Steelers salary cap space looks very good.....

Half the board was pessimistic coming off a 15-1 season with a new franchise QB?

 

Sure were halfway through the season.
Things like ....
What's it matter how far we got ...we didn't get 2 the SB.
Wouldn't matter Bill C. can't win the Big one anyway.
Last Year was a fluke.
Now they know how 2 play Ben.
That's just some of what was being said.

 

I’m pessimistic coming off a 1-5 finish.

 

I'm pessimistic about finishing. Is Ben the only guy who has won a playoff game now?

 

Screw Rodgers anyway. My first preference is that the Steelers draft their future franchise QB if Rudolph and much less likely Haskins aren't. Not saying it's an impossibility for Rodgers to win a SB here, but I personally can't stand the SOB and he's no spring chicken anymore. Let him go vacuum the money and energy out of someone else's organization.

 

California Dreaming for such a winter day. Or I could see him in Las Vegas or Denver also. Close to the west coast
so he can get into TV.

 

Trading for Rodgers is not very appealing because of his abrasive and sulky personality. I think he is the type that could retire out of the blue if he doesn’t like the way things are going with the team so I wouldn’t want to give up a bunch of high picks for him. That said, the talent is simply outrageous and if he comes in and is highly motivated he could get you to a Super Bowl, and whatever you have given up would be worth it. I do think he will end up in Denver however.

Russell Wilson could also be traded next offseason. I don’t think he and his celeb wife would veer towards Pittsburgh for showbiz reasons though. Vegas would be an obvious destination as they look to fill that stadium. That would mean Derek Carr is looking for a job? I think you can win with Carr if you put the right pieces around him.

Best solution is to draft your own guy but if the Steelers are picking around the middle of the first round it’ll be hard to get the guy they want. A veteran bridge guy might make sense if they don’t think Mason can get it done, and we have seen nothing to suggest that he can.

 

We've never won a SB with a QB we didn't draft but we can just get the Duck back and all of our problems will be solved. JK.
I believe this great cap situation we are looking at next year is a mirage and will start to vanish after we start signing players for 2022 and beyond. Not a cap guru but that is what I've read so who knows.

 

A lot will be determined by the QB position after Ben. If they are bringing in a veteran at $30m + as well as paying TJ & Minkah then yes, the cap space will disappear very quickly.

If they can find somebody in the draft and have 4-5 years of a good QB on a rookie deal they will be in a great spot to put a team around them.

They’ll need to draft well too, of course

 

I agree about Rodgers. You're not going to be able to pay him and Watt/Fitzpatrick plus deal with the loss of draft capital.

Derek Carr was the one I was thinking about as well so I looked into his situation. $25M/year right now, but becomes an UFA in 2023, so he'd need to be cut or released. He'll come with a higher price tag than a bridge guy as he'd be seen as a long term starter.

The defense is going to eat up a lot of the future cap. TJ Watt, Minkah, and Devin Bush will be getting paid. Haden will come off the books so that'll help. Tuitt off the books in '23.

Financially, it makes the most sense to draft a QB in 2022. Why spend the draft capital on a high priced vet when you can use it to possibly move up and take a QB you think is the long term future (if you are trading). I think someone like Teddy Bridgewater would be a good fit for that transition guy depending on how the team views Mason and Haskins. He's a FA next year, getting 11.5M now. Always seen as a leader and could easily slip into that veteran back up roll in 2023.

If I were Pittsburgh for the 2022 offseason, I'd thank Big Ben and try to secure that bridge guy (Bridgewater, Jacoby Brissett) immediately so you can have options in the draft if you can't get the QB you are targeting.

 

. You mean, besides the Chargers?

 

After 2021, we may have more holes to fill than the exercise we're still going through especially if Ben actually does retire. It looks like uncertain times are before us for a while. Glad I'm not working this thing. I'd never get any sleep!

 

I hope we draft our next QB in the 6th round. Maybe lighting will strike twice.

 

Tee Martin 2.0?

 

Mason is the 2022 bridge QB, unless Haskins surprises and gets another 1-year deal.

 

Chuck Dick, a lessor known author and adult star.

 

Concerning salary cap futures, are these voidable one year contracts a thing of the near future or just a covid thing?

 

Easy to paste the link than plagiarize it:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndic...-to-know-about-nfl-futures-contracts.amp.html

 

Saints and Pats have been using them for a few years with Brees and Brady respectively.

They are a useful tool if you are caught for cap space in a particular year like the Steelers are right now. It’s no worse than doing continual restructuring of contracts, all teams that feel their window is open use these ways to keep their team together.

Browns will be looking at it very soon

 

That article is about futures contracts which are ‘no risk’ deals that teams use on fringe players. These contracts can be cut without any salary cap implications. Dwayne Haskins is on a futures deal for example

 

Bush is no guarantee to get a second contract.

 

Generally leads the team in tackles when healthy and they moved up 10 spots in the first round to get him. He may be lavender scented Summers Eve on twitter, but if he plays the same as he has been for the next couple years, he will get a second contract easy.

 

Loved the Lavender scented Summer Eve saying. I think I will steal that. LoL

 

They'll sign him to justify moving up, but IMO he needs to play better if he wants a big money deal. He's been "meh" so far. Better than other guys they tried to plug in to replace Shazier, but nothing special.

 

I don't know about the "big money" deal (as in someone re-setting the LB market), but they'll offer what they can and it will definitely be lucrative. It seemed like a fight for them to release Artie Burns so to say they are not going to offer Bush a 2nd contract doesn't seem right when they traded up for him.

Obviously if there's a catastrophic injury or he goes mentally bonkers, then yes, they may move on. But if he maintains his current trajectory, then its a no-brainer. I don't like the guy but he'll probably lead the team in tackles again this year and be the top 1 or 2 tackler after that til his rookie contract is over.