It was reported on Friday that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell earned $29.49 million in 2011 and that news wowed Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison. Harrison posted a screenshot of the ESPN report written by Darren Rovell on his Facebook page with the word, "Wow" attached to it. Harrison has long had issues with Goodell and the way that he runs the league as it relates player safety and fining players, so it should come as no surprise that he would somewhat mock the Friday earnings report. Goodell had said during the 2011 lockout that he was voluntarily earning a $1 salary until Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert mentioned that contract extensions for a few players might be in the works as part of the process to getting the team salary cap compliant by March 12, the start of the new league year. We will now have a look at a few players that the organization may or may not be considering to extend. Ben Roethlisberger - Roethlisberger is the name you will hear the most when talking about extensions. It should be noted, however, that he is under contract through the 2015 season and he and his agent are more than likely wanting to wait and watch what Baltimore Read more [...]

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has a very interesting scenario that relates to the Pittsburgh Steelers possibly wanting to wait until after March 4 to restructure the contract of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to ensure that the Baltimore Ravens have a higher exclusive franchise tag number to carry on quarterback Joe Flacco until they get a new long-term deal worked out with him. Florio explains that if the Steelers were to lower the cap number on Roethlisberger via a restructure prior to March 4 that it would ultimately lower the franchise tag amount that the Ravens have to carry on Flacco Read more [...]

By Christopher DiMarino This article continues along with my pre combine look at key positions for the Steelers. For an explanation on how the rankings are calculated please reference the link below: http://www.steelersdepot.com/2013/02/steelers-2013-draft-analysis-inside-linebacker-early-look-at-the-rankings/ The Pittsburgh Steelers have two very interesting safeties right now. Ryan Clark has put together two pretty good back-to-back seasons for starters. Troy Polamalu used to be one of the league's best but he has battled injuries and aging. He ended up making his way back to being a decent Read more [...]

On Wednesday ESPN NFL Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. held a his annual pre-combine conference call and took several questions about players concerning the upcoming 2013 NFL draft. The audio is below, but I must warn you that it is nearly two hours along.

The Pittsburgh Steelers offseason continues on and we will continue today with our breakdown of the free agents as we inch closer towards the start of free agency. Next up on the list of unrestricted free agents is center/guard Doug Legursky. Player: Doug Legursky Position: Center/Guard Experience: 4 Years Free Agent Status: Unrestricted 2012 Salary Cap Hit: $1,260,000 2012 Season Breakdown: Legursky was a restricted free agent last offseason and easily retained with a right of first refusal tender of $1.26 million. The season got off to a rocky start for the Marshall product in the season Read more [...]

According to Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and his agent have yet to be asked to restructure his contract or take a pay cut with less than four weeks to go until the new league starts. “There is nothing going on," said Harrison's agent, Bill Parise, via the report by Robinson. "(If there's anything) it will be down the road." Parise had said earlier in the week that he didn't think Harrison should be asked to cut his $6.57 million salary. So what is Harrison doing in the meantime? He's playing dodgeball. Harrison toyed with Read more [...]

It has long been rumored that the Philadelphia Eagles would sign former Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Dennis Dixon as soon as Chip Kelly was announced as their new head coach, and on Thursday it finally happened as Dixon agreed to a two-year contract. Dixon spent most of the 2012 season on the Ravens practice squad after spending four seasons with the Steelers were he started two games in 2010 and one in 2009. During his career, Dixon has completed 35-of-49 passes for 402 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, while rushing for 56 yards and a touchdown on 10 Read more [...]

NFL Network draft expert Mike Mayock was on the "The Rich Eisen Podcast" recently to discuss the upcoming draft prior to him leaving for the NFL combine and during his interview he raved about Alabama left guard Chance Warmack. "The best player I've seen on tape is the guard from Alabama," Chance Warmack, said Mayock. "Now, he's not going No. 1, but he's the best football player." Not that it matters, but ESPN draft expert Todd McShay said that he considers Warmack to be the best guard prospect that he’s seen since Steve Hutchinson, who the Seattle Seahawks drafted 17th overall in the 2001 Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers offseason continues on and we will continue today with our breakdown of the free agents as we inch closer towards the start of free agency. Next up on the list of unrestricted free agents is guard Ramon Foster. Player: Ramon Foster Position: Guard Experience: 4 Years Free Agent Status: Unrestricted 2012 Salary Cap Hit: $1,260,000 2012 Season Breakdown: Foster was a restricted free agent last offseason and tendered at the right of first refusal level without issues. He signed his one-year tender knowing that he could potentially have to battle for a starting Read more [...]

