All the posts above about the Steelers are likely correct. They have been a mess from the perspective of the Steeler's standards over the last couple of seasons. They're likely to have a real down season of 6-8 wins this year as a result. They're still head and tails above the mess that is the norm for most teams in the NFL. That's because the ownership is still the most important factor in Pittsburgh and will be until Art Rooney Jr is gone.
they have not retooled their organization. They built around Ben Roethlisberger in 2004 and it helped for 15 years. But Ben is done. Fat, injured, old, cooked. the offensive line last year mysteriously seemed to not block so well for a certain QB and block better for the other one. hmmmmm......
The fallout from Roethlisberger's departure is likely to be severe. What that means in terms of wins is unclear however a return to playoff excellence in the near term is unlikely. I think maybe a three year adjustment period while they sort out QB is not unlikely. It's possible Big Ben has another season in him and the Steelers postpone the inevitable rebuild however I'd make the odds less than 50/50 for 2020. The Steeler's adjustment periods/rebuilds are in the 7-9 win range, unlike almost every other team in the NFL where those periods are in the 4-5 win range.
The difference between the Steelers and the Jets is that even if the Steelers go into a downturn, they have decades of a track record showing they know how to rebuild and become a winning team again within a couple of years. The Jets have the virtual opposite track record.
Remember just 2 months ago when you said Robbie was a one trick pony with stone hands and should be cut? Remember how you laughed when I said Robby would be the best WR on the FA market and command at least $12-$14 if not more and we would be damn lucky if we found a way to keep him in house?
Where's the rumor about the morons using the franchise tag if they can't work out a new deal with him before the start of free agency? That's the one I keep hoping I see when I check in on football news. Douglas called Robby a "great player" he's really going to allow this "great player" his words not mine to fly away free as a bird? $49 million under the cap, no other big free agents to worry about and still they're about the eff things up again. Just unf'nbelievable. FRANCHISE TAG HIM, MORONS!!!!!!!!!!! FRANCHISE TAG THAT'S WHAT IT'S FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you think it’s weird that literally no one but you is even mentioning the franchise tag for Robby?
not the craziest thought. If we sign him long term in a few weeks, we are going to be guaranteeing a lot more than 18MM. While paying him 18MM this year if we tag, is a LOT of money for him but it allows you another year to see what he really is with hopefully a healthy Sam all year. It also prevents yet another hole that we have to fill. Even if he isnt a stud number 1, we would STILL have to replace him. Finally it gives you extra time to negotiate a long term deal. The franchise tag is indeed in place for situations just like this. So if you pay him 18 million this year instead of lets say 14.5 if we signed him, is the extra 3.5 million worth it to buy more time to evaluate and negotiate and prevent another hole and lack of weapon for Sam, while still only being committed 18 instead of maybe 28 guaranteed if we singed him long term? Maybe , maybe not but its certainly not the craziest idea
If we sign him for a deal that’s “14.5 mil a year” that’s not what the cap charge is going to be. Odds are it will be way less. If you tag someone, that money all counts against the cap because it’s all being paid in one fully guaranteed year. The difference is more than $3.5 mil in reality. I would tag Robby only to trade him or if I thought we could get a logical long term deal worked out before the season.
I could see the transition tag more than the franchise. Slightly cheaper if we cannot reach a deal and gives us the option to match any offer. I wouldn't like to see either one but transition is a better option. Then if some team wants to pay him 14+ per year let him walk. It's an option. Honestly depends on the vision Douglas has. I would rather not see us cut people to get cap space then spend a 3rd of cap space on a wr2. But we will see what happens.
I think along these lines as well. For a player that you're unsure of how they'll handle bigger longer term money and has only had more than 800 yards receiving, it's not as terrible of an idea as it's being presented. It basically buys us another year of not letting a guy like Jeff Smith see the field, while we can draft and develop replacements. I'm starting to get the feeling that Joe is going to gamble on letting Anderson walk and fill the holes anyway through other means.
You’d basically have to forfeit another pretty decent signing if you’re going to tag Robby with the intent of having him sign it and play under it while you try to work out a deal. We aren’t in position to do that. At least I sure hope we aren’t considering how much money we need to spend on the OL and the edge.
I don't really get the logic? How much of a cap hit do you think a 4 years/$60 million deal with $30 million guaranteed would ultimately have this year? Tyrell Williams for example has a cap hit of $11 million. Maybe it's slightly less or slightly more than the average per year but it's not going to vary that much in the first couple years of a deal, unless the guaranteed money is backloaded. That's a terrible idea with a player that has made questionable decisions off the field and one whose game is predicated on speed. You want to avoid having to pay middle of the road players more money as they age towards their thirties.
If Robby’s first year cap hit is $11 mil under a new long term deal, that’s a hell of a lot different than an $18 mil cap hit with the franchise tag. That’s the different of a starting OL right there.
Tyrell Williams has a cap hit of $11 million on a 4 year/$40 million deal. Robby Anderson wants $14-$15 million per. Why would his call hit in the first two years of a 4 year/$60 million deal not be $14-$15 million?
yea I htought the same hting after I signed off last night....its gonna be at least 13-14 MM cap hit year 1
Definitely. Unless you backload it. Which is a terrible idea that lead us into the cap hell we were in from 2011-2014 with paying players like Bart Scott, Bryan Thomas, Brandon Moore, etc. long after they were reasonably effective. Anderson's off the field history would make me worried about backloading a contract too.
I see we are still playing the Robby bingo game. Off field history Keep going see if you can get them all today
