Here is the list of players who are reportedly attending the Steelers rookie minicamp this weekend. The list of players includes the team’s 2014 draft picks, 2014 UDFAs, first year players, and tryout invitees.
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*Indicates player is attending for a tryout.
Minicamp begins Friday, and continues through Sunday.
Now that the draft is behind us, it’s time to take a look at the rookie salaries and there implications on the 2014 salary cap. Many teams are wasting no time getting their rookies under contract, but don’t expect the Steelers to follow suit. There is no rush to do so, and the team will have plenty of cap space to work with once LaMarr Woodley’s $8,000,000 salary comes off the books on June 1st.
The team has a little over $300K in salary cap space at the time of this writing. While they probably won’t sign any of their rookies in the immediate future, they could easily sign most of them without having much impact on the 2014 cap. Here’s a breakdown estimating their contracts, and the impact on the 2014 Steelers salary cap. Remember, these are estimates, but there isn’t too much room for change.
[table]
Player, Total Value, Signing Bonus, 2014 Cap Hit
Ryan Shazier, “$9,507,198”, “$5,234,328”, “$1,728,582”
Stephon Tuitt, “$4,607,953”, “$1,733,000”, “$853,250”
Dri Archer, “$2,906,784”, “$506,376”, “$571,594”
Martavis Bryant, “$2,723,198”, “$439,220”, “$529,805”
Shaquille Richardson, “$2,410,052”, “$190,052”, “$467,513”
Wesley Johnson, “$2,364,560”, “$144,560”, “$456,140”
Jordan Zumwalt, “$2,324,852”, “$104,852”, “$446,213”
Daniel McCullers, “$2,298,680”, “$78,680”, “$439,670”
Rob Blanchflower, “$2,279,400”, “$59,400”, “$434,850”
[/table]
As it stands right now, the team could sign all of their picks except for Shazier and Tuitt, without having too much impact on the 2014 cap space they have currently remaining. During the offseason, only the team’s top 51 cap charges count towards the salary cap. This is also known as the rule of 51. Right now, the team’s 51st highest cap hit is Derek Moye at $495,000. As you can see from the numbers above, 5 of the rookie signings wouldn’t count towards the top 51.
Expect the NFL to soon announce that the Steelers 2014 rookie pool allocation is just under $5.9 Mil, but due to displacement of the top 51, they won’t need nearly that much cap room to cover the signings. After all is said and done, the rookie pool will only have an impact of $2.2 Mil in 2014 cap space.
The Steelers will hold rookie orientation this weekend (May 16th-18th), and after signing 9 undrafted free agents, they have filled all available roster spots. All NFL teams may carry a total of 90 players on their rosters during the off-season, and can maintain that number until mid-August when the limit drops to 75, and then ultimately to the final 53.
Below is the roster as it currently stands, minus the undrafted free agents.
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Here is the list of confirmed undrafted free agents the team has signed, and will be attending rookie minicamp this weekend.
Chris Elkins, C, Youngstown State
Eric Waters, TE, Missouri
Josh Mauro, DE, Stanford
Howard Jones, OLB, Shepard
Kaycee Ike, OT, UAB
Brendan Kay, QB, Cincinnati
Ethan Hemer, DE Wisconsin
Will Simmons, OL, East Carolina
Roy Philon, DT, Louisville
Below are the reported (though unconfirmed) UDFA’s who have been invited to tryout with the team this weekend at the minicamp.
Mike Franklin, DL, Shepard
Devon Carrington, S, Stanford
Jake DeMedal, S, St. Francis
Dillon Baxter, RB, Baker
Jordan Hall, RB, Ohio State
Steve Greene, OL, UConn
Najja Johnson, CB, Buffalo
Adam Gress, OT, Penn State
That list is not all-inclusive of course. There are several other players who will be in attendance trying out for the team, who haven’t been disclosed yet. All in all, there should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 players present including the 9 men the Steelers drafted over the weekend.
One of the defendants in the Mike Adams stabbing trial has filed a civil suit against the Steelers offensive tackle. Dquay Means, 26, was found not guilty of various charges including attempted homicide, robbery and other charges. He was convicted of the lesser charge of escape, as he fled from police. WPXI reporter Alan Jennings obtained a copy of the complaint.
https://twitter.com/newsdog11/status/466235910778941440
According to the court documents, the suit claims that Means suffered emotional distress during his eleven months of incarceration due to the attempted homicide trial. Means is seeking monetary damages, the amount of which hasn’t been disclosed.
