Cap Space

I hope to hell Rooney doesn't go out to dinner with Nutting.

 

I kinda don't think there will be many more March cuts. Patterson and maybe Holcomb, but I kinda anticipate Holcomb and Larry O being here through camp before being cut. Restructuring Highsmith and Muth can create around 15m room in cap space. I personally re-sign Daniels and cut Seamalu. I don't view having 60m in cap space as a good thing. I view it as exhibit a on how far this team is away from competing due to poor drafting. I think we'll make a splash at WR and CB and the rest being used toward depth pieces.

 

He's already accepted the way Nutting does business

 

With the cap coming into focus, here's an overview of the roster/depth chart heading into next year.

The legend: Unrestricted FA, Restricted/Exclusive Rights FA, * - player is 30 or older at beginning of league year.

OFFENSE

QB
Wilson*
Fields
Allen

RB
Harris
Warren
Patterson*

LT
Jones
Moore, Jr.

LG
Seumalo*
Anderson, S.
Scharping

C
Frazier
Herbig*
McCollum

RG
Daniels
McCormick

RT
Fautanu
Anderson, C.

WR(X)
Pickens
Wiliams*

WR(Z)
Jefferson
Wilson

WR(S)
Austin III
Skowronek

TE
Freiermuth
Washington
Pruitt*

FB
Heyward


DEFENSE

LDE
Ogunjobi*
Lowry*

NT
Benton
Adams
Lee

RDE
Heyward*
Loudermilk

LOLB
Watt*
Herbig
Moon

LILB
Queen
Holcomb
Robinson

RILB
Roberts*
Wilson
Matakevich*

ROLB
Highsmith
Leal

LCB
Jackson
Trice
Henderson

SS
Elliott
Killebrew*
Watts

FS
Fitzpatrick
Kazee*

RCB
Porter, Jr.
Pierre

Nickel
Sutton*
Bishop


SPECIAL

P
Johnston*
Waltman

PK
Boswell*

LS
Kuntz*

A few takeaways:
1. I expect to see them both sign a QB in FA and draft one somewhere in the middle rounds.

2. The FO needs to invest in the corner position. Four of seven on the roster are set to become FAs, and it wasn't a strong room to begin with. They need to at least sign a mid-level vet and address it early in the draft.

3. I think they take a WR early, but will want a vet in the room as well. If they plan to offer Pickens an extension the top-of-market FA guys are out of the equation. Amari Cooper is intriguing, estimated to have a market around $15M/yr. Darius Slayton and Keenan Allen are options as well.

4. Harris did something to fall out of favor. While not an elite back, the cost to pick up his option would have easily been covered by production. Instead it's another hole to fill. There's nothing behind Warren, and I don't trust him holding up the year as an RB1. JK Dobbins at 2yr/$9M would be a sneaky add that would allow them to push addressing it in the draft to day three.

 

Unless there is a major change in offensive philosophy, I can't see Higgins wanting to come to the Steelers.

 

Sure, WRs that were targeted at some of the lowest rates in the league; Jefferson targets-8th%tile, Austin targets-31st%tile. As I said, decoys.

 

Steelers have the 9th most money to spend in the league presently.

 

That doesn't make them decoys; you're just ignoring other variables. The Steelers had the fourth-lowest number of passing attempts last year, so of course their WR2 and 3 aren't going to have a high volume relative to the rest of the league. You need to look at the number of targets relative to the total for the team and compare that to other second and third options across the league. Then you can ask if upgrading Jefferson would lead to increased targets there, etc.

The Eagles had the fewest passing attempts in the league last year, and have both of their top receivers signed to contracts worth more than $20M/yr. It's not just about decoys; it's about having two good options who will get open when needed. And since the Steelers are worse at QB, RB, and OL than the Eagles, it would behoove them to follow the same idea or else they're going to be seeing a lot of the punting unit.

 

I just don’t get excited over the bump in the cap every team gets it

It’s like when you drive out of a city and the speed limit goes up you are still behind the same cars

 

Only when the car is being driven by Dumlin
He doesn't know the limit will or has changed.
He's the idiot that never changes lanes and stays behind the dump truck or garbage truck
while all others zooom zoom zoom ahead

 

A friend bought an ugly puke green used Pinto once just so his teenage son wouldn't ask to borrow it

 

Not every team has 60 million in cap space right now like the Steelers, they can create even more with cuts and restructures.

 

We have a potential 15 million that is restructure-able between Highsmith and Freiermuth. We have some other potential cuts that can free up even more. Plus with the way cap hits work, the 2025 cap hit on some of these players will be smaller than their AAV. We can give contracts to Fields, a high end WR, a CB2, and even a DL with plenty of room to spare. We obviously will need some back ups (IOL back ups, Swing Tackle, back up ILB, etc.) and some money to sign the draft picks, but overall we're in really good shape to improve this roster in the offseason. I would love to see us be aggressive with our cap space and try to surround whichever QB we choose with some talent.

 

Exactly

The bump is the same for everyone so it is a non factor

 

You're missing the point the Saints are like 47 million over the cap, therefore the Steelers are likely to be more active in free agency .

 

Duh

But you disagreed with my point which you missed

Twice

 

I wouldn’t tell a lot of people that

My dad tried to give me a circa 72 4 cylinder Vega and I politely just said no

I got a 72 442

 

Yes you get more money to spend, but the market asking price goes up as well, some will benefit more than others as certain positions will command more bucks, others because of shortage of talent may try and squeeze for more. I saw a tweet yesterday from some group that gives a value on what a certain player should get in the FA market, it had Russ listed at 2 year 80 million fully guaranteed. I about choked my coffee.

 

I can explain it to you

I can’t make you understand