Season 3, Episode 76 of The Terrible Podcast is up and co-host David Todd and I talk about Richard Mann being named the Pittsburgh Steelers new wide receivers coach on Wednesday. We have a difference of opinions on the selection of Mann and it produces some pretty good banter as a result. We also talk about the situation right now with linebacker James Harrison as it relates to him ultimately taking a pay cut or not. We discuss his age as it relates to position and take a look at players that have played at 35 years of age dating back to 2000 as part of our discussion. We close the first part Read more [...]

It was announced on Wednesday that long-time NFL assistant Richard Mann will be the new Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach. This means that that two-thirds of the "Young Money Crew" will get an "Old Mann" as their second position coach since coming into the league as Mann is 65 years of age. A lot of Steelers fans seem to be upset with Mann being the choice and they point to his age and him being out of coaching since the 2009 season ended as the main reasons why they don't like the hiring. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin worked with Mann during his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Read more [...]

According to Bob Labriola on Twitter, the Pittsburgh Steelers have hired Richard Mann to be their next wide receivers coach. Mann, an Aliquippa native, last coached in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where Tomlin was the defensive backs coach from 2001–2005. The 65 year old Mann hasn’t coached since the 2009 season after his contract wasn’t renewed by coach then-Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris. Mann is regarded as a coach that is a stickler for details and a good teacher of technique. Prior to coaching with the Buccaneers he coached on the staffs of the Washington Redskins, Read more [...]

The 2012 season that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown had wasn't a smashing follow-up to the breakout year that he had in 2011, but the fourth year Central Michigan product certainly is saying and doing all of the right things to ensure that he, and the team, move forward. Brown was recently interviewed by Teresa Varley of steelers.com when he stopped in at the Steelers facility to workout and you have to admire the things that he told her as reflected back on the 8-8 season and looked forward to 2013. "You have to do something to better yourself every day," Brown told Varley. Read more [...]

By Christopher DiMarino The NFL combine is coming up so I figured I might as well throw my thoughts out there now. The combine will have a drastic effect on not only the prediction of where players will fall, but also the justification for their selection. Before I get into the actual picks, I will review each of the big 5 positions and address who I like in what rounds to justify my choices. Keep in mind that the Pittsburgh Steelers need help in at least 5 major positions but prefer the best player available. An obvious disclaimer would be that these picks are speculatory and by no means a guarantee Read more [...]

When you look at the defensive players in the NFL that turned 34 years or older last year you see a list of 26 of them. 3 of those 26 were Pittsburgh Steelers and they of course were Casey Hampton, James Harrison and Brett Keisel. Hampton is of course an unrestricted free agent this offseason and the only chance that he has to return to Pittsburgh would be if he agreed to a one-year qualifying contract for the minimum that comes with a reduced salary cap hit. Is it likely to happen? Probably not, but you never know. The situation with Harrison is one that I have discussed often dating back to Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers offseason continues on and we will continue today with our breakdown of the free agents as we inch closer towards the start of free agency. Next up on the list of unrestricted free agents is running back Rashard Mendenhall. Player: Rashard Mendenhall Position: Running Back Experience: 5 Years Free Agent Status: Unrestricted 2012 Salary Cap Hit: $3,436,000 2012 Season Breakdown: Mendenhall tore his ACL in the 2011 regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns and started training camp off on the PUP list as he continued with his fast moving recovery. Read more [...]

The big talk on Tuesday is of course revolves around the report from John Harris of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that stated Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and his agent Bill Parise were not interested in taking a pay cut in 2013. Parise, however, did say that they are willing to do a restructure to help the Steelers clear some salary cap space, but as I pointed out in my most recent post, that simply does not look like a feasible alternative. Harrison will turn 35 years of age in May and that is historically not an age that has been conducive to success for linebackers dating Read more [...]

Pete Roussel of coachingsearch.com reports on Twitter Tuesday that veteran NFL assistant coach Richard Mann could wind up being the new wide receivers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. https://twitter.com/coachingsearch/status/301370724390682625 Mann, a native of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, last coached wide receivers with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but was let go following the 2009 season. Prior to joining the Buccaneers staff in 2002, he coached the wide receivers with the Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns and the old Baltimore Colts. Steelers Read more [...]

Christopher DiMarino This article continues along with my pre combine look at key positions for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I have made some changes compared to the first articles. I eliminated NFLDraftScout because it was identical to CBS, and I replaced it with DraftInsider. I want to reiterate how it works, NFL and ESPN combine to give us the player ranking (out of 100) and CBS and DraftTek combine to give us the draft position. The approximate draft round is an average that I do by eye comparing all of the values for all of the sites. Finally, I want to remind everyone that no site is perfect Read more [...]