Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II sat down with a few members of the Pittsburgh media on Tuesday for a half hour interview to discuss the Steelers past season and look ahead to 2012. You can read the question and answers here on the Post-Gazette blog. When you read through everything there were not too many surprises if you ask me, but I will go over the main talking points below with my own comments and view points added to a few of the things that Rooney said. Even though we do not usually learn too much from these interviews every offseason, it is just good to hear some of the things Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers are already nearly $20 plus million over the 2012 projected salary cap number of $125 million and that is with just 44 players under contract for 2012. The still need to tender contracts to their restricted and exclusive rights free agents and fill the offseason roster to get to the 80 player limit as well. They need to get compliant to the salary cap with their top 51 salaries by the start of the new league year around the beginning of March. Knowing what we have as far as 2012 salary cap figures, it is easy to go through and list the players most likely to be cut or restructured. Read more [...]

Scott Brown reports on Twitter this morning that Pittsburgh Steelers veteran defensive end Aaron Smith told reporters this morning that he is completely healthy following the spinal-fusion surgery that he had back in November and that he could play tomorrow if he could. According to Brown he also said that he will decide after the season whether or not he will return in 2012 for his 14th season. He also added that if he indeed does return, it would only be with Steelers as he can't see himself playing anywhere else, and that if were to do that, it would "taint" his career. Smith came into the Read more [...]

Several Pittsburgh Steelers players will have cameo roles in in the newest Batman movie, Dark Knight Rises, that was filmed in Pittsburgh. A member of the Steelers ownership group, Thomas Tull, is the film's executive producer and a football game scene was filmed at Heinz Field for the movie. Wide receiver Hines Ward is one of the many Steelers players that have a cameo in the football game scene and Ward has surfaced in the latest leaked trailer for the film that you can see below. Ward is running into the endzone with the football as the ground collapses behind him and he turns around to see Read more [...]

Today is Black Friday and there is a great deal at NFL Shop for those shopping for Steelers merchandise as they have a buy one item and get a second one half price. Football Fanatics also is giving free 3 day shipping through 11/30 if you use code "thanksship50". Amazon also has a great selection of Steelers books that make great stocking stuffers. The Friday injury report is out and it shows that linebacker LaMarr Woodley is questionable along with linebacker Stevenson Sylvester and wide receiver Arnaz Battle. Mike Bires caught up with second year linebacker Jason Worilds for an interview Read more [...]

During the Steelers bye week I have had several request to start looking forward to the Steelers 2012 draft and while I think mock drafts are pretty ludicrous to throw out there right now with 6 weeks left in the 2011 season and the bowl games yet to be played, I will wet your appetite with what I see as the possible needs for the Steelers based on what we have seen through the first 10 weeks to go along with the impending potential 2012 salary cap challenges I wrote about earlier in the season. I take my mock drafts pretty serious, as you have seen over the years, and have quite a bit of scouting Read more [...]

Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith sat down with Teresa Varley for a very candid interview for the latest edition of "Steelers Speak". Smith talked about another season coming to an abrupt end because of injury and told Varley how he came about knowing something was not right with his neck and how he is dealing with yet another season being placed on injured reserve. Smith went on to talk about his relationship with Brett Keisel and how he enjoys teaching the young players like Ziggy Hood, Cameron Heyward and Steve McLendon. The interview was conducted just after the Patriots game and Smith Read more [...]

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said yesterday that second-year wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders will be out for a couple of weeks now after having minor knee surgery that involved getting his knee scoped. While veteran Hines Ward seems to be on track to play Sunday against the Bengals after suffering a concussion or concussion-like symptoms as they called it Sunday night, it is easy to speculate that Jerricho Cotchery will have an even larger role this week in four wide receiver sets and perhaps even in 2 and 3 wide sets depending on the situation. The Cotchery signing prior to the season starting Read more [...]

The Steelers 2011 bye week is right around the corner in week 11 and what a welcomed sight it will be. Every team goes through injuries and the Steelers certainly have had their share of them this year with the lines and linebacker position taking the hardest hits thus far. As the Steelers head into their week 10 against the Bengals, they will likely do so without their sack leader LaMarr Woodley. Tomlin tried to paint an optimistic picture today during his press conference, but I do not see Woodley returning until after the bye with the bad hamstring injury. I suggested just after the injury Read more [...]

Here we go again! Steelers Ravens re-match and I do not think this game will let down the prime-time viewership. The Ravens really took it to the Steelers back in week as they ran away with a 35-7 win. The Steelers did not help their own cause in the game by turning the ball over 7 times. So many things have changed since week 1 as the defensive line has a different starter and the offensive line has 3 different pieces. The Steelers have key linebacker injuries, but also get back a few linebackers that have been out a while. Should the Steelers win this game, it will give them a firm 1 game lead Read more [...]

With Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders dealing with the death of his mother as well as an injured left knee, the Steelers signed wide receiver Jamar Newsome to the practice squad and released defensive tackle Elisha Joseph to make room for him. Joseph was signed back in the middle of October when the Steelers were dealing with injuries to Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith and Chris Hoke. Newsome is 6-1, 201 lbs and was signed originally by the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent earlier this year. He played his college football at Central Florida. He was waived by the Jaguars late in September Read more [...]

Pretty much as expected, defensive lineman Corbin Bryant cleared waivers following his release on Saturday and has been re-signed back to the Steelers practice squad today. Bryant was waived Saturday to make room for linebacker Mortty Ivy, who was promoted from the practice squad to the 53 man roster. The Steelers needed the inside linebacker depth with James Farrior down with a calf injury and with the recent news that Farrior could be down for a few more weeks, Ivy is likely to stay on the roster for a while. Bryant had previously been promoted last Saturday from the practice squad when defensive Read more [...]

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin held his usual Tuesday press conference this afternoon down on the South Side to discuss the win the past Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals and look ahead to the New England Patriots game this week at Heinz Field. Tomlin gave an injury report update on several players and fielded several questions from the media. Below is the audio from the press conference along with the main talking points from today. [audio:http://www.steelersdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/mike-tomlin-week-8-patriots-press-conference.mp3] As far as injuries go, Tomlin said Curtis Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 34 of The Terrible Podcast is up and my co-host David Todd is back from Las Vegas without a face tattoo or a new wife, allegedly, just in time for our 100th episode as we recap the Steelers 32-20 win yesterday on the road against the Arizona Cardinals. We'd like to thank all our listeners for the fantastic support and helping us grow the show. We look forward to the next 100 and hope we get another deep playoff run this season in the process. We open this episode with an homage to Aaron Smith. Smith has been out the last three weeks with a foot injury, but while recuperating, Read more [...]

The Steelers knocked of the Arizona Cardinals 32-20 today on the road to move to 5-2 on the season. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 26 of 39 passing for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns to Mike Wallace, Heath Miller and Emmanuel Sanders. Roethlisberger was sacked twice during the game, but did a great job of spreading the ball around to several different receivers including the running backs. The running game produced 91 yards on 28 carries. Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb was 18 of 34 passing for 272 yards and was sacked twice by outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley. Woodley also forced a safety Read more [...]