BTSC Steelers Daily Six Pack- I'm in a Rush Edition
by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on May 7, 2009 1:10 PM EDT
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PrintIn a meeting for work today, so not a lot of time for bells and whistles. ENJOY! -DYM-
IX- Defensive line coach John Mitchell isn't concerned about the age of the Steelers defensive line and believes both Brett Keisel and Aaron Smith have at least four good years left in the tank. The article also mentions that first round pick Ziggy Hood is learning quickly from Aaron Smith.
X-James Harrison's contract details were posted yesterday by James Walker of ESPN, and today Dale Lolley follows up with some more details on the contract for the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. It does appear that so much money is tied up near the end of the contract that Harrison will either be cut, or asked to re-negotiate after 3 or 4 years of the contract.
XIII-Mondesi's house proves that Bill Cowher doesn’t love Pittsburgh anymore.
XIV-Former first round draft pick Napolean Harris is visiting the Steelers today. Harris played under Tomlin when Tomlin was the defensive coordinator at Minnesota, but has been bouncing around the league for the past few season. It is assumed he would compete for a backup spot at inside linebacker that has been left vacant with Larry Foote’s departure.
XL-Yesterday the Bengals released offensive tackle Levi Jones as well as signing five time pro-bowl safety Roy Williams. This is another sign that the Bengals could possibly be looking to get back in contention for the AFC north title after a solid draft and the return of Carson Palmer.
XLIII-The guys over at Pittsburgh Blitz wrote a funny article about former Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and the 12 step program he needs to get himself enrolled in.
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Roy Williams signing...
Is just one more reason Heath should have a big year. The TE’s he covered for years in the NFC East certainly benefited from his particular brand of coverage, or lack there of.
Any takers on Harris?
Haven’t seen the guy play in years. Anyone think we should pick him up or just go with the winner of the D. Woods/A. Harrison derby?
I'd like to see it solved in house...
I’d like to see P Bailey get some reps at ILB too. There’s enough talented LB’s on this squad to find that extra ILB from. Never really cared for Harris, and I think the guys we have could fill the role nicely. Between Fox, Woods, Harrison and Bailey you would think we’d have enough confidence to show one of those guys the field for 5 or so plays a game on top of special teams. But depth doesn’t hurt I guess, you never know what the next play may bring.
by NYSteelersFan4 on May 7, 2009 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Nice info
Personally I dont see how the Convicts expect to improve. They just drafted a rather character challenged crew on an already challenged team.
Also Deebo WILL probably have to re-neg later on simply due to decreased performance. The team is smart. They know he is gonna get older and probably lose a step and as a result will justify a drop in price. Which he will likely accept when we taint the offer with a big screen TV with cartoon network.
The bungles "look to compete" every year.
They just look in the wrong places, like parole offices, red light districts, and district court.
drughouses….jail on a saturday night….
BLITZBURGH IS BACK
by Michael Hewitt on May 7, 2009 7:04 PM EDT up reply actions
or you can go to them, if you’re insane enough to actually want to join their team.
This is Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu getting knocked around by the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii yesterday...
Minutes later, Troy caught the ocean going over the middle and smacked it right in the mouth. The ocean fumbled, Troy recovered and ran it into the endzone. The ocean never messed with Troy again.
Bring in N. Harris in to compete
NYSteelersFan4, I think that position can be filled in-house, but I have nothing against bringing in this guy and letting him compete for the spot. I’m a big believer in having guys earn spots and competition making everyone better. Besides, Harris has started games in this league and has a good history with Tomlin. He just better be prepared to play special teams at a high level because those guys he will be competing with mostly do.
With that being said, I think one of the primary differences betweeen Tomlin and Cowher is that Tomlin seems to enjoy having guys compete for starting spots as well as roster spots. To me, Cowher always had his guys who would start, regardless if their level of play fell off or not. I love Tomlin’s saying about competition in general, “I will tolerate you until I can replace you.” Keeps everyone on their toes.
The cap space...
