It is that time of year again. All of the tenders and tags have been assigned and at midnight Thursday, free agency begins for the NFL. It is time for a look at the 2010 roster of players under contract or tender offer and a look at the projected 2010 Steelers salary cap numbers. At this time, there will be no salary cap for the 2010 season, but the Steelers have said regardless that they intend to treat the season as if there were one in place. The only questionable player below is Patrick Bailey, as he was an exclusive rights free agent and no word has come out about his status. I do however think he will be signed to the minimum and retained, but regardless, we should know for sure in a few days. With Bailey figured in, the Steelers total cap charge total is $116,067,000.00, but this number is deceiving in the offseason as the teams general use the rule of 51, which is the total of the top 51 contracts on the roster. To the best of my calculations, that number is $112,077,000.00. Right now I have the Steelers with 63 players either under contract or tendered/tagged. I also included in the table below, the age, experience and final year of the players current contract. This page will serve as the official starting point going forward for the Steelers 2010 roster and salary cap info.
Updated: 3/9/10 to reflect the Arnaz Battle, Will Allen and Jonathan Scott contracts. Rule of 51 total at $114,072,000.00. Ryan Clark and Antwaan Randle El contract number still coming in.
| Player | Pos | Exp | Age | Last Year | Base Salary | Cap Charge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks | ||||||
| Dixon, Dennis | QB | 2 | 25 | 2010 | $470,000.00 | $513,000.00 |
| Roethlisberger, Ben | QB | 6 | 27 | 2015 | $8,050,000.00 | $12,250,000.00 |
| Running Backs | ||||||
| Mendenhall, Rashard | RB | 2 | 22 | 2012 | $528,000.00 | $1,785,000.00 |
| Moore, Mewelde | RB | 6 | 27 | 2010 | $1,475,000.00 | $1,925,000.00 |
| Redman, Isaac | RB | 0 | 25 | 2011 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Summers, Frank | FB | 1 | 24 | 2011 | $395,000.00 | $433,000.00 |
| Vincent, Justin | RB | 0 | 26 | 2011 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Wide Receivers | ||||||
| Battle, Arnaz | WR | 8 | 30 | 2012 | $925,000.00 | $1,250,000.00 |
| Chery, Jason | WR | 0 | 24 | 2011 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Grisham, Tyler | WR | 0 | 22 | 2010 | $395,000.00 | $395,000.00 |
| Holmes, Santonio | WR | 4 | 25 | 2010 | $755,000.00 | $2,395,000.00 |
| London, Brandon | WR | 1 | 25 | 2011 | $395,000.00 | $395,000.00 |
| Sweed, Limas | WR | 2 | 25 | 2011 | $470,000.00 | $853,000.00 |
| Wallace, Mike | WR | 1 | 23 | 2011 | $395,000.00 | $582,000.00 |
| Ward, Hines | WR | 12 | 33 | 2013 | $4,000,000.00 | $4,610,000.00 |
| Tight Ends | ||||||
| Bright, Eugene | TE | 0 | 24 | 2011 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Johnson, David | TE/HB | 1 | 22 | 2011 | $395,000.00 | $406,000.00 |
| McHugh, Sean | TE/HB | 6 | 27 | 2011 | $700,000.00 | $830,000.00 |
| Miller, Heath | TE | 5 | 27 | 2014 | $2,498,000.00 | $4,698,000.00 |
| Spaeth, Matt | TE | 3 | 25 | 2010 | $1,101,000.00 | $1,101,000.00 |
| Offensive Linemen | ||||||
| Colon, Willie | T | 4 | 26 | 2010 | $2,521,000.00 | $2,521,000.00 |
| Essex, Trai | G | 5 | 27 | 2010 | $806,000.00 | $1,056,000.00 |
