SG Intern Writes – Steelers Offense: The good, the bad, and what needs to happen
This post was written by Brian Jacobs, who will be a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts studying sports marketing – a Steelers fan, Jacobs grew up in Silver Spring, MD and is an avid golfer while saving his real skills for the ski slopes. He’s also an accomplished smart ass and Steelergurl and Media Frenzy summer intern.
These are HIS views and not necessarily those of Steelergurl  SG would have made more mention of Isaac Redman as a great running back and fan favorite.  As well as referring to Hines Ward at least once as the “baby daddy” err I mean, great wideout he is.
Â
Page 2 of 2 | Previous page
Anthony:
July 26th, 2011 at 10:39 pm
I enjoyed the read and like your ambition in regards to improving our obvious offensive weakness, but I have one question…Where’s the cap space? The Steelers are currently over the cap and have not yet signed any of their own free agents (most notable Ike and Colon) or draft picks.
I am aware that through some contract restructuring and extensions to players on the last year of their deals (Troy, Timmons, Woodley) room can be created, but I do not believe we will have the money to add any free agent of significance and still keep Colon and Ike. All of the players you listed, minus Dockery who I don’t think helps the Steelers very much, will command a lot of money. The Steelers don’t overpay for free agents even when they have the cap space. Getting any of those four guys is a pipe dream.
Steelergurl:
July 26th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
Anthony, I agree and hopefully Brian will jump in and respond to your comment as well.
I think re-signing Ike and Colon are important and definitely have to figure out what we do with Woodley et al for the future. Obviously, can’t let them all go.
I think the first thing though, is to make sure Ike is re-signed (and in Brian’s defense, he has written a defense blog that I haven’t posted yet). Once we know what we had to pay for Ike, then it’s time to let go of the low hanging fruit.
Some of those who won’t be back in my opinion are: Randel El, I think the young money crew proved themselves capable of handling the task set out for them. At ARE’s price, he likely won’t be in the roster. Mewelde Moore, though it pains me because he’s a workhorse and has been good for the Steelers. Limas Sweed, no comment needed. And hate to say it, but barring any injuries, do we need Charlie Batch (or a total of 4 QBs unless someone disappears fm the roster). The cap is definitely an issue….you hear Mark Sanchez in NY offering to restructure his deal so that they can keep both Tone and Braylon. Would be interesting if Ben offered to restructure his big ass deal to make sure we had a solid team through the next couple years. Who knows, maybe he will….but again, I think it all depends on how it goes down with Tone and then we know the $$ we’re working with.
Brian:
July 27th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
Anthony, you are right, according to the 2010 roster, the steelers are around 12 mil. over the new cap. However, the Steelers, just as all other teams in the NFL can borrow 3 million to use against future caps, another 3.5 million for player performance bonus’. The cap is lower than before but with increased revenue can go up. Also as Steelergurl said, how much interest do guys have in renegotiating their contracts to make space for new players. Also, are we going to keep the Mewelde Moores and the Randel Els, and the Arnaz Battles who’s contracts aren’t terrible, but are a little much. And if we are looking to beef up the O-line, are we going to resign Tony Hills, Trai Essex, and Willie Colon. Essex and Colon have two of the larger contracts on the o-line. While I do agree that those players I listed will demand some money, I wouldn’t say it’s a “pipe dream”
MB:
July 29th, 2011 at 6:34 am
Moore and Batch aren’t under contract, so they’re not part of any discussion about cuts to save space.
Also, Brian, ‘Essex and Colon have two of the larger contracts on the o-line.’
Huh??? Essex signed a two-year deal in ’09 for less than two million dollars. You think that’s more expensive than Chris K, Pouncey, Flozell Adams, Starks (before he got cut, which you wrote your article and comment before he got cut)? That’s four offensive line starters that cost more than Essex. Not sure what you’re possibly referring to.
As for Colon, he played under a modest restricted free agent contract in ’10. Less than $2 million. Again, not sure where you think that figure is greater than any of the other starters on the line.
brian:
July 30th, 2011 at 11:46 am
Well Mb, I looked at the roster and both Essex and colon had a mores expensive contract than half of the offensive lineman, including backups. If you want I can show you the site when I get back to my computer. You have to remember, the steelers don’t have just 5 offensive lineman!