Ed Bouchette has confirmed a rumor circulating last night that the Pittsburgh Steelers have indeed signed former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith to a future contract. Smith won the Heisman Trophy in 2006, his senior year with the Buckeyes, and was subsequently drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. In his first 3 seasons with the Ravens, Smith started just 2 games. He was released by the Ravens before the start of the 2010 season and was quickly signed by the San Francisco 49ers where he started 6 games during his one season there. For his career Smith completed Read more [...]

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 questions are rolling in about the Pittsburgh Steelers 2012 free agents so I threw together a quick rundown of the restricted, unrestricted and exclusive rights free agents as the Steelers head into the offseason. The 6 restricted free agents will all certainly be tendered with only Mike Wallace receiving a first round tender. The other 5 will receive the lowest one year tenders. These amounts have not yet been released and I will post those amounts later in the offseason when they are made known. Both exclusive right free agents have no choice but to accept their tender offers and they can't 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 [...]

I have been asked quite a bit why the Steelers have not re-signed Flozell Adams back after right tackle Willie Colon was lost for the season this past Sunday and the simple answer is there just is not enough cap room to meet his likely salary demands. I finally cleared up my 2011 salary cap numbers following the final cutdowns and prior to the new contract signed by Troy Polamalu, the Steelers were roughly $2.23 million under the cap. The new official contract numbers have yet to surface, but it figures it would only slightly increase or decrease his original 2011 cap hit of $8.595 million. The Read more [...]

To finish up some housekeeping before the Steelers 2011 season gets underway, here is the list of Steelers players that will be free agents and whether or not they are restricted, unrestricted or exclusive rights free agents. All of these players are in the final year under contract in 2011. Exclusive free agents must accept the minimum tendered them, so that means Isaac Redman and Steve McLendon are almost certain to return if wanted. Mike Wallace will likely be given the highest tender possibly, while David Johnson, Doug Legursky, Ramon Foster, Keenan Lewis and Ryan Mundy tenders will depend Read more [...]

Steelers backup quarterback Byron Leftwich said that the broken arm he suffered against the Falcons was the worst pain he has ever experienced and that he has refused to watch the replay of the injury. Leftwich said he went into survival mode right after it happened and that it hasn’t completely sunk in yet that he will be out for the season. Outside of the Leftwich injury it appears the Steelers are a fairly healthy team entering week 1 against the Ravens as cornerbacks Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden should be ready to play barring any setbacks. Taylor is scheduled to have the pin removed Read more [...]

The Steelers finished making their final roster cuts on Saturday with the release of 5 more players. The roster now stands at 53 players after offensive lineman Tony Hills, punter Jeremy Kapinos, cornerback Crezdon Butler, tight end John Gilmore and defensive end Jarrett Crittenton were released. The Steelers released 21 players on Friday and placed quarterback Byron Leftwich on injured reserve. No surprise players were released yesterday. The Steelers will now put together their practice squad which will likely be announced late Sunday or Monday. Wide receiver Tyler Grisham is expected to be Read more [...]

The final preseason game is now complete and now it is time to trim the roster down to 53 players for the final time this offseason. I have been all over the map in the previous versions of my final roster prediction and it is easy to understand why when you watch each preseason game 10 times each as you see new things every time through. It is easy to fall in love with certain players from game to game and it will cloud your judgment along the way. Enough with the setup, here is my final Steelers 2011 53 man roster prediction and the reasoning behind it. Heading into tonight several had Read more [...]

The Steelers close out their 2011 preseason tonight as they take on the Panthers on the road in Charlotte. The Steelers had another strong showing last week against the Falcons and tonight is the last chance for a few players to make a big enough impression to make the team or the practice squad. Do not look for many of the starters to play tonight as this game will be used to look at the bubble players mostly. There still will be a few things to watch for though in the most meaningless game of the preseason. As I do every week, here are my 7 things to watch for tonight against the Panthers. Bronco Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 11 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I spend most of out time reviewing the Steelers 34-16 preseason victory over the Atlanta Falcons. This will be the formula we will use during the season and these are the podcasts we like doing the most--analyzing the play on the field. But first, we start with the news that Kevin Colbert has a new title. Call him whatever you like, Colbert has few peers in the business and this is more formality that anything. We also review the early cuts (no surprises) and the injury report. How will the Steelers deal with broken left arm Read more [...]

Steelers backup quarterback Byron Leftwich is undergoing surgery this morning to repair his broken left, non-throwing arm that he suffered in last night's preseason game against the Falcons. The injury happened in the third quarter when Leftwich landed awkwardly on his left arm after scrambling to the right side. He immediately ran to the sideline screaming in pain as his arm just dangled by his side. Head coach Mike Tomlin said in his post-game press conference that Leftwich would be out an extended period of time, but stopped short of saying it would be a season-ending injury. Speculation Read more [...]

The Steelers now need to get down to 80 players by Tuesday and that means 10 players must be trimmed off of the active roster. Below is my prediction of the moves that will be made. Running back Baron Batch has yet to be placed on injured reserve, so I figure that could be one of the moves coming. Miguel Chavis also tore his pectoral against the Falcons so I figure he will be placed on injured reserve or waived injured as well. I had Vaughn Charlton set to go until that injury happened. The Steelers will likely place Byron Leftwich on injured reserve as well, but they may wait for the next set Read more [...]

The Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-16 in their 3rd preseason game of the 2011 season Saturday night at Heinz Field. The game got off to a fast start as Antonio Brown returned the opening kick-off 51 yards to mid-field. The Falcons were penalized for a horse collar tackle on the play so the Steelers started their first possession on the Falcons 35-yard line. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit tight end David Johnson on the first two plays for 17 yards each to set the Steelers up at first and goal on the Falcons 1-yard line and Rashard Mendenhall punched it in on the next play. Inside linebacker Read more [...]

Mike Tomlin held his post-game press conference following the Steelers 34-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons Saturday night at Heinz Field. Tomlin said quarterback Byron Leftwich broke his left arm and will be out for an extended amount of time. Tight end Miguel Chavis tore his left pectoral muscle. Center Maurkice Pouncey aggravated his left ankle, but the injury is not deemed serious. Cornerback Keenan Lewis will be reevaluated on Sunday with a left knee injury, but Tomlin did not seem to think it is serious. Other injuries were not deemed serious. Below is the audio of the press conference. [audio:http://www.steelersdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/tomlin-falcons-presser-preseason-3.mp3] Read more [...]