The first rookie camp for the Pittsburgh Steelers is now in the books and next up is the first team OTA session that is scheduled to get rolling on May 22nd. That next session is when the rookies and veterans will all hit the field together in Pittsburgh. One player that is surely not to be present two weeks from tomorrow is restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace, who has still yet to sign his first round one-year tender offer of $2.742 million that was issued to him before the free agency period began. The Steelers also have their first official mini-camp on the books for June 12-14 Read more [...]

The 2012 NFL draft is now behind us and so too is the first rookie camp. There are several roster spots left to be decided, but now is as good of time as any to start projecting what the 53 man roster will look like for the Pittsburgh Steelers. OFFENSE (25) Quarterbacks (3) Now surprises here as Ben Roethlisberger, Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch fill out the group of three. Both Leftwich and Batch come with reduced cap hits and the only fear is if Leftwich can make it through preseason healthy. I do not think any of the other quarterbacks on the roster will stick even on the practice Read more [...]

Peter King of Sports Illustrated reported via Twitter on Saturday that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has finished up his Bachelor's of Science degree in Education from Miami (Ohio) University and will walk with the graduates on Sunday. Roethlisberger left college after the 2003 season to enter the 2004 NFL draft and was selected by the Steelers with the 11th overall pick in the first round. King took quite a bit of abuse on Twitter for congratulating Roethlisberger on his efforts and defended him by saying that the Steelers quarterback was never charged or convicted for Read more [...]

Since the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Florida running back Chris Rainey in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL draft, one really can't help but to think that new offensive coordinator Todd Haley plans to use him the same way that he used Dexter McCluster when he was the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. It got me wondering just how much Haley used his running backs in the passing game dating back to his time as the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals so I pulled the stats for all 32 teams dating back to 2007. I have included the running back targets and receptions in the numbers to go Read more [...]

Before reading this post I suggest that all of you put on your Steelers Depot black and gold tin foil hats. Is everyone ready? The Pittsburgh Steelers 2012 draft is now behind us and the undrafted free agents have been identified. On Monday we treated to the annual issuing of jersey numbers to all of the rookies and we were slapped with the reality that the No. 51 jersey that had been worn for the last decade by James Farrior will at least for now be worn by third round draft pick Sean Spence. These types of things need to happen when you have a roster consisting of 90 players as there is really Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 104 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I take a look first at the 2012 rookie pool for the Pittsburgh Steelers as it relates to the overall salary cap and the first contract for David DeCastro. We move on to discuss the Rosetta Stone comment made in regard to the new playbook by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Monday. It was clearly a little fun jab he made and we are sure everything will get hammered out when the team gets together this upcoming weekend for the mini-camp. David and I then turn our attention to look at how the other teams drafted in the AFC Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was on WDVE radio this morning to talk about the new presents that he received during the 2012 NFL draft this past weekend as well as a few other topics. Roethlisberger was specifically asked early on what he has heard so far about first round pick David DeCastro and how he was being compared already to former Steeler guard Alan Faneca. Roethlisberger replied by saying, "I just heard he's the next Alan Faneca and that's a pretty high compliment, because obviously we know how great Alan Faneca was. But he seems like, from everything I heard, Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz How can you be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan right now and not be excited and optimistic about the 2012 NFL season? Ever since 2006, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been pounded, beaten, and broken, resulting in injuries that compromised the success of the season. Just over the past two years, Roethlisberger suffered a broken nose, thumb, and a high ankle sprain last year that hindered the goal of winning the AFC North. And while players like Maurkice Pouncey and Marcus Gilbert were drafted in 2010 and 2011 respectively, those two players were not enough to protect Roethlisberger Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin addressed the media this week about their draft preparations, and Colbert stated that they were 98% complete with their pre-draft work. Colbert also said that “there are not a lot of players in this draft that can come in and be immediate impact guys for us,” and fortunately in the position that the Steelers are in this year, they do not have many starting spots, and it can be argued none at all, that are up for grabs. Outside of getting serious about protecting franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the other players that the Steelers will Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey There are two players the Pittsburgh Steelers should consider trading up for in the upcoming draft, both on offense. Back in 2008, one year into the Mike Tomlin-era in Pittsburgh, the Steelers entered the NFL draft expected to make moves to improve their porous offensive line. Instead of spending a first round pick on tackle Duane Brown, the only offensive lineman taken in the first round after the Steelers picked 23rd, the Steelers brought in running-back Rashard Mendenhall. The Illinois runner was a surprising choice for the Steelers as Willie Parker was still fast Willie Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz It is hard to believe that football fans still have a little over four months to agonize through before enjoying a regular season NFL game. And while Pittsburgh fans are finding some distraction in the Penguins (for better or worse), nothing can replace the void left behind by the end of the 2011 NFL season. Small indications that the season is getting near are starting to burgeon, like the release of the 2012 schedule and the draft being only a few days away. With the schedule release, we can begin to draw some conclusions and make some assumptions about the Steelers chances Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey With Mike Wallace still not certain to be on the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, the team enters the NFL draft with a need for depth on the outside despite the re-signing of Jerricho Cotchery. Bringing back Cotchery, to play the Hines Ward role, as a veteran leader for quite a young group of receivers was a very astute move by Kevin Colbert in an off-season filled with prudent moves by the Steelers' front office as a whole. Once Omar Khan worked his magic to bring the team below the salary cap limit, the Steelers approached free agency as they usually did tendering Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz There is depth in this year’s draft, especially at the position of greatest need for the Pittsburgh Steelers (offensive line), giving them some mobility with their first round pick. While trading out of the first round for the Steelers is not very likely, what is more possible is a team trading up to the # 24 spot, providing the Steelers at minimum with a third or fourth round pick. The San Francisco 49ers, who are looking for a wide receiver, are a possible trade partner with the Steelers in order to move up and select either Kendall Wright or Stephen Hill, both of whom could Read more [...]

Another Pittsburgh Steelers unrestricted free agent has been re-signed as it was announced on Monday that veteran quarterback Charlie Batch will return on a one-year contract. The financial details have not been released but the contract is believed to be a veteran qualifying contract with a base salary of $925,000. The signing bonus is likely no greater than $65,000 and that means the reduced salary cap hit on Batch will likely be between $540,000 and $605,000 depending on the bonus given. Batch was originally signed by the Steelers as an unrestricted free agent in 2002. Last season he completed Read more [...]

I think everyone can remember the madness last year when Warren Sapp implied that the Pittsburgh Steelers were too old to be considered an elite team. The Steelers did a great job of proving Sapp wrong both with the teams' overall on field performance and the way that the younger backups stepped up thru injuries. So just as the offseason passes us steadily by and we almost have that negative implication out of our minds, it pops back up. I was reading a power ranking on NFL.com and was maligned to find that they had the Steelers listed as the 13th ranked team. Not bad for a 12-4 team that has lost Read more [...]