Wow ! TJ Watt has a lot of value right now.

The Steelers can use the franchise tag on him, he's not going anywhere as a free agent.

 

I get a kick when the OP of that post said "and a team that's willing to spend". There have bee players on this team, when they signed the contract were the highest paid for their position. It's not that the Steelers will not spend, this year is two things came together that pretty mcuh prevents them from doing anything, a lowered Cap and reconciliation day from prior years restructures.

 

Unfortunately yes.....

 

Maybe somebody will snatch Tomlin and make him GM somewhere else and we get 2 comp picks, right?

 

In a heart beat.

 

I figure with our regular picks next year and our compensation picks
we will be able to go after NC QB next year or any top flight QB next year.

 

Franchise RB is not as Important as the OL I agree with you after I thought more about it .. If I had my wish I would want a Franchise FS that could play Single High and play in man if needed then follow that up with a lock down CB..I also don't think Edmunds is a good Safety IMO he should be moved to LB ...

 

This is why right now might be the time to look for trades.Stock up some picks save some cash and then pick a direction to rebuild in after Ben is gone...

 

Not to argue with you, but we built the offense around Ben and even sacrificed other talented players to keep our franchise QB happy. How did that work out for us? And you can't build an offense around a QB in one season, or two. Building an offense around a QB takes significant money and time. That isn't worth dismantling your defense for, even though we're doing a damned good job of that right now just to keep our aging franchise QB on the field.

 

Can't argue that. I'm just an old-school, 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust-loving curmudgeon. I will always advocate building the best OL and DL first. Build the foundation first. Build a new home on a substandard foundation and see how quickly problems arise. And until you fix your foundation, your problems won't go away. That's just my opinion.

 

The top 14 safety contracts go from $10-14M per year.
The top 14 CB contracts go from $13-20M per year.
Unfortunately, the cap reality would make that rough.
(When Watt gets his 2nd contract, I expect to be flabbergasted.)

But if wishes were fishes, we'd all eat.

 

Yeah let's trade away all the best Defensive players 4 a Qb pick....because we know so many teams that win the SB without a good defense.

 

I don't think you and I are far off the same page. Plus we're debating over whether or not to accept the Chiefs offering up Mahomes in a trade for Watt. Given the overall likelihood of that phone call taking place, I think we're good.

I guess I was looking at it more as a who I would pick to start my team if on the sandlot. That said, I realize the Steelers currently have more issues on the offensive side of the ball, but some of them can be attributed to an aging QB with limited mobility and a questionable deep ball. And for as bad as the offense looked over the last six games, it was nearly a 180 from the first six. While the contributing factors can be debated - league adjustments, playcalling, OL play, Ben's arm - it wasn't a long journey from effective to dysfunctional. So while changes need to be made, I think it far from being years away (esp if we assume a Mahomes steps in).

Molding scheme around a franchise player doesn't necessarily mean overhauling it. True franchise talents are rare; teams have to focus on to hiring coordinators that bring effective game plans and largely know how to pick and develop players to fit it. Tweaks can then be made to help accentuate the strengths of the individual players you have, but IMO care must be taken not to oversell plans to a particular player - you don't want the collective crashing for the loss of a singlular unit.

To wit, one of my gripes with the decisions the team has made has been their continued (and even increased) reliance on the passing game in Ben's later years. By sheer function of time and age the benefits are fewer while drawbacks many as he ages to retirement. Akin to kicking too much salary down the road for an aging vet, it's effects hamper the inevitable transition that must be made.

 

I won't argue with any of that.