Unsung players...

Your right. Hate to see him franchised.

 

Bell was in a different situation. There were red flags with him, the drug suspensions and the injuries. Teams also don't want to spend like that on a running back.

Dupree is also different. He had only put together one good season after all those years of disappointing. Watt has been a stud since day one, and he is a significantly better player than Dupree right now. I also don't see the Steelers being in a situation that would have them even considering matching or not matching an offer Watt gets from another team. They will either lock him up before he reaches free agency or he will be gone. The latter seems very unlikely.

I think part of the reason the Steelers haven't locked up Dupree is they want to put that money toward a long-term deal with Watt. I don't think they can afford long-term deals for both. I'm guessing we will see Watt get a long-term deal with Highsmith taking Dupree's place next season.

 

Almost certainly the case. You don’t let a guy like TJ go. Highsmith has flashed enough to offer hope that they will be ok when Bud is gone.

The team is going to look a bit different next season. Lots of guys hitting free agency, limited funds to pay anybody.

 

Steelers wanted to sign both of them, just sayin. Tagged Bell twice. Gave him what they give the allpros, a 5 year deal comparable to the top at his position. I think they would like to hold on to Dupree also but they can't afford what he wants.
There's 10 other guys on the defense & if it's good they will be worth $$$ on the market. Imo almost all fa are overpaid.

 

True, so he will be a Steeler even if a deal is not reached. And its going to be in gigantic. My fear is with Bens contract and hoping to sign some key players. If Conner keeps playing like he is I feel he is worth keeping as well as Hilton, Sutton, Alualu. Do they keep AV?

Here is a list and its not pretty:

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/pittsburgh-steelers/

As far as Haden goes your correct as i'm not that cap savvy. Here is a breakdown:

Joe Haden – 2021 Cap Charge: $15,575,000 – Haden is going to be an interesting subject come February. While he’s only scheduled to earn $7 million in 2021, his cap charge is more than double that amount due to his contract being restructured this offseason. At 31 years of age, Haden is no spring chicken so how he plays in 2020 will go a long way in determining what happens with him come the start of the new league year in March. Should Haden need to be cut next March, the Steelers would save $7 million in 2021 cap space. They could also decide to extend his contract and in doing so, a little bit of cap space could be created. The Steelers could also decide to just let Haden play out his final year in 2021. Once again, we’ll have a better idea about Haden’s potential future as the 2020 season progresses. His situation is way too hard to predict right now.

 

Every Steelers Super Bowl team had things in common, but one of the biggest things was depth and unsung heroes.

Add Spillane and Buggs to that list- the former is a heroic overachiever with Heisman DNA, and the latter kept plugging away until he made a difference.