A question Steeler Friends

Don't know if this belongs in the Bill Nunn Room but since this is a big topic for our team here it is.

https://247sports.com/nfl/pittsburg...e-with-Derrius-Guice-around-Pro-Day-116703820

So what if they take him at #1? Would you resend the tag on Bell and let him walk freeing up 14.55?

I know what I would do.

 

It saves money but to what end? The names that could really really make an impact on FA are gone. What does the savings bring

 

Colbert did say draft could present an opportunity to cut someone for cap space. Wilcox? Foster? James? LJ? Bell? Martavous? DHB? Burns? McDonald? Walton? Alualu? Tuitt? Hargreaves? McCullers? FT? Williams? Haden? With so many spots still needing filled to fill the 90 man roster, how young do we go in some of these areas? Who is at risk? We have some aging expensive players as well. Pouncey for example. Some of these are highly unlikely but ya never know. Stranger things have happened.

 

After the draft (or at the end of preseason), the Steelers may need to sweeten a deal if a player they want is cut by another team.
(Unlikely, but possible.)

 

I agree about the end of camp and just before the season begins. We made a few late moves last year this way.

 

I doubt they take Guice with their first pick barring extreme circumstances. Way too many other needs.


Besides, Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin and the position coach usually indicate that their interest in the first pick.

 

What are these real other needs AQL? I believe they have lessened any pressing need with Burnett and bostic in the short term. Depth and down the road these same positions could become needs. I do believe they are expecting shazier back if they are talking about an extension for him. Davis most likely isn't going anywhere. Do we use a first on a player to be a rental for shazier spot for a year? Will it mean the end for Vince Williams? Yes we have some needs but not pressing needs at this point. Bostic play will determine a lot of what we will be looking to do. I could see offense being a bigger trend than most think right now. RB, WR and TE have all been looked at and met with fairly heavy. This draft may unfold quite differently than many think with these new additions.

 

Burnett? Absolutely.


Bostic? Unlikely.


Now, as you said, should the draft unfold differently, then those extremes factored in. Keep in mind that Bostic's contract is roughly equivalent to a rookie's contract.


Within the same token, I still would not rule out the possibility of someone like Jessie Bates III as Pittsburgh also sent the house to Wake Forest. Keep in mind that Wilcox might to be cut soon due to his cap hit.

 

I don’t think I would throw Bell out the door hoping Guice would be the answer. He is a good college player, however, pro football is a different animal: everyone runs 4.5 and can move. Bell is a proven pro and is considered one of the top three backs in the league. I know that recently there have been a couple backs come out and make an impact, but that isn’t the norm. Bell has had injuries, but so has many of the other backs including the kid at the Vikings. He seems to have put him drug related issues in the past and played great football last year. Keep in mind, he was one of our draft picks, we can’t just throw away talent without getting our bang for the buck. Soooo many teams do that then regret their decision. The Rams listed Bettis as a head case and we made him a HOFer.

 

We have been looking no doubt. Bates. Edmund's. Flowers. Harrison. I'm also not ruling out guys like brown from bama as a convert to the safety spot. Much will Be determined by what we also do with Brian Allen and Sutton at this point. Will these guys remain buried on the bench or do we have plans for them.

 

Mac, really? They "expect someone back" to playing NFL football who as of yet cannot even stand on his own, let alone walk or run? I highly doubt Shazier factors in in any way into their plan. No way. I am sure if he does make it back it will be a very pleasant surprise, but in no way are they counting on it when it comes to making personnel decisions. No way.

 

No thank you. I'm good on Louisiana players. Something in the water down there. Keenan Lewis, Mike Wallace, and Bradshaw after retirement.

 

Let me ask this what player (s) that are free agents, potentially being cut or trade value would you rather have or try to sign versus what Bell brings on his franchise tender?

 

I've been known to be wrong, but I think taking Guice shows that Bell will not be back next year and they're moving on. Which I believe to be a mistake.

 

Steelers would be crazy to take RB in round 1 with lack of depth at ILB and Safety. A QB would make more sense than a RB at this point.

But I'm all for picking RB in round 2.

 

The problem with the Bell situation is that this show is going to be coming to a lot of towns. He gonna get signed eventually by us or someone else and set the market. RBs have been undervalued for many years and they are correcting the market. You will either have to draft one every 3 years or pay. I bet the girls’ are trying to figure out what they are going to do in a couple years, Prescott and Elliott will come up for contract the same year and they only have $12,000 cap space this year. It’s a reality many teams are going to face soon. As the RB market rebounds, Hunt, Bell, Elliott, , Kamara, Johnson and Gurley have proven to be game changers and their market has to get closer to the current $17 million dollar receiver market.

 

RBs don't have a long shelf life. Steelers would be better off drafting RBs every three years. IMHO, Bell is past his prime. He's not going to deliver the stats he did in his first 4 years.

 

It’s a position that is being taken for granted and the market is going to evolve. You thing the Rams or Jacksonville are going to let Gurley walk? Backs have had such an impact that they will start getting way more looks in the first round. We will pay him or someone else, the thing with Bell is that he doesn’t take the hits that other backs take. He doesn’t run downhill and absorb the punishment that an Elliott or Fornett does. He doesn’t have concession problems because he takes few direct hits. Those pounders don’t last as long. I think he’s just entering his prime, he’s a smart runner.

 

Picking him would be a real slap in the face to Conner.

 

Imagine if we let our backs go every 3 years or so even if they are great, we would be called the Pirates. We all know that hitting .300, an ERA under 3 or a gold glove will get you traded.

 

Or, letting your top backs go every year (not 3) might get us called something else: world champs. Yes, the Pats almost never bring their top RB back even after winning the SB. I'm not saying we should strive to re-do our RB unit every year, but that keeping your top back isn't akin to winning it all.

 

I think that's more to do with cheating

 

It’s hard to understand the obsession with the cheats on here. Everyone says “the pats change every year, the pats wear blue, the pats bla bla bla”. We won super bowls keeping the backs and running a different defense. I assure you that the patriots do not sit around and compare themselves to other teams. We have a team personality and a way in which we do things. We are not the patriots, nor do we want to be. They have the services of probably the best QB that has played the game. Cheating Bill was at Cleveland and couldn’t find the field. Ask Dan Fouts about having a run game, or John Elway prior to Davis or Dan Marino. You have to have it, the greatest teams run the ball, plain and simple. You have one off flukes, but solid teams run the ball well. Your Patriots got by because of the quality of their QB.

 

Many fallacies above.

1.) I never said we should purposely have RB turnover since NE does; I merely pointed out that they have proven you don't need to bring back the top back of previou season in order to win rings. They have proven otherwise.

2.) End that same, tired BULL SH_T that Belichick didn't "get it done" in Cleveland. He had that team very much in the right direction before Art announced the team was leaving. The season previous, he had the Browns on the rise, in the playoffs and with a playoff win. NO COACH ever born could have had the team winning after the move was announced - not Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh or Chuck Noll. Stop misrepresenting reality.

3.) I never said rushing the ball wasn't important, just that you don't necessarily have to bring last year's top RB on a team in order to have an effective rushing game. Stop with the straw man arguments. NE has always been able to rush the ball during the Brady era; sometimes they just choose not to, depending on the match ups. So, when Indy let Faulk leave, was their rushing game toast? F--k no, they drafted Edge James and never missed a beat. They want from rushing 1,486 in '98 (with Fauk as the main back) to 1,660 total yards rushing in '99 with James as the main back. See the point? You DON'T have to have your main RB back in order to rush the ball well.

 

*See.....Super Bowls Champs last year