The Steelers have signed DE Cam Heyward to a new 6 year deal today.
https://twitter.com/CamHeyward/status/621848187591127042
Heyward was due $6.969 Mil this year after the team picked up his 5th year option in May. The 2011 first round pick had 7.5 sacks, 33 tackles, and batted 4 passes last season.
According to Ed Bouchette (and confirmed by Schefter), the 6 year deal has a total value of $59.25 Mil. I’ll break down the contract details when I have a better idea of the guarantees.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will wear the 1934 Bumble Bee throwbacks again this season when they host the Cincinnati Bengals November 1st. This marks the 5th time in four seasons that the team has donned the much maligned striped uniforms.
While they may not be easy on the eyes, the team has done well wearing them lately. Here’s a rundown of how they’ve performed while sporting the throwbacks.
Week 8 2012, Vs Redskins- W 27-12
Week 11 2012, Vs Ravens- L 10-13
Week 11 2013, Vs Lions- W 31-27
Week 8 2014, Vs Colts- W 51-34
The Steelers signed two of their draft picks to contracts today. Fourth-round pick Doran Grant and sixth-round pick Anthony Chickillo both signed their 4 year rookie deals this morning. The financial details weren’t immediately released, but the NFL’s rookie wage system makes it pretty easy to accurately predict their values.
Grant’s 4 year deal should have a total value of just over $2.763 Mil, including a signing bonus of $489,012. His 2015 cap number will be right around $557,253, but will only move the cap needle $122,253 after displacement.
Chickillo’s 4 year deal should have a total value of approximately $2,370,487. His signing bonus will be $90,487, and his 2015 cap number will be $457,621.
The Steelers now have 3 draft picks under contract. L.T. Walton, another sixth-round pick, signed last week.
With the 87th pick in the 2015 draft, the Steelers select- Sammie Coates. Coates is 6′,1″, 212 lbs. He’s a physical specimen who averaged 21.4 yards per catch in college, and finished his career with 1,757 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was hampered by injury for much of his 2014 junior season.
Coates is raw and has to work on his concentration and drops, but with time, he could be a true vertical threat. “He can take the top off the coverage,” Steelers wide receivers coach Richard Mann said. “He’s a guy that can track down the ball down the field real well. He has some problems with straight-ahead catching the football, but that’s why we drill. And when we get a chance to coach him up, we feel like we can make that better.
“The thing you can’t coach up is his athleticism.”
Hoards of Steelers fans have been clamoring for the Steelers to take a corner early in the draft. Well, they finally got their wish. In a bit of a surprise move (to me), the Steelers selected Mississippi cornerback Senquez Golson in the second round. I knew the team liked Golson, but didn’t see them taking him so early. Golson was surprised, too.
“I had no idea they would pull the trigger on me this early,’’ Golson said Friday night. Golson has a nose for the ball. He had 10 interceptions last season. He’s also short. Very short. At 5′,8″ and a half, he’s going to face his share of challenges covering larger NFL receivers.
Golson has everything you want in a cornerback except size. He attributed much of his 10 inteceptions last year to film study. “It had a lot to do with a lot of film watching and a lot of understanding of what’s going on out in the field.” Carnell Lake called Golson “a ball-hawking CB who has very good quickness, ball skills and anticipation.”
According to PFF, he allowed a QB Rating of 44.9 on throws into his coverage, which was the 5th best in this class.
In what was later described as an easy decision by Steelers GM Kevin Colbert, the team selected pass rusher Bud Dupree with the 22nd pick tonight. Expect to see him contributing early on the left side this season. Dupree was voted the Steelers first round pick in our fantasy mock, so kudos to those who voted.
https://twitter.com/Bud_Dupree2/status/593969836591579136
“We didn’t expect Bud Dupree to be there. It was a very easy decision. We believe we got an impact player in Bud Dupree. This is a gift for us to get him at No. 22.”
