Stop restructuring, make the hard decisions

I would say Ben is not past his prime. I would say Heath is not past his prime. I would say Pouncey is not past his prime. I would say AB is not past his prime. I would say Sanders is not past his prime(although I still say he is yet to prove his true worth). I would say Timmons is not past his prime. I would say Troy, Casey, Ike, and Beard probably are.

 

i understand what your saying TE, but most teams don't have 100 mil. of the cap tied up in 8-10 players that don't see the field much anymore. that's where the difference lies. sure other teams are below the cap or right near the cap, but they also have 40+ players under contract. we don't.

 

You're on a Steelers message board! Do you want a forum full of Steelers fans or one full of people who criticize every move the Steelers make and rip the players to death and want to cut most of them too? Oh wait ...........

 

i agree, i'm talking about why we are in a little more dire starits then most teams. sure we contended then , but some of these guys will never play at that level again most likely. so all the big money we threw at them then to win, is hurting us now to try and regain that level of play.

are we , or are they good enough as we go forward to put another run together as they hit 30 and beyond. with nothing behind these 8-10 players it sure tightens things up when you find a young one playing at a high level.( lewis) come to mind. it's a tough spot we are in.

 

So if some people don't believe that things are as dire as you do, they have rose colored glasses on?

Ok, how about I wish for a place to discuss the Steelers with rational fans rather than the knee-jerk over reactionary type that believe that the sky is falling and its time to blow everything up and rebuild every time the Steelers don't win the division and make a deep deep playoff run?

 

Here are some links to contribute to this convo...

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2013/0...uations-of-all-32-teams-as-of-early-february/ - 32 teams ESTIMATED cap situations from a few weeks back

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2012/12/steelers-2013-salary-cap-numbers/ - steelers 2013 cap numbers

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2013/02/steelers-2013-salary-cap-release-savings-player-under-contract/ - releasing players and their savings/etc

Enjoy!

 

out of the top 12 teams over the cap. 2 made the playoffs last year.

 

3 milion saved by restructured brown
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/27/antonio-brown-restructures-contract/

 

I think a better way to look at those top 12 teams is to go back and look at their success in the years leading up to them being over the cap. Going back to SB 40, a full 1/2 (7) of the Super Bowl participants are in that top 12. Five of those teams won. Also add in the 49ers NFCCG appearance 2 season ago and the Jets back to back appearances in that span, plus the Saints, and Panthers appearances and thats 12 of 28 teams who reached the conference championship games are on the list.

What does this mean?

Those 12 (in general, because the always over spending Skins,Raiders, and Boys are on the list too) have all had a pretty good amount of success in previous years and have spent a lot money to keep those guys in place in hopes of continued success. And its hard to argue with their logic give the list contains 5 of the last 7 SB winners.

 

Tough decisions still on the horizon. Get out your crying towels
your favorite Steeler may have just played his last game.

 

No, I wish I could have a real conversation about the direction of the team. Trust me, I'm not a knee jerk type of person, and I don't think our situation is dire by any means. Here is the state of the team as I see it.




THE BAD

We have a lot of old guys who are still taking up a relatively big chunk of our salary cap. Normally in the past we've drafted well enough that the young guys are ready to step in, but lately... not so much.


BEFORE:
Here's a good example. Joey Porter was 31 years old in 2005. He was playing solid football, but he was slowing down and wasn't worth the kind of money he could make on the open market anymore. We had a young hungry OLB in Harrison behind him, so we let Joey walk, he made his money elsewhere, and the OLB position didn't miss a beat.

NOW:
James Harrison is 34 years old. His biggest issue is his health, but his play to finish the season showed me he's still capable of being a force when he's healthy but he's not worth the kind of money he could make on the open market. We have Jason Worilds behind him who's a big question mark.

Same goes for Brett Kiesel. He's 34 years old, and just had a great season... But we SHOULD be able to let him go, save the money, and get similar production from a young guy behind him. Problem is Ziggy or Heyward have yet to show they're capable of playing at that level.

That right there is why we've regressed. We haven't drafted as well. Us drafting so well is why you very rarely see us "rebuild," tyically the next man up is just as good if not better than the guy before him, and you don't see downswings like so many other teams have. We're holding onto these old vets with big contracts because the ones behind them aren't ready.

The fact is whether those young guys are ready or not, we're going to be stuck with them no matter what in a few years when the vets retire... So my thought is lets do it now and save that cap room for another day, rather than prolonging this stretch of mediocrity (which has now gone on 2 seasons). I don't think we need the space to go wild in free agency, I think we need it to hang on to our own. I dont care what your opinion is of Wallace, I agree he's become a cancer... but even if he was a great team player we couldn't re-sign him.

Does nobody else see the issue when you have so little cap space that you can't even keep the homeruns you got in the draft?? Wallace and Lewis could both be gone.


THE GOOD

We have a franchise quarterback that can carry a team on his back in clutch moments. I'd take him over probably anyone in the league not named Brady or Rodgers. He's a special type of talent.