| Foster, Ramon | T/G | 1 | 23 | 2011 | $395,000.00 | $398,000.00 |
| Hartwig, Justin | C | 8 | 31 | 2012 | $2,080,000.00 | $2,618,000.00 |
| Hills, Tony | T | 2 | 25 | 2010 | $470,000.00 | $572,000.00 |
| Kemoeatu, Chris | G | 5 | 27 | 2013 | $2,369,000.00 | $3,396,000.00 |
| Legursky, Doug | C/G | 1 | 23 | 2010 | $395,000.00 | $395,000.00 |
| Scott, Jonathan | T | 5 | 27 | 2010 | $630,000.00 | $630,000.00 |
| Starks, Max | T | 6 | 28 | 2012 | $4,320,000.00 | $6,420,000.00 |
| Urbik, Kraig | G | 1 | 24 | 2011 | $395,000.00 | $593,000.00 |
| Defensive Linemen | ||||||
| Hampton, Casey | NT | 9 | 32 | 2012 | $4,000,000.00 | $6,500,000.00 |
| Harris, Ra'Shon | DE | 1 | 23 | 2010 | $395,000.00 | $395,000.00 |
| Hoke, Chris | NT | 9 | 33 | 2010 | $1,500,000.00 | $1,875,000.00 |
| Hood, Ziggy | DE | 1 | 23 | 2013 | $395,000.00 | $1,394,000.00 |
| Keisel, Brett | DE | 8 | 31 | 2013 | $2,925,000.00 | $3,925,000.00 |
| McLendon, Steve | DT | 0 | 24 | 2011 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Paxson, Scott | NT | 1 | 27 | 2011 | $395,000.00 | $395,000.00 |
| Smith, Aaron | DE | 11 | 33 | 2011 | $5,000,000.00 | $6,600,000.00 |
| Linebackers | ||||||
| Bailey, Patrick | OLB | 2 | 24 | 2010 | $470,000.00 | $470,000.00 |
| Doggett, Derrick | LB | 0 | 25 | 2011 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Farrior, James | ILB | 13 | 35 | 2012 | $2,825,000.00 | $3,825,000.00 |
| Fox, Keyaron | ILB | 6 | 28 | 2010 | $800,000.00 | $990,000.00 |
| Frazier, Andre | OLB | 5 | 27 | 2010 | $630,000.00 | $693,000.00 |
| Harrison, James | OLB | 6 | 31 | 2014 | $755,000.00 | $6,355,000.00 |
| Timmons, Lawrence | ILB | 3 | 23 | 2011 | $550,000.00 | $2,448,000.00 |
| Williams, Johnny | LB | 0 | 23 | 2011 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Williams, Renauld | LB | 2 | 29 | 2011 | $470,000.00 | $470,000.00 |
| Woodley, LaMarr | OLB | 3 | 25 | 2010 | $550,000.00 | $900,000.00 |
| Defensive Backs | ||||||
| Allen, Will | S | 7 | 27 | 2012 | $975,000.00 | $1,300,000.00 |
| Burnett, Joe | CB | 1 | 23 | 2011 | $395,000.00 | $434,000.00 |
| Gay, William | CB | 3 | 26 | 2010 | $1,101,000.00 | $1,101,000.00 |
| Harris, Tuff | S | 2 | 27 | 2010 | $470,000.00 | $470,000.00 |
| Lewis, Keenan | S | 1 | 24 | 2011 | $395,000.00 | $555,000.00 |
| Madison, Anthony | CB | 4 | 28 | 2010 | $630,000.00 | $630,000.00 |
| Mundy, Ryan | FS | 1 | 25 | 2010 | $395,000.00 | $395,000.00 |
| Pittman, David | CB | 3 | 26 | 2011 | $545,000.00 | $545,000.00 |
| Polamalu, Troy | SS | 7 | 28 | 2011 | $6,100,000.00 | $8,295,000.00 |
| Taylor, Ike | CB | 7 | 29 | 2010 | $3,500,000.00 | $6,530,000.00 |
| Williams, Trae | CB | 0 | 25 | 2010 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Specialist | ||||||
| Czech, Piotr | K | 0 | 23 | 2011 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Graessle, Adam | P/K | 0 | 25 | 2011 | $320,000.00 | $320,000.00 |
| Logan, Stefan | KR | 1 | 28 | 2010 | $395,000.00 | $395,000.00 |
| Reed, Jeff | K | 8 | 30 | 2010 | $2,814,000.00 | $2,814,000.00 |
| Retkofsky, Jared | LS | 1 | 26 | 2010 | $395,000.00 | $395,000.00 |
| Sepulveda, Daniel | P | 3 | 26 | 2010 | $1,101,000.00 | $1,101,000.00 |
| Warren, Greg | LS | 5 | 28 | 2010 | $700,000.00 | $832,000.00 |
| Total | $82,099,000.00 | $119,247,000.00 |
||||