Most mock drafts seemed to agree with Colbert. Dupree was projected by many to go earlier. A high character, high football IQ prospect, he shouldn’t have a problem putting in the work to hone his technique at the NFL level. Joey Porter described him as a football junkie earlier this evening.
Dupree, 6’4″, 269 lbs, is raw, but has a very high ceiling, and has the tools in place to be a dominant NFL player. For what it’s worth, the Steelers first round pick was the only one given an A+ by CBS sports. For what it’s worth.
Antonio Brown made his first real comments on Twitter today since reports came out suggesting that he was considering holding out for a new contract. Brown took to Twitter today to tell his fans that he’s spending time with his newborn baby. Brown says he’s a dad first, and that he can’t wait to reunite with his teammates.
https://twitter.com/AntonioBrown84/status/590913398549905408
https://twitter.com/AntonioBrown84/status/590914953403572227
If you were to look at his Twitter mentions over the past couple of days, you’d probably be surprised at how many people took the rumors of his contract woes personally. Brown doesn’t owe anyone an explanation, but this should help tamper some of the anger many Steelers fans seem to be feeling. Spending time with your newborn baby is a pretty good reason to miss voluntary workouts.
Many players don’t attend voluntary workouts anyway, so there really isn’t anything to even talk about at this point. The team can’t act until a player misses mandatory mini-camp, and I’d imagine Brown will be in attendance. With 3 years left on his contract, he surely must know that the odds of the team doing anything with his contract this year aren’t in his favor.
The Steelers are hosting 4 prospects for pre-draft visits today, bringing the total to visitor count to 29. Each team is allowed a maximum of 30 non-local visitors, though many don’t often reach that limit. Here is the list of the team’s final visitors:
Landon Collins, S, Alabama
Dexter McDonald, CB, Kansas
Davis Tull, LB, TN-Chat
Preston Smith, DE, Miss
McDonald makes the 9th CB of the 29 draft visitors. The team certainly seems serious about replenishing the CB cupboard, if there was any doubt.
Landon Collins is the best safety in this pretty weak class, and if he’s the best pick available at #22, I’d have no problem with him being the Steelers choice. Preston Smith is an underrated DE who can play edge, up front, or nose even in certain situations.
Today is the last day teams can host prospects for workouts. You can see the final list of visitors in the forum thread here: Steelers Draft Visitor List
The NFL has released the 2015 Pittsburgh Steelers schedule. As you can see, it’s pretty brutal.
The Steelers face the Patriots in Foxborough to kick off the season, and that will be without RB Le’Veon Bell. Not that he’s the playmaker Bell is, but the Patriots will also be without RB LeGarrette Blount. Bell will miss the 49ers and the Rams games, but fortunately won’t be sidelined for any divisional matchups.
The Steelers once again have the maximum 5 primetime games allowed by the league, two of which are Thursday night games (Patriots and vs. Ravens). The Steelers are 2-6 on the road on Thursday nights.
The bye comes later in the season this year- week 11, which is good, because the toughest stretch of the schedule comes following the bye week starting with the Steelers traveling to Seattle. The team requested to have their west coast games be consecutive this year, but it appears the NFL wasn’t sympathetic.
The Steelers only have 1 of their 6 divisional games before November 1st.
Antonio Brown posted a very short, but seemingly purposeful message on his Twitter account tonight.
https://twitter.com/AntonioBrown84/status/590654674245672960
A couple weeks ago this tweet would have been practically meaningless. Since it’s the first we’ve heard from AB since rumors started circulating that he was considering holding out to get more money, it’s hard to ignore the obvious.
Brown has 3 years remaining on his contract. He has certainly performed like a top wide receiver, but he isn’t really getting paid like it. Right now his absence from voluntary workouts means nothing. He, like many other NFL players, is off training on his own.
While recent reports have indicated that he’s considering holding out through mini-camp and into training camp, I have little doubt that he’ll be at training camp this summer. The team, if they so choose, can fine Brown $70,000 if he does decide not to attend mini-camp.