The 2012 NFL draft is almost here and every year about this time I like to go back through the Pittsburgh Steelers roster and identify the stone cold locks for the 53 man roster on both sides of the ball. This gives clarity to obvious draft needs as well as upcoming roster battles to start looking forward to. First up is the offense and below is the breakdown of the players I would bet my house on to make the 53 man roster baring some sort of injury or suspension. While you could make arguments for several others I do not have listed, I think you would have a hard time selling me that they are Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 93 of The Terrible Podcast is up and with David Todd start off by talking about the new look Steelers Nike uniforms that were unveiled on Tuesday in New York and give our thoughts on them. Will the 2012 NFL schedule be released later this week? David has heard that rumor and we talk about what prime time, national television games the Steelers might get. We move on to talk about the report on Tuesday that the Indianapolis Colts might have interest in signing unrestricted free agent quarterback Byron Leftwich. Will the Steelers have a big hole to fill if Leftwich winds up elsewhere? Read more [...]

Some good news to pass along today as Pittsburgh Steelers running back Baron Batch reports today via his personal blog that he is no longer rehabbing his torn ACL suffered late in training camp last year and he announces that he is about 90% right now. Batch tore the ACL in his left knee on August 10th after getting his foot caught on the field turf during an 11 on 11 drill. Batch says in his post that he feel faster than ever when running straight, but that he still has work to do when cutting. Since returning to Pittsburgh four weeks ago he reports he has dropped 12 pounds and is back at his Read more [...]

There will be several rule and bylaw change proposals on the table at the NFL owners' annual spring meeting that begins down in Florida on Monday and a few of the ones that the Pittsburgh Steelers are pushing for I have briefly outlined in a previous post. Steelers.com has gone into greater detail now on a few of the things the owners will vote on and the one that catches my eye the most is the proposed change to the injured reserve. The proposal seems to state that every team will have the ability to designate one player each to an eight week injured reserve list. According to Bob Labriola, Read more [...]

I am already getting a few questions as to who the Pittsburgh Steelers 2013 free agents will be after the 2012 season, so I thought I would give you a quick peek at the players that are currently under contract and tendered as of right now. Of course the list of unrestricted players is likely to grow, because a few players the Steelers could likely sign back such as Byron Leftwich, Charlie Batch and William Gay, to name a few, will likely only be signed to one-year qualifying contracts. Looking at the unrestricted list, the two names of course that jump out are Mike Wallace and Rashard Mendenhall. Read more [...]

The Bountygate punishment was handed down by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday and it was very stiff to say the least. Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season and the team was fined $500,000 for operating a bounty program against opponents for starters. Former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who is now with the St. Louis Rams, was suspended indefinitely from the NFL, effective immediately and GM Mickey Loomis was suspended without pay for the first eight regular-season games of the 2012 season. In addition, assistant Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 89 of The Terrible Podcast is up and with David Todd and start with the preview of the Hines Ward press conference in which we rightly guessed was to announce his retirement. Could it really have been anything else? We discuss Ward a little bit and of course will discuss the presser itself in the Friday podcast. Peyton Manning is also the hot topic on Tuesday after choosing the Denver Broncos as his new team. We discuss the signing and how it figures into Mike Wallace. We discuss what the Broncos still need to address in free agency and both still think that they will not attempt Read more [...]

A blog post by Ed Bouchette on Monday, that focused on Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall, sent shock waves through Steeler Nation as well as the national media. It really shouldn't have though as it really wasn't new news. In his post Bouchette stated that it’s possible that Mendenhall, who tore his right ACL in the regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns, may have had his last carry with the Steelers. That indeed is very possible and has been since Mendenhall suffered the injury. General Manager Kevin Colbert has left that possibility open in several interviews Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey This time of year is generally pretty quiet in Pittsburgh for football fans, as the Pittsburgh Steelers generally don't make too many waves in free agency. They do make waves however, it's just, they tend to be tiny ripples opposed to major tsunamis. While the team is adverse to signing big name free agents, or even averagely sized name free agents, they do have a tendency to fill out their roster with role players and have never been too adverse to a trade or two. In recent years, the Steelers' biggest move in free agency was arguably the signing of Ryan Clark, which wasn't Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz We are moving closer to the NFL Draft, and closer to the conclusion to the Mike Wallace speculation. Once Wallace signs his tender or new contract with the Steelers, or once he signs with another team, the direction of the Steelers in the draft will become clearer. For now, considering all of the releases, other roster moves, and external factors such as player visits or organization representation at Pro Days, below is my first attempt at a Mock Draft for the Steelers for 2012 assuming that Wallace stays with the team. Like the Depot’s brain trust, Mr. Dave Bryan’s, my projections Read more [...]

Last night Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that unrestricted free agent running back Mike Tolbert was likely to land with the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Carolina Panthers and that Tolbert had a visit set up Saturday with an undisclosed team. In my post last night that relayed the report from Acee, I warned that although Tolbert would certainly be a fit for the Steelers in my own opinion, it was hard to speculate further about it until we knew for sure that Tolbert was indeed visiting the Steelers. As it turns it, Tolbert does not have a visit scheduled right now according Read more [...]

Kevin Acee, San Diego Chargers beat writer for the San Diego Union-Tribune, reports tonight on Twitter that unrestricted free agent running back Mike Tolbert is expected to land with either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Carolina Panthers. Acee added that he was told that the Tolbert situation isn't like the Malcom Floyd one in 2011, who returned last year after his deal was dead. Floyd was close to signing with the Baltimore Ravens last offseason, but ended back with the Chargers on a two-year deal. Mike Tolbert expected to land in Pittsburgh or Carolina ... I'm told this isn't like Malcom Floyd, Read more [...]

San Diego Chargers running back Mike Tolbert was on SiriusXM NFL Radio this morning to talk with host Adam Schein and Rich Gannon about his upcoming free agent status. Tolbert, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent late Tuesday, mentioned early on in the interview that that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Pittsburgh Steelers are two teams that will be on his radar. Tolbert did however say later on in the interview that he and his agent have sat down to list several teams where he thought he would be a fit and that list included the New York Giants, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Read more [...]

Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk posted the latest updated cap numbers of all 32 teams on Sunday and shows the Pittsburgh Steelers as being $10.5 million under the cap. Now in his post he says that those numbers reflect 2011 rollover cap space, which the Steelers will use, and franchise tags amounts, which the Steelers of course did not use. Although Florio does not clarify, I believe that $10.5 number does not include restricted tenders or exclusive rights tenders, which would make sense and match my numbers. I also assume Florio is accounting for the LTBE (likely to be earned) roster bonuses Read more [...]

I feel like today is a good day to put out free agent fire before it gets started, just like I did at this same time last year with Tiki Barber. This year it is another former New York Giants running back that will have at least half of Steeler Nation frothing at the mouth after he was released today by the Super Bowl champions. Jacobs will turn 30 years of age in July and his best years are far behind him. Not only is that an issue with Pittsburgh being a possible landing spot for him, but he has character issues as well. He is not regarded as a team player and loses his cool way too much for Read more [...]