The hours are ticking down until the Steelers have to make a decision on whether or not they will have to place the franchise tag on nose tackle Casey Hampton. It is rumored that the Steelers have made one final contract offer to Hampton and his agent that would allow the Steelers to sign Hampton to a multi-year, future cap friendly contract. The new contract offer is reportedly front loaded and worth around 12 million dollars in guaranteed cash. The Steelers have until 4:00 p.m. Thursday to get the deal done to avoid having to use the tag on Hampton. If no new deal is reached, the Steelers will indeed use the exclusive franchise tag on Hampton while continuing to work out a new contract.
One of the caveats of getting a deal done with Big Snack would be that the Steelers could then turn around and use the franchise tag on free safety Ryan Clark and the transition tag on kicker Jeff Reed as planned. The franchise tag for safeties in 2010 is $6.455 million. This would enable the Steelers to keep all 3 unrestricted free agents they considered a priority without breaking the bank or hurting themselves in future years if and when the salary cap comes back into play. This would also give the Steelers plenty of time to work out a new deal with Reed and delaying a long term decision on the aging Clark.
Stay tuned as this could all go down very quickly if indeed the rumors hold true.
UPDATED: Hampton has agreed to a three year, $21 million contract with $11 million of the contract guaranteed.
I wanted to clarify a few things for my readers regarding the 2010 Restricted Free Agents for the Steelers. First off, the Steelers have 6 restricted free agents and 1 Exclusive Rights Free Agent. The Exclusive Rights player is linebacker Patrick Bailey and he only has 2 accrued seasons, meaning the Steelers can keep him by offering him the minimum salary for a 3rd year player and he must accept the offer. The other Restricted Free Agents are then gauged by their accrued seasons. An accrued season is defined by a player having 6 or more regular-season games on a club’s active/inactive roster, reserved-injured or physically unable to perform lists. The Steelers have 1 Restricted Free Agent with 4 accrued seasons being tackle Willie Colon and 5 Restricted Free Agent with 3 accrued seasons.
| POS | PLAYER | DRAFTED | STATUS | SEASONS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LB | Patrick Bailey | 2008 Undrafted | EFA | 2 |
| T | Willie Colon | 2006 Round 4 | RFA | 4 |
| RB | Carey Davis | 2004 Undrafted | RFA | 3 |
| CB | William Gay | 2007 Round 5 | RFA | 3 |
| P | Daniel Sepulveda | 2007 Round 4 | RFA | 3 |
| TE | Matt Spaeth | 2007 Round 3 | RFA | 3 |
| G | Darnell Stapleton | 2007 Undrafted | RFA | 3 |
The chart below shows the amounts the Steelers can tender these players for seasons accrued and the compensation received if the player signs elsewhere for more money. Take for example, Colon. Should the Steelers place the highest tender on him, they would have to pay him $3,168,000 in 2010. Should another team offer Colon a better deal and sign him, the Steelers would receive that teams 1st and 3rd round draft picks in 2011 as compensation. If the player was undrafted like Darnell Stapleton and the Steelers tendered him at the lowest level of $1,101,000 a season. The Steelers would have the right to match any higher offer made by another team or receive no compensation as Stapleton went undrafted.