The incident, which happened almost a year ago, resulted in emergency surgery for Adams to repair a lacerated colon. Means and the other two defendants, Michael Paranay and Jerrell Whitlock, were all found not guilty of the charges related to the altercation with Adams. Assistant District Attorney Christopher Stone called the case “a simple credibility determination.” Defense attorneys argued that Adams was “obliterated drunk, aggressive and out of control,” and that he “had a million reasons to lie.”
Regardless of the character attacks Mike Adams underwent during the trial, the Steelers organization didn’t seem to be too concerned…at least publicly. Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert was asked about the lineman recently in an interview and gave Adams a vote of confidence. “I’ll say one thing,” Colbert told reporters. “I’m just glad Mike Adams is a Steeler.”
Individual 2014 Steelers tickets will go on sale Saturday, May 17 at 10:00 AM. This is a few weeks earlier than ticket sales opened last year.
Steelers fans will be able to buy up to 4 tickets per household for any of the 8 regular season games. Tickets for the two preseason games at Heinz field will go on sale also, and there is no limit for those.
This season, the Steelers will begin their variable ticket pricing policy. The cost for preseason games will go down starting by at least 20% depending on the seating. Most of those will start at $46 or $50. The regular season games will be divided into two tiers. “Gold” and “Black”. There are two “Black” tier games, and the majority of those tickets will start at $88. Those games are Indianapolis and Baltimore.
The majority of the remaining “Gold” games will be $71 or $74. Those opponents include Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Houston, New Orleans, Kansas City and Cincinnati.
Tickets will be sold on ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000. Tickets are not sold at Ticketmaster sales outlets.
Last year, regular season tickets started at $66 per ticket. Below is the schedule. Good luck and go Steelers.
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With the 97th pick in the 2014 draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Kent State RB Dri Archer. This pick shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise. Todd Haley has a penchant for small, quick play makers, and Dri Archer is as quick and small as they come. Archer ran an official 4.26 at the combine, and one scout unofficially clocked him in at 4.18. His 10 yard split was also faster than any other back at the combine.
Aside from his ridiculous speed and ability to line up in a variety of spots on the LOS, he’s also a return threat. Archer has a career average of 26.7 yards per KR and four career scores. He’ll line up in the back field, on the edge or in the slot. With any back of his type, durability in the NFL is a concern. At 5′ 7″ and a half, 173 lbs, he’ll need to make guys miss.
Archer was incredibly productive at Kent State in 2012, amassing 1,429 yards from scrimmage. His 2013 numbers were much lower though, mainly due to a nagging ankle injury early in the season. Some analysts have compared Archer to Dexter McCluster and Darren Sproles. What do you think of the pick? Love it, hate it, or indifferent? Let us know in the comments or the forum.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have selected former Notre Dame defensive end Stephon Tuitt with the 46th pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. With the lack of depth on the defensive line, this pick was almost a no brainer. The team was said to have wasted no time submitting their pick. Many analysts projected Tuitt to go sooner, and I also thought he would have gone earlier.
Tuitt discovered that he had a Jones fracture in his left foot in February that required surgery. He should be fully recovered from that surgery now. Tuitt’s production in college was impressive for a 3-4 defensive end. He had 11 sacks in 2012, and 7.5 in 2013, including nine tackles for loss. Tuitt is 6-foot-5½, and weighed 299 at his pro day. One of his criticisms was how his performance dipped after gaining weight, but he said he was able to drop the weight after he left school. “I was able to transform my body when I had one-on-one time with professionals,” Tuitt told reporters at Notre Dame’s pro day.
With the 15th pick of the first round, the Steelers select former Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier. Shazier will likely play the Mack inside linebacker role, and Timmons will man the buck position. It seems that most of Steelers Nation didn’t see this coming. To that I’ll be that guy I hate and say, ‘you should read here more often‘.
Shazier is the linebacker Dick LeBeau has been waiting for. He’s dynamically fast (4.38 40 yd dash), and has a nose for the ball. He’s a high character young man, who’s father has been the Miami Dolphins team chaplin for the past five years. Mike Tomlin was asked about his speed tonight after the selection. “Fast. Real fast,” was his response. “Sub 4.5 is rare.”
