Steelers Restructure Antonio Brown’s Contract

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As expected, the Steelers have restructured Antonio Brown’s contract, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. According to Schefter, the restructuring clears $4 Mil in 2014 cap space. While it’s close to that, the maximum cap savings available by restructuring AB is $3,952,500.

While there are no official numbers yet, I can break down what the move likely looks like. Here’s a before and after:

[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Brown, Antonio”, 2014, “$6,000,000”, “$2,470,000”, “$8,470,000”

[/table]

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[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Brown, Antonio”, 2014, “$730,000”, “$3,787,500”, “$4,517,500”

[/table]

 

This move should put the Steelers in the neighborhood of $3.5 Mil under the $133 Mil salary cap. Expect more moves in the future. Lawrence Timmons is a prime restructure candidate, though, I don’t expect he’ll be max restructured like Antonio Brown was. Releasing or renegotiating with Ike Taylor will clear significant cap room. Signing Jason Worilds to a long term deal will clear additional room, as well.  Extending Ben Roethlisberger could easily clear 4-5 Mil in cap space, though that is not an immediate need for the team.

Breaking Down Troy Polamalu’s Contract Extension

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The Steelers extended Troy Polamalu’s contract yesterday, keeping him under contract through 2016. The details of the extension weren’t immediately available, but I can break the down for you now. The 3 year deal has a total value of $20 Mil, and includes a $6.75 Mil guaranteed signing bonus. His 2014 base salary goes down from $8.25 Mil to $1.5 Mil. The new deal clears $4.5 Mil in cap space for the Steelers in 2014.

Here is a before and after of his salary cap numbers:

[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Polamalu, Troy”, 2014, “$8,250,000”, “$2,637,500”, “$10,887,500”

[/table]

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[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Polamalu, Troy”, 2014, “$1,500,000”, “$4,887,500”, “$6,387,500”

“Polamalu, Troy”, 2015, “$6,000,000”, “$2,250,000”, “$8,250,000”

“Polamalu, Troy”, 2016, “$5,750,000”, “$2,250,000”, “$8,000,000”

[/table]

Steelers Make More Cuts As They Work Towards Cap Compliance

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The Steelers have trimmed more salary cap space today by releasing/waiving OT Levi Brown, CB Curtis Brown, and LB Larry Foote. These moves, along with the extensions of Troy and Heath, should have them just above the $133 Mil salary cap. It’s hard to say exactly, because we do not know Will Allen’s exact contract details, nor do we have the exact details of Troy’s extension.

Levi Brown

Levi Brown was acquired through trade during last season from the Arizona Cardinals. His contract was virtually risk free, and he was an easy choice for cutting. He injured his triceps muscle during pre-game warm ups last October, and never played a down in Pittsburgh. Cutting him cleared $6.25 Mil in cap space. He was listed as a “Failed Physical” designation on the official transaction sheet.

Curtis Brown

Curtis Brown was drafted by the Steelers in the 3rd round of the 2011 draft. He’s been injured frequently, and disappointing at times when he was on the field. His waiving cleared $645,000 in cap space, but added $130,300 in dead money. He was listed as waived with the “Failed Physical” designation, as well. He underwent ACL surgery in January, so that would make sense.

Larry Foote

Larry Foote signed a 3 year deal with Pittsburgh in 2013. He had two years remaining, but his relatively low signing bonus made him an easy candidate for a cap savings cut. That, his age, and his September biceps surgery that is. Foote was set to count $1,833,333 towards the 2014 cap, and releasing him cleared $1,166,666 in cap space. Cutting him added $666,667 in dead money. Don’t be too surprised if he’s back at some point down the road. I’m not saying he’ll be back, but don’t be shocked if he is.

Steelers And Troy Polamalu Agree On Extension Through 2016

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The Steelers have announced that they have extended Troy Polamalu’s contract through 2016. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. The team needs to free up cap space this year, and Troy was coming on the final year of his contract. His 2014 salary cap number was a whopping $10,887,500.

I’ll report the specific numbers when I have them over the next few days, but I expect his extension to be similar to Heath’s, in that his 2014 salary, or a big portion of it, was converted to a cash signing bonus. It’s difficult to speculate exactly how much it will free up, but I would think it has to be at least in the neighborhood of 4 to 5 million.

A Breakdown Of Heath Miller’s Contract Extension

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It was reported that the Steelers and Heath Miller agreed on contract rework earlier this week, but the details were not available. As I said previously, it was indeed an extension that lowered his 2014 cap number. He is now under contract with the Steelers through 2016. Here is a before and after of the numbers.

[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Miller, Heath”, 2014, “$6,020,000”, “$3,446,500”, “$9,466,500”

[/table]
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[table]

Player, Year, Base Salary, Signing Bonus, Salary Cap Number

“Miller, Heath”, 2014, “$1,020,000”, “$5,113,166”, “$6,133,166”
“Miller, Heath”, 2015, “$4,000,000”, “$1,666,666”, “$5,666,666”
“Miller, Heath”, 2016, “$4,000,000”, “$1,666,666”, “$5,666,668”

[/table]

As you can see, the extension lowers Heath’s salary cap hit for 2014, clearing $3,333,334 in cap space to be exact.

