for the Steelers this off-season is whether to re-sign UFA nose tackle Casey Hampton, the team’s first-round pick (#19 overall) in 2001. Hampton has now earned four consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl (five overall) and had one of his best seasons in 2009. He also happens to play what is arguably the most important position in the Steelers’ defensive scheme. And while there is an inexpensive stopgap replacement already on the roster in Chris Hoke (who is a year older than Hampton), the Steelers don’t have a young player in line to take over the job. All of this argues for signing Hampton to a multi-year contract. On the other hand, Hampton will be 33 when the 2010 season begins, and with his history of weight-gain [...] Continue reading →

Among the half-dozen Steelers approaching unrestricted free agency, K Jeff Reed is one of the team’s most difficult decisions. As you may know, Reed has been Pittsburgh’s placekicker since Nov. 2002, having converted 187 of 227 field goals (approximately 83.5%) during the regular season and 16 of 18 (89%) in the post-season. The best thing Reed has going for him is that he’s proven he can kick accurately at Heinz Field - no small consideration, as it’s arguably the most difficult place to kick in the NFL. Reed also has extensive post-season experience - including two Super Bowl rings – also a big plus, as the Steelers expect to be Super Bowl contenders next year and beyond and would no doubt prefer a degree of certainty at the position. On [...] Continue reading →

Third-round draft choice Mike Wallace, a wide receiver out of the University of Mississippi (84th overall), has been named the Steelers’ rookie of the year, following in the footsteps of fellow Pittsburgh wideouts Louis Lipps (1984), Troy Edwards (1999) and Santonio Holmes (2006). Wallace leads the Steelers with an 18.7-yard receiving average and is tied for third on the team with five touchdowns. He ranks fourth on the Steelers with 37 receptions, and his 692 receiving yards leads all AFC rookies. Most notably, he caught a 19-yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock to beat the Green Bay Packers, 37-36. Wallace’s future with the Steelers looks bright, as he has the potential to develop [...] Continue reading →

Pittsburgh hasn’t lost to the Browns since 2003, but could tonight be the night Big Ben Roethlisberger loses a game in Cleveland? His perfect record at Cincinnati fell by the wayside back on September 27, yet he’s still undefeated (5-0) at Cleveland. Statistics say that the Browns have the worst offense in the league, but Cleveland has fared much better under Brady Quinn than Derek Anderson, who was under center when the Steelers beat the Browns 27-14 on Oct. 18. Meanwhile, the Steelers have been marching the ball up and down the field all season long, but Red Zone struggles have contributed to the team’s problem closing out games. As 9.5 point favorites, I’m expecting that Pittsburgh will find a way to win, but the way [...] Continue reading →

Overshadowed by the outcome of the Raiders-Steelers game is one particular play call, one in which the Steelers ran a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-one inside the Red Zone. It’s impossible to be certain who was responsible for the call—offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, head coach Mike Tomlin, or Ben Roethlisberger—but the play wasn’t executed in a hurry, so it’s highly likely it came in from the sidelines. I’ll go on record and say that unlike most Pittsburgh fans, I don’t generally have a problem with Bruce Arians’ offense or his play calling. But calling a QB sneak when Roethlisberger is only two weeks removed from a concussion is just dumb. D-U-M-B. In fact, I never again want to see [...] Continue reading →