Steelers News: Although no deal is done, the Steelers are optimistic of Kevin Colbert’s return

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2019 season is officially over. After finishing the year 8-8, the Steelers, and their vast fan base, has another long offseason awaiting them. Just because the games are done doesn’t mean we stop providing you with features, commentary and opinions to tide you over throughout the offseason!

Today in the black-and-gold links article we take at how the Steelers are hoping Kevin Colbert returns in 2020, but no deal is done just yet.

Let’s get to the news:

• The Pittsburgh Steelers have a General Manager through the 2020 NFL Draft. But then what? The team is hopeful Kevin Colbert returns to the team for the following year.

Art Rooney II ‘optimistic’ about Steelers GM Kevin Colbert sticking around for 2020 season

By: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Kevin Colbert just completed his second decade with the Pittsburgh Steelers overseeing the franchise’s football operations.

Team president Art Rooney II is hoping that tenure extends into a third.

Colbert’s contract expires after the NFL Draft in April. Although Colbert, 63, has hinted at retirement, Rooney II said Wednesday that he’s trying to extend the general manager’s stay for at least another year.

“I’m optimistic about Kevin being back next year,” Rooney said. “Obviously, we have to get something done as far as his extension. We’ll address that as soon as we can.”

Colbert is immersed in preparation for the draft, which is just three months away.

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Want to know more about the Steelers new quarterbacks coach, Matt Canada? This article is just what the doctor ordered...

Where in the World Is Matt Canada—and Why Doesn’t He Have a Job?

By: Ross Dellenger, Sports Illustrated

“APB... Amber Alert,” the tweet says, “where is Matt Canada?” Earlier this month, a friend sent Canada a screengrab of that message posted on the social media site, and on this rainy August day, it makes him chuckle. The tweet’s author is no one Canada knows. It belongs to that of a casual college football fan curious about the whereabouts of a college football coach who had ascended to the top of his profession and then, without a trace or goodbye, disappeared into the ether. The tweet wonders aloud what many of us have asked internally at some point this offseason: Where is Matt Canada?

On this particular day, Matt Canada is nestled within a charming beach house located in a sleepy seaside town situated on an isolated island where the Atlantic Ocean meets the eastern shore of North Carolina. It is August, and that usually means he’s preparing a team for the football season, but instead Canada is dressed in what he calls his new daily uniform, an ensemble reserved for Florida retirees and, apparently, unemployed coaches: sandals, shorts, a long-sleeved dry-fit shirt and an Aussie-style, straw cowboy hat. He slips off his shoes, because they are optional here (his backyard is, after all, quite literally the beach), and he reclines in a white high-top Adirondack chair while being serenaded by nature’s No. 1, smash-hit single: waves crashing ashore (so close that at 47-years-old even he can find the water with a football).

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• The Steelers will start talking contract extension with JuJu Smith-Schuster, when it is “appropriate”.

Steelers will address JuJu Smith-Schuster’s contract “when appropriate”

By: Josh Alper, ProFootballTalk

After the Steelers parted ways with Antonio Brown, the hope in Pittsburgh was that JuJu Smith-Schuster would build on his impressive first two seasons now that he was the team’s No. 1 receiver.

That didn’t happen. Smith-Schuster missed four games with injuries and the loss of Ben Roethlisberger early in the season left the team with shaky quarterback play the rest of the way. Smith-Schuster wound up with 42 catches for 552 yards and 3 touchdowns, which Steelers owner Art Rooney II said doesn’t dim the team’s hopes about his future.

While that may be the case, Rooney didn’t sound like he was prioritizing a new deal with Smith-Schuster before his rookie contract expires after the 2020 season.

“Well again, it was a tough season to evaluate with the different quarterbacks and some of JuJu’s injuries so it’s a tough season to evaluate from a lot of different standpoints,” Rooney said, via PennLive.com. “Obviously we still think highly of JuJu and still think he’s going to be an outstanding player in the league moving forward and we will address the contract situation when it’s appropriate.”

To read the full article, click HERE (Free)

• Social Media Madness