Kevin Colbert And Scouts On Hand At Texas A&M Pro Day Today

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The Steelers, and probably every other team in the league, have personnel in attendance at McFerrin Athletic Center for Texas A&M’s Pro Day today. Kevin Colbert and GM’s from a couple other teams are on hand to watch players like OT Jake Matthews perform tests and run drills. QB Johnny Manziel and WR Mike Evans will not be participating today, though, Evans will be in attendance to meet with team representatives. Mike Evans will not work out for scouts until March 27th.

Here is a complete list of the prospects in attendance today according to a statement released by the Aggies.

LB Nate Askew

DL Kirby Ennis

WR Mike Evans

TE Nehemiah Hicks

DB Toney Hurd Jr.

DB Tramain Jacobs

LB Steven Jenkins

WR Travis Labhart

RB Ben Malena

QB Johnny Manziel

OL Jake Matthews

WR Derel Walker

 

Steelers Reportedly Re-Sign Safety Will Allen

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According to his agent, the Steelers have agreed to terms with veteran Safety Will Allen. There has not been an official announcement from the team, but one should come later today. The terms have not been disclosed yet of course, but I expect this to be a minimum deal, with perhaps a small guaranteed signing bonus. That would be the case even if the Steelers hadn’t used the transition tag on Jason Worilds.

The Steelers re-signed Allen in October after he was cut by the Cowboys. The timing of his release really worked to the Steelers favor, as Damon Cromartie-Smith had injured his hip flexor and was unable to play. Allen turns 32 this spring.

Jason Worilds Accepts Transition Tag

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Jason Worilds has reportedly accepted his transition tag today. This means that he may no longer consider offers from other teams. There is reading between the lines to be done here. On the surface, it seemed like the best thing for Worilds and his agent to do was explore the market, hoping for a big payday.

Multiple assumptions can be made about his quickness to “sign” the transition tag. It’s possible that he wasn’t as hot a commodity as many people thought, though I don’t really think that’s true. It’s very probable that his camp and Steelers management are close to a long term deal. The Steelers knew that slapping the transition tag on a player makes it difficult for another team to make a play for him.

Of course it’s not impossible for another team, but the original team has the leverage in that situation. If you’re a team that’s hungry for a pass rusher, having to work out a deal with a player’s agent and then having to wait up to 5 days for the original team to match it, is less than ideal. The beginning of free agency is extremely active, and if you have to wait nearly a week for one player who you might not get, you put yourself in a tight spot, because you likely miss out on other available free agents. On top of that, teams hate to negotiate contracts for other teams, which is essentially what they would be doing. With the team being in worse shape than most from a cap standpoint, they made themselves vulnerable to losing Worilds to a deal they couldn’t match. It wouldn’t take too much for a team to offer the linebacker a front loaded contract that the Steelers wouldn’t possibly be able to equal.

Worilds and his representation may have feared the Steelers would rescind the tag. If he didn’t get the interest he hoped for, and the Steelers withdrew the transition tag, things could get tricky. Ultimately, it’s about risk/reward for both sides.

Now that he has in fact “signed” it, the Steelers have lost a lot of leverage in negotiations. Being a cap strapped team, Worilds’ agent knows the Steelers don’t likely want to pay him $9,754,000 guaranteed this year. The sooner they can lower that cap hit by signing him to a long term deal, the better.

Jason La Canfora reported earlier that the Steelers have made progress towards reaching a long term deal with Worilds. I imagine that’s true, and am sure that is their hope.

 

Steelers Staff At Auburn Pro Day To See Robinson, Ford, And Others

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Auburn is one of a few schools having their pro day today, and the Steelers have personnel in attendance to meet with some of the prospects. Some of the players the Steelers are likely interested in having a close look at there are OT Greg Robinson, OLB/DE Dee Ford, RB Tre Mason, CB Chris Davis, and FB Jay Prosch just to name a few. While Robinson is likely to be picked in the top 5, the team is going to gather as much information as they can.

Dee Ford, who was a surprise medical scratch at the combine, was said to have had a big performance today. The 6’2″, 252 lb pass rusher did 29 bench press reps at 225 lbs, and ran a 4.45 40. He definitely helped his draft stock today.

Here is a pic of Steelers offensive assistant coach Shaun Sarrett talking with Greg Robinson.

 

Steelers Use Transition Tag On Jason Worilds

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The Steelers announce that they are using the transition designation on LB Jason Worilds. This comes right at the 4:00 PM deadline. By doing this, the team is saying they want to sign Worilds to a deal, but either they aren’t yet sure what his value is yet, or both sides can’t yet reach an agreement. Using the transition tag is basically telling his agent to see if he can go find a deal.

Lets explore how the transition tag works. Designating a player a transition player lets him explore the free agent market, while the franchise tag does not. The Steelers will have the right of first refusal to match any offer that Worilds should receive in free agency. If that does happen, they will have 5 days to decide if they want to match. They won’t however receive any compensation this year if they do lose him to free agency.

Using the franchise tag on a linebacker counts $11.455 Mil against a team’s cap, while the transition tag is less expensive at $9.754 Mil. The Steelers will be on the hook for that amount starting March 11th. The two sides can always come to long term agreement, and that contract will make the transition tag a moot point. The last time the Steelers used the transition tag on a player was Max Starks in 2008.