Is my main concern. Harris is an upgrade over what we have. To what extent of an upgrade is debatable. But with the cap as tight as (insert joke here) I don’t see the NEED to bring him in.
Competition is a great thing, and breeds both character and toughness, but how much cap space do you give up in the name of competition for third or fourth string LB’ers. Not that Harris’ cap hit would be substantial, but when times are tough, especially least cap space in the league tough, you have to consider if it’s worth it to sacrifice any of what you have.
by NYSteelersFan4 on May 8, 2009 11:06 AM EDT up reply actions
Harrison contract really $33M?
If you add up all the money in ESPN item, about $10M is missing. I bet that money appears in year 6 (maybe some in year 5) as extra bonus money. So the final year of the contract is just funny money to make it look big.
If that is the case, the real contract is five years for $33.25M, which is the sum of the bonuses and salaries (excluding year 6) reported in the article. That works out to a very reasonable $6.65M per year.
I work out the cap numbers at $5.35M, $5.7M, $6.56M, $7.32M, and $8.32M for the first five years. Because the signing bonus is spread across five years maximum, there is no cap hit for cutting Harrison after five years. If his play is declining, he could be cut after year 3 or year 4 with a cap hit of $4M or $2M, respectively. More likely, he could be asked to renegotiate his salary downward to match his level of play.
In summary, the contract rewards Deebo with $13.35M in cash up front while keeping Steelers’ cap hit at about $6M per year for the first three years. If Harrison continues to play at a high level, he can fulfill five years of the contract before renegotiating. If his play declines, the team will renegotiate sooner. In either case, Harrison should be able to complete his career with the Steelers, unless near the end he pulls a Foote and jumps to the Lions to get more playing time.
Harrison's cap numbers
tough to work out beyond Year 1 based on Lolley’s article but I think in order to get round the 30% rule the 2009 roster bonus will be guaranteed. As such it counts as salary as far as the 30% rule is concerned but counts as signing bonus for the cap. That should give him a cap number for 2009 of around $3.3m not $5.3m.
by KiwiSteelerFan on May 7, 2009 10:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Thoughts
I don’t know much about Harris, but if he has enough talent to be picked in the first round and Tomlin doesn’t see him as a problem, I’m all for it. Competition is a good thing, and even if we’d rather see a feel good story UDFA turn into something, I feel more comfortable with guys like Fox and Harris backing up the middle of the field. It won’t cost much anyway.
I’ll give the Bengals credit for doing something, but I think drafting Smith over Monroe was a huge mistake. Monroe was the safest pick in the draft behind Curry and has more upside than Smith. There’s no guarantee that he’ll be able to cut it at LT, and cutting Jones pigeon holes him in that spot. I’m also not impressed by the Williams signing. I still think they’re going to end up 9-7 or 8-8, but I doubt they’re going to have a legit shot at the division for the next 3 years.
charity standing orders
The good news is that we get to see James Harrison abuse Smith now.
by Chicago Steeler on May 8, 2009 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions
He's still a steeler
Nothing had me laughing harder than when Cowher started swinging that Terrible Towel around on CBS’ pre-game show.
I know
I love how our ex-steeler-analysts always do that. Tis a beautiful thing. Cowher, the Bus, Woodson, they’ve always held true. And yet still manage to provide pretty even coverage.
The bus
I remember the year the Bus retired he was on TV with Tiki “I’m a soft RB” Barber and he called the Steelers a bad football team. I’ll always love the Bus but WTF?!?! I guess he was trying seem impartial. And it was Ben’s accident season, but c’mon, BAD?
it never got weird enough for me
yep, I went to that Raiders game too. Only NFL game I've ever been too.
Cost a lot of money and it was a huge disappointment. That 2006 season sucked. The Bus was showing professional integrity by acknowledging it.
ouch
that game was probably the worst ive ever seen us play
BLITZBURGH IS BACK
by Michael Hewitt on May 8, 2009 2:24 AM EDT up reply actions
Swann as well
Swann loves the Towel.
