Stop restructuring, make the hard decisions

If we give Ben an extension, fine... but this restructuring deals needs to stop. I didn't have a problem with it years ago because we had a Championship roster and they wanted to hold it together... We won 2 rings and had another chance at 1. It was worth it.



That time is over. This roster is very mediocre. Restructuring deals for those that don't know basically means we give the guy (Ben) part of his contract up front, and it clears cap space this season, but spreads that amount (I believe about 7 million) over the remaining (3) years of his contract. It lets us squeak under and then be in even MORE trouble next season... How will we ever re-sign guys like Pouncey, Allen, etc if we keep doing this?

The Steelers need to accept we're in rebuilding mode and make the tough decisions. Guys on the chopping block are Harrison, Colon, Clark, Polamalu, Ike, Kiesel.

I'm not necessarily for letting them all go, but something needs to be done to ensure future success, and it's not continuing to push our problem into next year to deal with.

 

they were talking about restructuring all day because of the great tom brady. apparently the cap goes up alot in 2015. I trust the front office to do what needs to be done. they know what they are doing. we will be fine. i agree with you on tough decisions but cant do all of them in one year. i believe nobody wants to see a 3-13 season and you cut all those guys in one year and thats what you are in for. get one more yr out of kesiel and harrison. maybe two out of troy and then do your cuts

 

While it does suck that they're in the situation they're in...they did it to themselves. And theres only so much to do to get around it until some of the higher contract guys are gone. Sometimes cutting a guy will not save you as much as restructuring and keeping them (I remember reading an example a while back but I forgot who they used). In reality at least its a younger core group they seem to aim for the restructuring this year. I've read Ben, Timmons, Woodley and Brown as the top 4 guys to restructure. Some of those guys like Polamalu, Harrison or Keisel...ideally it'd be nice to have a pay cut...but i don't see it happening. Luckily over the next year or 2 a lot of contracts expire and will provide some further relief.

 

It doesn't make any sense to restructure Troy or Heath because their contracts end in 2014. You basically go from having a big hit in 2013 to a REALLY big hit the next year.

 

Well if it comes down to Troy or Heath I keep Heath and it's not even a tough decision.

 

You're blind if you don't see that we're rebuilding. And if he's the smartest cap guy in the league why do we have an 8-8 team and zero cap space? The Bungles made the playoffs and have something like 40 mil in cap space!

Not rebuilding?

Offensively we have a talented, but young OL, a franchise QB, and ONE reliable receiver coming off a slump, and a question mark at RB (can Dwyer keep his weight down and fit our new scheme).

Defensively we have Timmons and and Cortez Allen to look to. Woodley is young but needs to realize his full potential and stay healthy. In 3 years we're going to be without Clark, Troy, Ike, Harrison, Foote, Kiesel, Hampton, and possibly Keenan Lewis... That's essentially out entire starting defense. How is that not rebuilding?



Why not get rid of some of those guys now, save the cap space for a couple years down the line to fill out the roster with mid-level guys (like the Ravens did this season), and see what we have in guys like Heyward, Golden, Worilds, Carter, McCLendon.

 

As for wasting Ben's years... It's unfortunate, but would you rather...

A. Hold together with band-aids and be right at the cap limit with restructures... And be a slightly above average team (like we've been the past 2 years)... For the next 5 years.

B. Cut the fat, see what we have in the young guns for a year or two... Then 2 years down the line we've reloaded with talent from relatively high draft slots, and have some cap space to fill out the holes... and have a scary team for Big Ben to finish his final years with.

 

i am sick about hearing about the bengals. if we stay half way healthy this year they dont make the playoffs. they are under the cap because they dont take care of their players. when is the last time a big name free agent said "damn i want to go to cincy. i have a good chance of winning there." you cant pick one yr and say they are in better shape. yeah they are 40 million under the cap but i bet they stay at least 10-15 mil under because they wont pay their stars. guys we are not rebuilding. we were 8-8 sure. we were 8-8 cowhers last year and tomlin won a super bowl. we werent rebuilding then and we are not now

 

The Steelers are not rebuilding. The team competed last season and had the chance to win several games they loss. We are not talking about a team that won 3 or 4 games. A play here or there and the outcome of the season would had been different. Turnovers and injuries were the main reason why the season didn't go as expected. Clean up some of those turnovers and they will more then likely have a winning season in 2013.

The Steelers went through similar situations in the past and came out of those situations in decent shape. Panicking is not the answer.

 

Since when did the Bengals become the envy of some fans?

 

I never said that

 

Do you want to make the playoffs or do you want to win a superbowl.

I agree we could've easily been a playoff team... but we would've gotten smoked by Denver, NE, Baltimore, or Houston... and Cincy and Indy would've been a coin flip.

 

why do you think that? we beat baltimore with a backup qb. played denver tough in peytons first game in denver. we beat cincy once and indy? please

 

It's not a matter of one or the other both will be gone. THeir contracts will be up, tail end of their careers, and 20+ million coming off the books.

 

So Heath couldn't, or wouldn't, stay for a discount? I LOVE both players but I think it's best for the TEAM to have Heath because he's so dependable and consistent.

 

The purge will continue, Unfortunatley/fortunatley for some ball players
we all know the players that are on the list. Lets see who bluffs first. The Steelers
will probably ask for more salary cuts from some of these players.
We are seriously looking at 10-15 player roster revamp, with hopefully 3 new starters
coming in the draft/trades/fa aquisitions. As Kevin Colbert so appropriatley
said at the end of the season. We have a roster full of 8 and 8 talent. It just won't
get it done.How about Woodley ,Troy, Kiesel, these players must be in the conversation.
NO production. Everybody wants to cut Silverback, why aren't these guys in the discussion?
he devotes more time to his trade then all of these players combined.

 

You can't win a Super Bowl without making the playoffs.

Just sayin'

 

And to your point about being smoked by the other playoff teams, that would have been with a team that was decimated by injuries, moreso than all of those other teams you mention.

 

Sometimes I wish I had somewhere to discuss with people that didn't have their black and gold colored glasses on for everything.

 

You're missing the point completely.

Omar is good at his job, which is to get us under the cap... but I want us to stop having him do it... Omar should be figuring out which contracts we can cut loose to save money in the future. I understand some cuts wouldn't be worth it, I won't pretend to understand all of that stuff, but that's what he should be doing instead of restructuring. And uhh Omar over me? Ok, whatever, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.

I just showed you the facts of the roster. How many top tier talent guys are on this team that aren't completely past their prime? The offense is going in the right direction but needs some more playmakers. The defense is completely past their expiration date and can't stop anybody when it counts.

Why not make all the cuts at once? I'd rather clean house and suffer for one season, than do it a little but at a time and suffer for multiple season (like last year). Why do it a little at a time? So we can hold out hope to back into the playoffs?



I know why the Bengals have cap room, I never said I didn't, so not sure how I'm blind. My point is that they are in a much better position as us as far as youth on their roster, and their salary cap situation. We beat them once last season because Dalton is really average, and had he not thrown that ball right into Woodley's chest I think they win that game (if I'm not mistake they were driving to put them up 17).

I have no faith in their coaching and ownership to keep it going for more than a couple years, but right now they're a better team than us with a lot more young talent on their roster. That's simply a fact.


We're the 3rd best team in our division, we're rebuilding.

 

Why do u want so much cap space? U want to overpay for free agents?

 

Dude read my friggin' post.

It'd be nice to have some space to keep our own (like Keenan Lewis), and fill out the roster with mid-level guys... Like I mentioned above.