We have a very young and talented offensive line. What I like about that is it can cover up some of our holes at RB and WR. We still need playmakers, but the OL can help them grow into their spots without getting abused early on.

The defense has put up solid numbers, but injuries have hurt us, along with the lack of turnovers. I think the lack of turnovers is from lack of pressure. We need to get better in the front 7. Lack of injuries will help... but we have some young guns that can be a force in Timmons, Woodley, Allen, and hopefully Lewis.








If you disagree with my, by all means shout it... That's what we're here for, but give me some reasoning. Don't just tell me that Omar knows better than I do, or that the Bengals suck... because both things are completely unrelated. If you don't think we're rebuilding tell me why I should be optimistic that this season will be better than the last 2, if we continue doing things the way we have.

 

I am a realist and understand the team isn't going to make the playoffs nor will they win the SB every season. I also know that the Steelers had to make similar decisions in the past like they need to make this season. They loss player after player and had only 3 losing seasons since 1992 while your new favorite team (Bengals) had 13 losing seasons. Some how the Steelers find a way to remain competitive. I don't recall the Steelers ever blowing things up to start all over again. I don't believe the organization would be as successful as they've become if they had the mentality to blow things up. They believe they can compete to make the playoffs and possibly win the SB every season. As a result, they do what they can to field a competitive team every season. Steelers fans should be glad that the organization doesn't throw in the towel on any season.

I recall that back in 2005 no one gave the Steelers a chance vs the Colts. No one gave the Giants a chance vs the Pats in 2007. The Steelers have pretty much owned the Ravens in the playoffs recently, so eh. No one can say for certain if the Steelers would had been smoke by any team that made the playoffs this past season. A thing or two can be learned from history.

 

I think alot of it has to do with who is behind the player. you mentioned harrison. do you really think worilds is better right now? if the staff doesnt think so, should they keep harrison or release him and take a chance on an unproven player? same with kesiel. if harrison is at 90% of the mvp level this year we will be glad he is back. I dont think we are as old as some make it out to be. we dont have a saftey on the roster to replace clark or troy. in my opinion the one who might be on borrowed time is ike. if we resign lewis and allen continues to improve, he could be gone after this year

 

All teams are flawed. All teams have weaknesses. The Steelers are no different. Sure their D is in transition and seems to be a big question mark. But thats the way it is right now. As you remark, its the offense that has gotten younger and has potential. But do you realize that the exact opposite could be said about the Steelers following the 2007 season? The D had a young Polamalu, a great FA pick up in Clark, a young Harrison, Smith, Keisel, a Hampton in his prime etc. The O, they had BR a young Miller, and an aging Ward to go with a bunch of journey men at RB and some MAJOR question marks on the O line. That offseason between 07 and 08 you could easily look at the state of the O line and have dire predictions about the team going forward. Faneca had just walked, Simmons was hot and cold, and Marvel Smith couldn't stay healthy and would only last 5 games into the 08 season. They had neglected the O line and in the draft and were going to try to make it work with a young unproven G in Willie Colon, another young G in Chris Keomatu, and FA journey man Justin Hartwig a C. Between Colon and Keomatu they had a combined 4 games started going into the 08 season. It didn't look good, but we all know how that season turned out.

As far as the next man up being as good or better than the last guy, well you have the benefit of hindsight on your side. You're forgetting that it wasn't a given that Harrison would so easily replace Porter. Harrison was after all a journey man (He was far from young, btw) who played well when given the chance, but hadn't proven he was a capable replacement. The Steelers took a big chance when they let JP walk. And now they appear to be ready to do it again. Harrison appears gone and Worilds is next up. But just like Harrison, Worilds has impressed when given the chance. The jury is out, but you act like Worilds is a bum, but hes far from it. The OLB position may very well not miss a beat again.

Regarding signing Wallace, they tried. He was offered a very fair deal and declined. And because they drafted so well...they got 2 young guys who have a lot of promise...they didn't have to over pay to keep him freeing up money for elsewhere.

 

Guys, Brown and Timmons are not guys we want to see gone. So stick with the restructuring Omar anf Kevin

 

Remember when we used to cry about how we NEVER kept our really good players once the became free agents? and EVERY year we would seem to have 2-3 compensatory picks??? and there always seemed to be some young guy ready to step in? and shortly after we forgot about old whats his name we were crying about?? lol
Easier to hit on 3 or 4 draft picks when you have 10 instead of 6 or 7....

 

people still complain about woodson, porter, and brown. there are examples both ways i know, but ryan, troy, and harrison are still much better than the backups. hampton isnt and will prob be gone. can you imagine mundy and golden as starting safties.

 

I CAN imagine that. It's just that I don't WANT to!

 

you think mundy will be back? not. maybe golden and cromartie-smith. oh, and our new draft pick.LOL

 

A nice little article to potentially ease some pain for those concerned about the restructures and next years situation...

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2013/02/steelers-2014-salary-cap-fears-contract-restructures/

 

Every team has issues. Even the ones that some people think don't.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8998804/nfl-patriots-dynasty-decline

 

He played his last game in 1998...