And Franco (though he isn’t a commentator) walking onto the field right before XL
IX-Offensive line coach John Mitchell isn’t concerned about the age of the Steelers defensive line
He better be cause football is not just about Biological age, but how many Car-like collisions your body has gone thru during your time in the NFL.
XIII-Mondesi’s house proves that Bill Cowher doesn’t love Pittsburgh anymore.
I saw Cowher on TV cranking up something during a Carolina Hurricanes Hockey game. I was like “What’s up with that?” ……I know that he went to school at NC State and lives down there. Maybe Cowher does not want to interfere with the Mike Tomlin Era. Maybe he is mad at Us for reminding him how many AFC Championship Games his Teams choked and underachieved in during his Tenure (lol)
XIV-Former first round draft pick Napolean Harris is visiting the Steelers today.
A guy at my Job asked me about him, and I told him that he used to play for Northwestern University, and was drafted by the Raiders. The Guy looked at me strange cause he could not grasp how I could remember that. I told him that it was rumored by Draftnicks at that time that the Steelers might draft him (although I could not remember the year he was drafted) …..I was curious to find out more info about him, and he was drafted in 2002 with the 23rd overall pick, 7 picks before the Steelers. I was curious to see who the Steelers picked up during that time below, and I looked at the April 10th, 2009 blog that drinkyourmilkshake did, 4 days before I came to BTSC ….(lol) :
1) Kendall Simmons
2) Antwaan Randle El
3) Chris Hope
4) Larry Foote
5) Verron Haynes
6) Lee Mays
7a) LaVar Glover
7b) Brett Keisel
Free Agents:
James Harrison
Sources:
http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2009/4/10/811435/former-steelers-draft-class
by Steeler Y360 Nation on May 8, 2009 3:21 AM EDT reply actions
He better be cause football is not just about Biological age, but how many Car-like collisions your body has gone thru during your time in the NFL.
If you actually read the article you’ll see that he specifically mentions that Smith/Brett have less miles on their tires than most DEs do, even though they are aging. I’m not sure how much I buy that argument, but we have plenty of players that we can test the theory out on shortly.
Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.
With window open to win championships, extend Big Snack and Keisel
Guys, I think that with having a big-time QB about to hit his prime, I’m all for extending a couple of your veterans that have produced and have the capability to do so for a few more years. This window is wide open right now. I like how the team keeps adding weapons around Ben. If this OL ever get back to the way it was in the Cowher years, then this offense could really be something.
It seems like the 3-4 DE is such a different animal than a lot of other positions. I want to bring R. Harris and Ziggy along so that they are ready to step in when need be, but if it ain’t broke, then let’s not break it up. I think Keisel will resign before his deal is up, but maybe having a motivated Big Snack in the last year of his deal wouldn’t be a terrible thing. I think this offseason will be pretty big for him (no pun intended). If he comes in camp in reasonably decent shape (at least for Casey, anyway), then maybe the front office will move with more urgency to get something done.
recent article
This will probably make its way into the 6-iron, but…
http://post-gazette.com/pg/09128/968639-66.stm
“I’m just speaking from my knowledge of being around here and that this is a great place to be,” said defensive end Brett Keisel. “You have great owners who care about you, a great family atmosphere here in the locker room, so it’s a great place for a player like myself who was drafted here.”
We’ll see how much he means it when money is on the line, but I would love for Brett to finish off his days here as a starter and eventually backup. We have 34 year olds filling out the depth chart now, it would be great to have a former starter play that role. Not sure if Brett will be able to swallow his pride, but he implies it.
Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.
you are correct sir
I'll drink your Milkshake, I'll drink it up!
by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on May 8, 2009 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Could be something developing into the team’s ‘corporate culture’. Bettis took a backseat. Ward looks willing to do the same. He’s helping to groom Tone and recently accepted a contract that should keep him put. It would not surprise me if Farrior starts taking fewer snaps.
I think the problem with Foote was that he still has plenty of playing years in him. He’s 28. Keisel probably won’t find himself in Foote’s position for a year or two. He’ll be 32 or 33 when it’s an issue.
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