Who here is buying Dupree?

Big brother's coming to da burgh Haha just kidding man....

I think they give Feiler the 2nd round tender which is about 3 mill and change. But yeah, Hargrave is moving on.

 

It'd be a wet dream to have both the Watt brothers. Then I woke up.

I think Feiler plays well enough for 3 mill +. A deficiency on the O-line shows up quick in a not good way.

 

You are right now he is the 12th highest paid on this team........I have no clue why we are in cap hell every year.

 

The extension they gave Roethlisberger is the primary problem and it made little sense. There is no way they should have been giving him that sort of raise. The only possible reason I can think of is he threatened to retire if he didn't get another big pay raise. Giving him that kind of money was a bad bet by the team and one that already cost them dearly in 2019, when his injury cost them a playoff berth.

 

Hey Formerscribe.

Maybe in the eyes of Management, they looked around at guys like Brady and Brees and thought, hey they are still playing at a high level and are older than Ben. Also, they realize, how hard it is to find a high-quality QB in this league. They may have been thinking about all of the time and QBs that came and went between Terry and Ben and decided to roll the dice that Ben would make it through just fine given his current contract. All speculation. I guess, I too, like some fans, thought Ben would play well into his early 40s. Maybe he still will. We better hope so. Because as much as I supported Mason, he is no Ben. At least not now. And we all know how hard it is to find that next Ben.


STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

I get all of that. I just don't see how it made sense to bump his salary up even more at that time and now that contract is an absolute killer.

 

Our little litmus test last year of how this team performs without Ben on offense should help everyone identify that he is not the problem.

The anti-Ben committee needs to review some tape of the games this past year. No Duck or Mason is not the answer. They're not even close. IMO

 

Ola or Skipper could definitely fill in the role that Chickkilla is doing IMO.

I wouldn't be against a one year rental on Dupree if it doesn't mean stripping all other positions from good players.

 

Yeah it sucks, but you can't win without good QB play in this league anymore.

And check out this list

https://overthecap.com/position/quarterback/

I wonder how the Rams are feeling about Goff's mega contract with his piss poor performance last year.

How about Carson Wentz? Waaayy overpaid for his performance.

This team was not doing anything in the playoffs last year with what we had at QB. No threat at all to opposing teams.

That's not the case with Ben in the lineup.

 

Well at some point you have to face reality and know Ben can't play forever and at some point there has to be life after Ben. Even with a horrible season and terrible QB play we were still playoff relevant and had the same result as the year before with Ben. I don't think anyone arter this past season is or could say Duck or Mason is the answer but we better find it quick.......tick tock tick tock

 

So Aaron Rogers will actually be older than Ben would when his contract is up. Drew Brees is in his forties. We'll have to get a walker for Tom Brady in the near future.

All still performing at a high level.

And given the lackluster play of those behind him, there is more of a need. So no one should have qualms about Ben's contract. It's not like he's melting down making Pittsburgh eat 20 mill dyeing his mustache blonde acting crazy on a treadmill for all the world to see.

I'm all for drafting another franchise QB. I don't think Mason has it, but we still have a couple years to see if he develops.

The defense of this team is the only reason why they did as well as they did, but put them up against Mahomes et al and eventually you need to put points on the board when they average 3-5 TD passes a game against good defenses.

 

I agree but what some are saying (myself included) is if we can find a guy that comes cheaper like a Golden, Frackell, maybe Beasley who would sign a 1-2 or 3 year deal we can still have money left over. Nobody knows what kind of production we would get from any of these and a step back could happen. However a step back could happen with Bud and there goes 17 mil. Look what happened with Barrett he signed a 1 yr 4 mil contract and he is gonna cash in big time. I am fully confident that one of the FA names could come in here and do well for close to if not half the cost of Bud. jmo

 

Yeah I'm not 100 percent on how I feel about the Franchise tag on Bud because I don't know the details of the financials to see what would have to be given up to retain him with the tag.

I don't agree with giving him a long-term deal because he's going to be able to get paid as probably a top 5 edge rusher which IMO he is not. He's an athletic player that is good warranting a starter salary, not top 5 material. The Steelers had to move him to the blind side with Watt making a change for him to start becoming productive.