Many people are up in arms about the Steelers not taking cornerback in the first round, but rest assured, they’ll take at least one from the deep crop in the next couple rounds. Many people don’t realize how much of an issue linebacker play was last season. The front seven made the secondary look bad. Shazier should be a difference maker on this team for years to come.
Shazier was named First-team All-American, First-team All-Big Ten, and finished with 144 tackles, seven sacks, 23.5 tackles for a loss, six QB hurries, and four forced fumbles in 2013. Tomlin said he played a lot of football in Ohio, and “They asked him to do a lot of things we envision him doing here in the base as well as in sub-package football.”
From the gist of Tomlin’s interview tonight, Timmons will take on play calling duties at the Buck position, and Shazier will be in the mix with Moats at the Mack position.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing on the web. I’ll leave you with the Shazier Suplex.
Legendary Steelers scout Bill Nunn Jr., who was a key orchestrator behind the 1970’s dynasty, passed away today due to complications from a stroke he suffered two weeks ago. Nunn Jr. worked for the Steelers for 46 years, and was Senior Assistant of Player Personnel up until his death.
Bill Nunn Jr. worked as a sports reporter, and later editor, for The Pittsburgh Courrier during the 1940’s though 1960’s. After telling Dan Rooney that he didn’t think the Steelers would ever be successful, the team hired him as a part time scout in 1967. According to Nunn (via Steelers.com) the conversation went as follows. “I said, ‘I don’t think you’ll ever be a winner.’ He [Rooney] said, ‘If you think you can help us be a winner, why don’t you come and join us.’ I said I have a job. He said, ‘Well you look at these (black college football) games – because I was covering a game every week at that time – why don’t you start doing some part-time work and tell us what you think about certain players. I said, OK.”
Nunn Jr. was possibly best known for finding talent from small black colleges, many of whom would go on to be household names. L.C. Greenwood, Mel Blount, Ernie Holmes, John Stallworth, and Donnie Shell are some of the great names on that list.
Steelers chairman Dan Rooney gave this statement via the team’s website about the super-scout’s passing.
“We have lost a great friend and a great person who did so much for the Steelers organization with the passing of Bill Nunn. Bill was a special person who did everything in his career, from playing sports to being an excellent journalist all of which led to his outstanding career in scouting for the Steelers.
“Bill had extraordinary instinct in identifying talent throughout his career, including the legendary 1974 NFL Draft for us. He put us ahead of so many other teams in the NFL by leading the efforts of drafting African-American football players at traditional black colleges. Very few people had a bigger impact in the history of our franchise, and his positive attitude and contributions will truly be missed.
“Bill meant so much to this organization and we will all miss him terribly. My thoughts and prayers are with Frances, Bill III and Lynell, along with the entire Nunn Family.”
Phase two of the Steelers off-season workout program has gotten underway this week. There are plenty of familiar faces at the “voluntary” workouts, and a few that aren’t so familiar.
https://twitter.com/PaduaFootball/status/463667222527750144
According to the collective bargaining agreement, phase two of the off-season program may last 3 weeks. The Steelers will carry out the second phase of their workouts until Memorial Day weekend. The team will hold their rookie orientation next weekend, May 16-18th.
During this phase of the program, all members of the coaching staff are allowed to be on the field with the players. During the first phase, only strength and conditioning coaches were allowed on the field. While no “offense vs defense” type scrimmages or even 1 on 1 drills are allowed, coaches can run positional and individual drills with the players, as well as “perfect play” drills.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said it felt good to get back on the field. “Today we threw, we did some organized stuff where we could actually have coaches on the field,” he told the crew on 97.3 the fan this morning. “We’re only allowed 45 minutes, but we did do some no huddle plays just to get the verbiage back, and get the new guys learning some stuff. It felt really good to get out there and take some snaps from Pouncey.”
Coach Tomlin told reporters yesterday that Sean Spence had a clean bill of health, and Nick Williams had positive reviews in his rehabilitation, but couldn’t comment on their progress until they “hit the grass”. They are hitting the grass now. Granted, they won’t be participating in contact with pads for several weeks, but the coaching staff will be able to begin the process of evaluating their recoveries this week.