Offseason Breakdown

During the offseason, I've found it frustrating that the info for things aren't often found in one place. So I decided to fix that and put together this to complement Blitz's and cgolden's position by position breakdown of the team.

Listed are the current players on the roster, their contract status (highlighted if a FA), their age (highlighted if they are 29 years of age or older), and the ESTIMATED contract value of players. This way if you want to draw conclusions about the decisions the steelers will make about certain players you will be able to look in one spot. I included some important things like franchise tag amounts and highlighted key free agents & possible depth issues that may need addressed.

And of course I had to throw in my breakdown about players possibly returning and other issues (although some of them have probably already been beat to death). I'm very interested in your take any of the "offseason objectives."

EDITED: 2/20 to reflect the released contract length of CB Pittman and the signing of LB Renauld.

A couple of points to keep in mind when reading this: It is important to remember transition tagging a player will only work if that single year salary is higher than any other team is willing to pay that player, otherwise the other team can offer a "poison pill" to kill the tagging team's chance of signing the player.

--Also keep in mind that a new CBA could be signed before March 5 making the Cap very important again. Besides affecting the spending/cutting philosophies of some teams, a cap-less year will have a huge impact on free agency. Signing a quality free agent may turn into an expensive endeavor without a salary cap in place. Not only will the ceiling be higher, but also there will be less ppl available with 5+ years needed to become an unrestricted FA.
3 years experience tender amounts & compensation: 1.1mil=rd drafted, 1.7mil=2nd rd, 2.4mil=1st rd, 3mil=1st & 3rd rd.
4 years experience tender amounts & compensation: 1.2mil=rd drafted, 1.8mil=2nd rd, 2.5mil=1st rd, 3.2mil=1st & 3rd rd.

Objectives: Tender Sepulveda. Deal with the issue of re-signing/tagging Reed or getting a new kicker.
Extra Info: 2010 Kicker Franchise tag amt: 2.8 mil. Transistion tag: 2.6 mil. Reed's salary cap hit in 2009 was about 2 mil. Sepulveda's tender amts would be for 3 years exp (1.1mil=4th rd).

IMO: Reed seems to think he's worth top dollar for a kicker. He has been clutch at Heinz field within 45 yards but struggles with distance on both field goals & kickoffs. He also has a history of off the field problems so it can go either way. I think Reed is intent on heading for FA and signing with the highest bidder. It wouldn't surprise me if the Steelers had to tag him then try to work out a longer contract in the offseason...unless they decide to draft or sign another kicker they think will be better than Reed. It is also worth pointing out that if they tag Reed they would be paying less than 1 mil more than what they would probably be willing to pay per year in a long term contract.

Obj: Tender Stapleton & tender/re-sign Colon.
Adding depth to T & possibly a C or G.
Extra Info: Stapleton's tender amts would be for 3 years exp. (1.1mil=nothing because he was undrafted). Colon would only be eligible for the 1st and 1st&3rd rd tenders (a player's salary must increase by at least 110% from year to year when being tendered & his salary last year was 2.2 mil).

IMO: Depth is needed at T since Hills may not pan out. It is also unclear if Urbik will develop into a good player and how much Stapleton & Foster will continue to improve. So depth at G or C maybe needed as a potential future starter. With Hartwig's increasing age, I could see Stapleton being viewed as his replacement in 2011. Foster or Urbik would then become the starting G.

Obj: Possible tender/re-signing of Spaeth.
Possible adding depth as a receiving TE.
Extra Info: 1.1 mil is the min tender amt & we'd get a 3rd rd draft pick if another team signed Spaeth (3 years experience) away.

IMO: I think 1 mil is a lot to pay to get Spaeth back & I doubt a team would sign him for more AND give us a 3rd rd draft pick. There are also the possibilities of not tendering Spaeth so he becomes an UFA, then trying to re-sign for less than the tender amount; or simply signing him to a longer term contract with less money per year than the tender amt. If those wouldn't work out, we would probably have to add depth at receiving TE since we have no other player besides Heath who fits that role.

Obj: Possible re-signing of Parker if he's willing to be a backup.
Possible adding of depth to RB & FB.
Possible vet min of Batch
Adding depth to QB

IMO: It is unlikely Parker will be willing to return as a backup so we will probably need to add depth at RB. There is the possibility of adding a true FB since neither Summers or Davis seem very good, but again we have the TE/FBs Johnson & McHugh on the roster. Keep in mind backroom politics may play a role since Ariens dislikes true FBs, but the front office wants the team to run the ball more.
-With Batch's age & injury issues combined with Dixon's proficiency when he played against the Ravens, re-signing Batch even at vet min would probably not be a wise decision. And if he is, he may have trouble keeping the roster spot come August.

Obj: Extending Holmes.
Possibly adding depth to WR if Sweed's illness is that serious.

IMO: I have a feeling Sweed will be at full health next year (my guess is he got something like Mono...but this is PURE SPECULATION by me). Thus we will not be looking to add any serious depth, & the #4 job will be Sweed's to lose. Sweed has a lot of potential & the only way he gets over his head case drops is by playing more. The Steelers will give Sweed that opportunity as injuries to other players occur...especially since they invested such a high draft pick in him and he's still a young player.