I don't hate Bud, but he's due to cash in with IMO some team overpaying for a top 5 player who isn't top 5 at his position. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

Anyone should have qualms about his contract, he is 38 years old he has the 2nd highest contract in his position and he counts for 16.8% of our cap. Sorry you named Brees, Brady and Rogers look at their cap numbers Brees will count for 8%, Brady was 11.4% and Rogers will be 10.6%. Ben's contract is a problem and yeah Mason and Duck are not the answer making it even more of a problem.

 

FYI Ben's last 4 playoff games:

37-58 469yds 5td 1 int 42-45 loss to the Jax great game for Ben
13-18 197yds 2td 2 int 30-12 win vs Matt Moore lead Dolphins
21-21 224yds 0td 1 int 18-16 win vs KC
31-47 314yds 1td 1 int 17-36 loss AFCCG to Pats

 

I agree with this and I too am tossed up on what I would want. Do we tag him and eat up 17 mil and go all in? Do we try and replace him with a cheaper FA and use the money elsewhere? We don't know the results however what we do know is keeping Bud don't make any other part of this team stronger while keeping the defense the same. Who is to say a cheaper FA comes in puts up close to the same result at a whole lot cheaper and we use that savings to improve other parts of this team. For example you and I are going back and forth over Ben's contract and Duck and Mason not being the answer. Well what if we had an extra 6 mil for a vet back up QB, do you think this season would have been different....I do. These are the questions I am asking myself when looking at this large amount for Bud. jmo

 

Ben deserved that raise, did you watch the offense struggle without him last season?

 

Barron seemed like he placed a bet on the over or the other team the times he was jogging after his assignment.
If we have to start Bince, that would be valid reason to keep Dupree next year for lb coverage.

 

He did deserve it & probably more considering his pedigree.
He could have took a Steeler discount to better his chances at a run for more SBs imo. Already has made gobs of $$$ off the franchise.

 

I think the Rooneys gave him a blank check & told him "whatever you want Big Ben, thanks for the Lombardis. How long do you want to play?"

 

He is no longer among the top five quarterbacks in the league, but he deserves to be the second highest paid at an age when his skills were in decline and the chance of injury was more likely?

Sorry. No. It was a mistake.

 

I think you are right and that was an absolutely terrible idea.

 

The Rooneys love their SB stars.

 

Hey Roonatic.

I know I am extremely grateful for what he has done for the organization. I am sure the Rooneys are as well as the city of Pittsburgh is. A "Blank Check"? Maybe, you never know. He has definitely accomplished a lot during his time here. He should be a lock for the HOF. I really do not think it is over for him yet. However, his injury was/is pretty serious. I guess I am holding onto the fact of modern medical technology. The fact that players return in the same season from the dreaded ACL tear (if occurring early in the season/preseason) gives me hope that he will return okay.

Given that, I think we need to pare down his number of throws/game from the 40-50 range to more like his rookie year of 20-25. In order for that formula to work we need several things:

(1) A dependable RB. (probably not Conner) A big bruiser or a versatile Bell-like one. Personally I want bell back.
(2) The incorporation of the Two TE-Set with the likes of like Heath and/or McDonald.
(3) The return of the O-Line to where it was prior to this past season to keep him "clean" and "upright".
(4) Let's keep that new and improved "D" in tact.


STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

It all comes down to Ben doesn't it? If they believe he has one more run in him, I think you franchise him one year and let him go.

Considering how the defense played last year, and considering that if we had anything better than a handicapped chimp at QB, we might've won the SB, Ben doesn't even have to play that well. Just be functional. I have never seen worse QB play than I saw this year. Honestly, you expect that if a QB is actually good enough to make an NFL team, you assume he's good enough to complete a 10 yard pass. We now know that's complete BS. Seemingly any idiot can be an NFL QB.

Ben, in his last season, threw for 5000 yards. Take a chance on him and franchise Bud.

One last run for the old boy before we enter "QB hell" for the next 10-15 years that will test our very loyalty to the team we love. I hope nobody has forgotten that it's damn near impossible to have a top 5 QB in the league? Franchise him. We have one year of hope left before a lot of us become old men.