| Player with FOUR Accrued Seasons | |
|---|---|
| Tender amount | Compensation required |
| $3,168,000* | First- and third-round draft picks |
| $2,521,000* | First-round draft pick |
| $1,759,000* | Second-round draft pick |
| $1,176,000* | Determined by RFA's original draft status |
| *or 110% of player’s 2009 Paragraph 5 Salary, whichever is greater |
| Player with THREE Accrued Seasons | |
|---|---|
| Tender amount | Compensation required |
| $3,043,000* | First- and third-round draft picks |
| $2,396,000* | First-round draft pick |
| $1,684,000* | Second-round draft pick |
| $1,101,000* | Determined by RFA's original draft status |
| *or 110% of player’s 2009 Paragraph 5 Salary, whichever is greater |
Below are the newly released amounts for the 2010 NFL Franchise tag and Transition tag for free agency which began today. The amounts are listed by position
Franchise & Transition Tag Amounts
Quarterback
Franchise Tag
$16.405 million
Transition Tag
$14.546 million
Running Back
Franchise Tag
$8.156 million
Transition Tag
$7.151 million
Wide Receiver
Franchise Tag
$9.521 million
Transition Tag
$8.651 million
Tight End
Franchise Tag
$5.908 million
Transition Tag
$5.248 million
Offensive Linemen
Franchise Tag
$10.731 million
Transition Tag
$9.142 million
Kicker/Punter
Franchise Tag
$2.814 million
Transition Tag
$2.629 million
Defensive Tackle
Franchise Tag
$7.003 million
Transition Tag
$6.353 million
Defensive End
Franchise Tag
$12.398 million
Transition Tag
$10.193 million
Linebacker
Franchise Tag
$9.680 million
Transition Tag
$8.373 million
Safety
Franchise Tag
$6.455 million
Transition Tag
$6.011 million
Cornerback
Franchise Tag
$9.566 million
Transition Tag
$8.056 million
Two of the most pressing offseason things the Steelers will need to do, outside of the draft and free agency, is to get contract extensions done with wide receiver Santonio Holmes and linebacker LaMarr Woodley. Both players enter 2010 with it being their final years on their contracts. Both Holmes and Woodley put up career numbers with Holmes falling 1 reception short of 80 on the season and Woodley closing out the 2009 season by registering at least a half a sack or better for the final 8 games.
The contract extension that Holmes is likely to receive will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 9-10 million a year. It has been rumored that it will be similar to the extension that Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings signed this past year. The deal could be loaded with heavy incentives to allow the Steelers to both pay him, yet protect the organization as well. Woodley on the other hand might be looking for a deal similar to that of Cowboys outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware. Ware signed a six-year contract extension through 2015 worth $78 million, with $40 million guaranteed. The deal included a $20 million signing bonus. The Cowboys gave Ware an additional $5 million for the 2009 season, increasing his base salary to $6.005 million.
The Steelers like to get new deals done in prior to training camps, as they do not like to negotiate once the season begins. Last offseason they got deals done with franchised offensive tackle Max Starks, wide receiver Hines Ward, linebacker James Harrison, guard Chris Kemoeatu, defensive end Brett Keisel and tight end Heath Miller to name a few. With 2010 looming to be an uncapped season, the sooner they can get these deals done the better. Look for talks to open with both these players folowing the Super Bowl.
I was hoping to not have to post this for a while, but several people have already emailed me asking me about it. Below are the current players on the roster and their contract status. The Steelers currently have 18 active roster players who will be free agents in the offseason. I have designated if they are restricted or unrestricted free agents with a RFA or a UFA.
As of right now, the Steelers have 39 active roster players under contract for the 2010 season, 16 of which will be heading into their final contract year. I have designated the final year of each players contract next to all active roster players.