Obj: Deal with re-signing/tagging Hampton or getting a new NT. Possible re-signing/vet min Eason, and possible vet min Kirschke.
Adding depth at NT & DE.
Extra Info: 2010 NT Franchise Tag Amt: 7 mil. Transistion Tag Amt: 6.35 mil. Hampton's 2009 salary cap hit was about 6.5 mil so his franchise tag amount would be around 7.8 mil (since it is which ever is greater: the tag amt or 120% of his salary last year).

IMO: With the line aging and only one very talented young player waiting in the wings, adding youth will certainly be a priority. Otherwise we could run into injury issues again next year just like we did this year. Kirschke will probably not be re-signed and if he is, he may struggle to get a roster spot in August. He possibly could be retained at vet min, but seemed to struggle this year with the rigors of starting. And since he is probably best used only as a rotating sub it calls into question the wisdom of giving a roster spot to an older and possibly now injury prone player over a younger player with more shelf life. Eason struggled at the beginning of the year when filling in, but began to perform better as the year progressed. He maybe re-signed as a cheap vet backup.

-Hampton has a history of struggling to keep himself in-shape when he's not motivated, although he proved he still has what it takes with his Pro Bowl season this year. With his increasing age it makes giving him a large & long contract a questionable decision. A franchise tag may be the best solution from a financial perspective, however it's a solution that Hampton has expressed a lot of dislike for. The front office has pledged to try to re-sign him without using the franchise tag. It wouldn't surprise me if the Steelers signed him to a large mid-length contract & ended up eating a fair amount of it if they cut him in 2 years. If Hampton is unreceptive a franchise tag will be unavoidable.

Obj: Extending Woodley.
Adding depth at ILB and possibly at OLB.
Extra Info: Farrior is set to count against the cap $3.825 mil each of the next 3 years. 3 mil of that is unavoidable due to a signing bonus.

IMO: Farrior finally began to lose a step, struggling in run pursuit on the perimeter and in pass coverage. It is unclear if Fox will be his replacement or if one will be signed/drafted and when this will occur.

Obj: Tender Gay. Deal with re-signing Clark or finding a new FS. Possible extension for Taylor, possible re-signing/vet min of Townsend and/or Carter
Adding depth at CB & FS.
Extra Info: Taylor's 2010 cap value will be about $6.5 mil, with about 2.8 mil being unavoidable coming from signing bonuses. 2010 Franchise Tag Amt for safeties: 6.45 mil. Transition Tag Amt: 6 mil. Gay's tender amts are for 3 years exp (1.1mil=5th rd).

IMO: The secondary certainly struggled this year with it's lack of depth & our young cornerbacks having yet to prove themselves. Townsend's age is showing, but he's certainly still a functional #3/4 CB. It's unclear how much money he would want & unfortunately, if we re-sign him there may not be enough roster room for our recently drafted CB's, Taylor, Gay, ST-ers like Madison, and any other person we'd certainly like to bring in to help. So it's unlikely Townsend will return unless its for vet min and if he is re-signed he's fighting an up hill battle to make the team in August. With Gay's struggles at the #2 CB, it's unclear whether the Steelers will turn to one of our recently drafted CB's to be the #2 next year or if the Steelers will try to draft a top CB/sign one in free agency. The cheapest way to keep Taylor, especially if he has an outstanding 2010 year, would be to extend him now. It may also be a way to lower his cost against the salary cap this year (if there is one), although a couple million of his current cap value is due to the Steelers converting some of his salary to a signing bonus in previous years.

-Clark has proven to be an adequate FS, however he is probably looking for a larger payday than the Steelers want to give him...for example they were unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension last summer despite being in negotiations for a couple of months. The Steelers will try to re-sign him, but odds are he will make it to FA in hopes he can drive up the asking price from the Steelers. I also think 6 mil is too much to pay to keep Clark, but here is a situation where the transition tag would work. If he leaves, the Steelers would need to sign a good FS or draft a top one. Carter is not the best safety in pass coverage, but he is good in run stopping & making key plays on occasion. He would probably be able to be re-signed as a cheap vet backup. However if Clark is re-signed & we get a young safety with potential, Carter would take up a roster spot of a younger player with more shelf life. On the other hand, the Steelers cannot afford to lose both Clark & Carter because even if the Steelers added another quality safety the combined loss would leave the steelers with even less depth at safety next year than this year. I suspect either Clark or Carter will be re-signed along with a new quality safety.

Total Cap Hit/Cap Room: Since the Steelers keep saying they will function like a soft cap is in place, they will have about 30+ million in cap room. Their current "cap hit" is about 99 million. I was able to calculate the cap value of most of the contracts myself.  These should be fairly accurate, but please remember that despite my best efforts they are probably not all exact. For the ones I didn't calculate myself (most of the 1st & 2nd rd draft picks the last 4 years and a few of the big contract extensions/renegotiations from this past summer), I used Ian Whetstone's calculations.