Steelers couldn’t beat two years 8.5 million

for Pierre? Wtf?

 

Pierre potentially did not want to play for a new coaching staff.

He reunites with his former DBs coach in Gerald Alexander in Minnesota. Many believe Alexander was instrumental in developing Pierre during his two stints as a secondary coach with the Steelers (22-23, 25).

Not all FA deals are about straight cash. Most. But not all.

 

They better be drafting CB early.

 

They also just re-signed Samuel. I wanted them to sign both, but I doubt that was going to happen. I would have preferred Pierre, but in hindsight, I can see why they didn't keep both.

Yes, they do need to upgrade the slot and add depth at the position.

 

What was our offer to keep him? Do tell.

 

Just lost Gainwell for nothing, in a terrible RB draft, and no-one behind our starter other than a rookie who showed less than nothing last year.

 

I'm saying there wasn't one.

It is entirely possible that James Pierre told the Steelers he no longer wanted to play for them.

 

Presumably that's what this means.

Especially if we don't hear about another signing.

I don't imagine that we still think that Ramsey can play CB.

Hopefully, there is a plan for CB2.

 

RBs are a dime a dozen.

Remember that Gainwell was just pulled off the scrap heap last year.

 

He was our best player last year, who are you replacing him with?

 

He was good for us last year. Because we needed a WR2.

But we will have 2x real NFL WRs this year. And I think we should still expect a relatively high pick at WR (day 2?).

Which means there will probably be far fewer targets for RBs. Which was Gainwell's biggest contribution.

Running the ball, he was pretty similar to Warren. So running, I'm probably replacing him by expanding Warren's role.

And I'm probably doing at least one of: (1) signing a scrap heap RB (like Gainwell was last year), (2) bringing in UDFAs (like Warren was), (3) giving Johnson a chance to do something on the field, and (4) drafting a mid-to late round RB (where you can get guys who can be RB2s).

Remember that last year some were wondering how we were ever going to replace Najee's production with a scrap heap RB and the UDFA who was eating away at Najee's snaps year after year.

I'd much rather save that money / cap space for something more valuable than a RB2. I'd prefer a genuine CB2. But a good S is also something we probably need.

 

Brian Robinson
Mattison if he isn't paralyzed
Emanuel Wilson out of GB
Carter from Arizona

That's off the top of my head scanning the FA list. There are certainly many many many others.

 

No he wasn't. He was paid to be a WR1.

Harris was **** dude, I couldn't get him out of town fast enough, Warren was alwasy the better back.

So come on who are you replacing Gainwell with if it's so easy?

 

LMAO.

 

asante samuel and cole holcomb re-signed.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...S&cvid=69af0e21c86f40d1a1afda4e0aedb494&ei=26

 

I guess they had other plans.

 

Or Dean was plan b

 

Dean was plan A. A lot better of a player.

 

Nah, I think they wanted a guy who had more experience as a starter.

 

Perhaps. You have to remember teams let free agents walk for a reason. Sometimes it’s money. However, there are also times when a player is simply done or a poor teammate etc.

 

If he was plan B, then they ended up paying more for plan B than they would have for plan A. Nah, I think they wanted Dean over Pierre.

 

Pro Football Focus gave Dean an 80.6 grade last season, which was the third-best out of any corner.

 

1) I agree with you re: Harris. But I'm making the point that there were several "chicken littles" about replacing him. Yet, the running game got better (but the D sucked at getting off the field so they were only more efficient and got more total yards...but didn't get more rushing yards).

Re: replacing Gainwell. His receiving production will go to Pittman, who will likely do more with the targets because he's a WR and not a RB.

We will almost certainly get more production throwing the ball next year. Because we'll have a more modern offense that throws more to WRs and less to TEs and RBs. And hopefully we won't have to carry dead-weight pet-projects like Jonnu Smith.

As stated upthread, we'll replace what Gainwell gave on the ground with some combination of Warren getting more work, Johnson getting a chance, and adding mid-to-late draft pick and UDFAs. Maybe throw in a scrap heap RB too (since that's what Gainwell was).

RBs are the easiest position on the team to replace. No need to feel like the sky is falling here.

2) I'm a little confused about your "he was paid to be a WR1" comment. I'm assuming here you mean Pittman?

If so, I think you might want to re-calibrate your WR values. Cap inflation has been pretty crazy the last few years.
https://overthecap.com/position/wide-receiver

The top WR salary by AAV is currently $40.25MM.

WR1s who ink new deals are going to be in the top 10 on the day they sign.

for example, Metcalf was brought in as a WR1 with an AAV of ~ $33MM.

Sub-$20MM will put Pittman at the 25th highest AAV in the league on this table. Note that he's at least one spot lower than that because it doesn't include deals announced today and at least Pierce has a higher AAV.

I guess we could technically say that's in the top 32. But there are always guys on rookie contract. And he'll drop further down this chart (maybe a lot further down) before the beginning of the season. There will probably be more as others work out extensions. I won't be surprised if he's right around (and maybe outside) the 32nd highest paid WR in the league by the time the season starts.

Pittman's production has been something like that of a top 1/3 of WR2's. And that's what he's being paid as.

And it's a bonus that we basically got him "for free" draft capital wise (late round pick swap). So it's like a UFA signing that gets discounted because the team has more control than they would for a UFA. Which is why his AAV is lower than the salary he was scheduled to make in 2026.

 

This.

I like this move better than re-signing Pierre.

Similar ages (29+). But Dean has earned way more playing time than Pierre, who's mostly been a back end of the roster guy that clicked last season.

Given Dean's age, I'd still like a high pick at CB (day 1 or day 2).

CB depth chart currently: JPJ (will get paid), Dean, Samuel Jr. (resigned on the cheap). Anyone remember if Samuel can play in the slot, or is he just an outside guy? Maybe Ramsey takes slot CB snaps if we can get a FS we like (seems like the draft has a good amount of interesting S prospects...but I don't really follow NCAA football).

 

5 CBs right now: Porter, Dean, Ramsey, Samuel, Echols

Lots of time, money and picks left.