Scratch That, Gary Russell Apparently NOT Cap Casualty

Steel City Insider ($) is reporting Gary Russell NOT a cap casualty - released after police found marijuana during raid of house where he was staying. Makes more sense I suppose.

Also behind the pay wall is a tidbit about how Ike Taylor restructured his deal to make room for the Deebo signing. Awfully close to the cap as we approach the draft. Going to be tricky signing rookies. Might be time for Snack and/or Ward to restructure ASAP.

Discuss.

almost 3 years ago Michael Bean 24 comments 0 recs |

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What about the alternative that he has absolutely no purpose in the roster right now? I mean, does his few short yardage minor accomplishments and kick returning makes it worth to have him as 4th HB in the depth chart? I dont think so.
I wish him the best, but he is just not interesting anymore for the team, thats all.

by setherian on Apr 21, 2009 2:47 PM EDT reply actions

yea, well

when your top two guys missed significant time and an emergency option costs 350k you do matter, especially when you’re just 22 years old with no injury history.

Anyway, this is the end of it for Russell and Pittsburgh. He’s Cincy’s problem now.

Guess that 300k wasnt enough. Must have been slinging or someone he was living with if his place got raided.

by Michael Bean on Apr 21, 2009 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Sure, he was useful last season. But really, we are talking about the 4th string RB. We can find another one where we found Russell, as a UDFA or at the end of the draft. There really isn’t any reason to worry about a guy who got about 2 carries a game.

by Cols714 on Apr 21, 2009 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions

true that

Just doesnt really fall in line with Tomlin way to eliminate competition from the squad. Russell could have competed with someone for final RB roster spot at no cost at all really.

by Michael Bean on Apr 21, 2009 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s a good point, however I think we as fans tend to overrate out own players. So they could probably find some guys with similar talent as Gary Russell pretty easily and a smidge cheaper.

by Cols714 on Apr 21, 2009 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe Chris Henry

and help him out.

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Apr 21, 2009 2:54 PM EDT reply actions

makes more sense now

although the double standard is a bit obnoxious

by schnifin on Apr 21, 2009 3:14 PM EDT reply actions

yea

well, we dont do much rumor monguring here on BTSC and we’ll just see if anything more comes of it, but I’d imagine that if it were true that his house was raided, it’s interpreted differently than a traffic stop and subsequent arrest for having a joint in the car. Dunno, like I said, not going to lose sleep over it, but I did think the same thing schnif.

by Michael Bean on Apr 21, 2009 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions

probably not fair to speculate

but it doesn’t even sound like he was arrested or anything, as for the double standard I was referring to James Harrison as well as Santonio

by schnifin on Apr 21, 2009 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Caught with your own stash and living with a dealer infamous enough to be known and raided by the drug task force are two different things one could argue.

by 40s on Apr 21, 2009 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions

might be a double standard but really it might be a combination of the two situations…

The steelers are really close to the cap and are looking for ways to shave some cash; + Russell’s house gets raided possibly creating added stress and distractions = CUT EM.

I'll drink your Milkshake, I'll drink it up!

by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on Apr 21, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m a genius.

Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.

by steelguy99 on Apr 21, 2009 3:20 PM EDT reply actions

I wonder if he made this poll?

http://www.topix.com/summer-sports/gary-russell/2008/07

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Apr 21, 2009 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

As I said on the btsc twitter account

Now i understand why the Bengals were so quick to grab him

by syrsteelerfan on Apr 21, 2009 3:25 PM EDT reply actions

LOL

loved that

by Michael Bean on Apr 21, 2009 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions

and speaking of twitter

if you have acct u can follow the blog which is managed by srysteelerfan – name = @btsteelcurtain

u can follow me @mfb83

SBN having contest of sorts for most followers so go follow http://twitter.com/btsteelcurtain

Actually good info there thats not always on the blog, and definitely sometimes sooner.

by Michael Bean on Apr 21, 2009 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Worth following just for that quip.

Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.

by steelguy99 on Apr 21, 2009 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I wonder if they found mary Jane cigars?

"The team that scores the most points wins."
John Madden
(Master of the obvious)

by PixburghArn on Apr 21, 2009 3:34 PM EDT reply actions

Snack and/or Hampton?

a) Two Big Snacks is a lot of man.
b) Guys that still play at a high level don’t usually restructure on the last year of their contract. They usually prefer a new contract, which we can’t afford.

by zacharai on Apr 21, 2009 3:51 PM EDT reply actions

thank you, fixed

true, its not likely. But maybe one or both could take less in 09 for more years and = if not more money down the road past expiration of theri contracts

by Michael Bean on Apr 21, 2009 3:54 PM EDT reply actions

Ward

might do that, he’s mentioned how Bettis went out a few times recently (taking a pay cut to stay in Pittsburgh). But I think it’ll be really hard to do that for Ward, and impossible for Hampton. The 30% rule means that we can’t resign them and have them take a big pay cut now for a big raise later.

by zacharai on Apr 21, 2009 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions

yea

was just reading up on the implications of that. Damn CBA making it harder to ‘cook the books’. Not sure what kind of dilemma this is and what it means for draft day. Trade away some early picks for players? It’s in play I suppose.

by Michael Bean on Apr 21, 2009 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions