The Steelers could have been contenders in 2025

Formerscribe · Dec 1, 2025 at 9:45 PM

NorthernBlitz said: ↑

OP...why do you think Cam got extra money this year?

He asked for more money. The team said no.

But to let try to maintain the relationship and let him save face, they gave him parley type incentives that almost no one his age would achieved.

He won't hit either of these marks (and even if he did, it's not much money):

8.5 sacks and make the playoffs (+$1.6MM)

11.5 sacks and win a playoff game (+$1.6MM)

He currently has 1.5 sacks.

This is like how people complained about his last extension after he took a pay cut (not including cap inflation). Not sure if this happened here, but several people did this on the board I came from.
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They should have told him to get his ass to work or be gone rather than give him anything, even face-saving incentives. The inmates have run the asylum for far too long, and that is why this team is so full of selfish, undisciplined players.

Formerscribe · Dec 1, 2025 at 10:14 PM

Thor said: ↑

There are some interesting what-ifs here, but a lot come with asterisks. Yes, Pickens is a much better WR2 talent. But would they have revamped Smith's offense and Tomlin's conservative preferences to accommodate an offense with he an Metcalf? Probably not. Their bigger mistake - and it's plagued them for years under Tomlin - was not bringing in a more dynamic coordinator. I respect what Smith has done in the past, and he's better than Canada by a mile, but so is a house fern. Give me an OC knows how to integrate the passing game (one with wide receivers in employ) into his scheme and sure, Pickens staying is huge. As it was - and from a talent perspective it wasn't a net positive - trading him off was the option they took.

As for Watt and Heyward - Heyward was given nothing but a few incentives that were classified as NLTE to begin with (not likely to be earned). Watt's extension saved $7M to this year's cap. Naturally, though, it comes at the cost of having him for at least two more years before they can cut ties without significant dead money and cap repercussions. But Mack replacing him? His cap hit was $18M, only five less that Watt, and he's battled injuries this year, seeing only seven games.

I agree with what your saying on Jonnu - unless Miami tossed him in for nothing I'm not sure why Arthur wanted him again if he wasn't planning on using him much (it's been even less this year than in years past under him). The Ramsey trade was like hearing about the Aiyuk trade rumors. I wondered why we were going that aggressive, but thought sure, we could use the help. Elliot's injury was what forced Ramsey to safety - I know what you're saying with respect to the net zero aspect of the trade with him there.

In the end, I blame a lot of this on a disjointed FO. We're playing Frankenstein with retaining, drafting, and acquiring talent. Each can be one thing separately, but together they have no real connection to each other or scheme aside from a positional label.
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Smith has previously run an offense with successful receivers. Look at what he got from A.J. Brown and Corey Davis with Ryan Tannehill throwing to them in 2020. Maybe Tomlin would have screwed it up by being too conservative, but this idea that Smith couldn't run a successful passing game doesn't hold up.

Mack was an example of me trying to avoid hindsight.

Elliott's injury forced the trade for Dugger. Thornhill's disastrous play forced the move of Ramsey to safety.

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The Steelers could have been contenders in 2025

Formerscribe Well-Known Member

Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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