2010 Steelers Free Agents
| POS | Player | FA |
|---|---|---|
| LB | Bailey, Patrick | EFA |
| T | Colon, Willie | RFA |
| RB | Davis, Carey | RFA |
| CB | Gay, William | RFA |
| P | Sepulveda, Daniel | RFA |
| TE | Spaeth, Matt | RFA |
| G | Stapleton, Darnell | RFA |
| QB | Batch, Charlie | UFA |
| LB | Boiman, Rocky | UFA |
| S | Carter, Tyrone | UFA |
| FS | Clark, Ryan | UFA |
| DE | Eason, Nick | UFA |
| NT | Hampton, Casey | UFA |
| DE | Kirschke, Travis | UFA |
| RB | Parker, Willie | UFA |
| K | Reed, Jeff | UFA |
| CB | Townsend, Deshea | UFA |
| WR | Galloway, Joey | UFA |
2010 Players Under Contract
| POS | Player | Year |
|---|---|---|
| QB | Dixon, Dennis | 2010 |
| G | Essex, Trai | 2010 |
| ILB | Fox, Keyaron | 2010 |
| LB | Frazier, Andre | 2010 |
| WR | Grisham, Tyler | 2010 |
| DT | Harris, Ra'Shon | 2010 |
| T | Hills, Tony | 2010 |
| NT | Hoke, Chris | 2010 |
| WR | Holmes, Santonio | 2010 |
| C | Legursky, Doug | 2010 |
| RB | Logan, Stefan | 2010 |
| DB | Madison, Anthony | 2010 |
| RB | Moore, Mewelde | 2010 |
| S | Mundy, Ryan | 2010 |
| LS | Retkofsky, Jared | 2010 |
| CB | Taylor, Ike | 2010 |
| LS | Warren, Greg | 2010 |
| CB | Williams, Trai | 2010 |
| OLB | Woodley, LaMarr | 2010 |
| CB | Burnett, Joe | 2011 |
| T | Foster, Ramon | 2011 |
| TE | Johnson, David | 2011 |
| CB | Lewis, Keenan | 2011 |
| TE | McHugh, Sean | 2011 |
| SS | Polamalu, Troy | 2011 |
| DE | Smith, Aaron | 2011 |
| FB | Summers, Frank | 2011 |
| WR | Sweed, Limas | 2011 |
| ILB | Timmons, Lawrence | 2011 |
| G | Urbik, Kraig | 2011 |
| WR | Wallace, Mike | 2011 |
| ILB | Farrior, James | 2012 |
| C | Hartwig, Justin | 2012 |
| RB | Mendenhall, Rashard | 2012 |
| T | Starks, Max | 2012 |
| DE | Hood, Ziggy | 2013 |
| DE | Keisel, Brett | 2013 |
| G | Kemoeatu, Chris | 2013 |
| WR | Ward, Hines | 2013 |
| OLB | Harrison, James | 2014 |
| TE | Miller, Heath | 2014 |
| QB | Roethlisberger, Ben | 2015 |
While it is still too early to tell if the 2010 NFL season will be an uncapped year or not, I thought while I had the numbers pulled up, I would list the top 10 players who would count the most against a salary cap in 2010 if we have one. The figures are not exact, but should be pretty close. Aaron Smith, Ike Taylor and James Farrior are 3 players who may be under scrutiny if the Steelers do indeed have to worry about a cap number. Taylor will be in his final year of his contract as well in 2010.
| POS | Player | Estimated 2010 Cap Hit |
| QB | Ben Roethlisberger | $12,250,000.00 |
| SS | Troy Polamalu | $8,295,000.00 |
| LDE | Aaron Smith | $6,600,000.00 |
| LCB | Ike Taylor | $6,530,000.00 |
| LT | Max Starks | $6,420,000.00 |
| OLB | James Harrison | $6,355,000.00 |
| WR | Hines Ward | $4,850,000.00 |
| TE | Heath Miller | $4,699,000.00 |
| RDE | Brett Keisel | $3,925,000.00 |
| ILB | James Farrior | $3,825,000.00 |
