Kevin Colbert did not tell a lie as the Steelers have agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent nose tackle Chris Hoke according to Mark Kaboly on Twitter. Hoke reportedly has passed his physical and has signed one-year deal. He will report to training camp tonight, but can't practice until Thursday according to the new labor agreement rules. The move is not too surprising as the Steelers continue to attack their own free agents this offseason as several of the Steelers unrestricted free agents like William Gay, Daniel Sepulveda and Mewelde Moore have now agreed to return over the last few Read more [...]

Sunday was day 4 of Steelers training camp and once again the news got off to an early start as the Plaxico Burress watch is now over after he agreed to terms on a one year deal with the Jets for a little over $3 million. Perhaps the trip to Pittsburgh was just a ploy to drive his price tag up, but I am willing to bet the Steelers were not in the ballpark money wise. Whatever the reason was, it doesn't matter at this point. The next bit of news we got right before practice started is that the Steelers had agreed to terms with cornerback William Gay on a one-year deal. No terms were announce, but Read more [...]

Mark Kaboly reports via Twitter that unrestricted free agent running back Mewelde Moore has agreed to terms on a contract to return to Pittsburgh. The Steelers are dead set at re-signing their own free agents this year to help lessen the stress of relying on inexperienced rookies on the roster. No terms have been announced yet, but it would figure to be a one or two year deal. Moore will likely resume his role as a the third down and change of pace back initially, but stands to have competition from 7th round draft pick Baron Batch, who is already turning heads in training camp. Last season Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 3 of The Terrible Podcast is up and day 3 of Steelers training camp is in the books now. I am joined by Mark Kaboly from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review who had the epic Plaxico Burress watch going on Twitter today as he gave a play-by-play of the Burress visit. Make sure you are following him at @MarkKaboly_Trib. We talk about the Burress visit and the chances of him signing with the Steelers to get the interview off to a fast start. I ask Mark if he thinks the offseason foot surgeries that Emmanuel Sanders had is behind the interest in Burress. We talk about the Steelers salary Read more [...]

DVE reporter Mike Prisuta reported via Twitter this morning that offensive linemen Doug Legursky and Ramon Foster will battle during training camp for the starting right guard spot according to Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler. Foster ended the season as the starting right guard after Trai Essex and Legursky both made starts there early last season. Prisuta also reports that defensive end Aaron Smith said he is healthy and that he'll assume a back up role if that's what Steelers want him to do, without issue. Prisuta added that Smith will open camp as the starting left defensive end. Read more [...]

Just minutes after it was announced that tackle Willie Colon had re-signed with the Steelers, Ed Bouchette reported via Twitter that tackle Jonathan Scott has also been re-signed to the team. Scott was an unrestricted free agent after just one year in Pittsburgh. He was signed last offseason to a one year deal after a previous stint in Buffalo. Scott had a rough start with the Steelers last year after taking over the left tackle spot when Max Starks was lost for the season with a neck injury. Scott slowly improved as time went on and finished the season on a high note. Scott looks to be a candidate Read more [...]

Michael Lombardi is reporting via Twitter that Steelers unrestricted free agent tight end Matt Spaeth has agreed to terms today with the Chicago Bears. Spaeth was originally drafted by the Steelers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft out of Minnesota. Prior to the lockout beginning, the Steelers reportedly had tried to tender Spaeth just in case he would have been deemed a restricted free agent this year. The new labor deal made that tender worthless as Spaeth has 4 years accrued in the league. Spaeth was never a receiving threat in the Bruce Arians two tight end offense and was mostly Read more [...]

Another item on the Steelers to-do list is to get their entire 2011 draft class under contract today. Draft picks this year must be signed to 4-year contracts and with a club option for a fifth year on first round draft pick Cameron Heyward. Dale Lolley reports via Twitter that few of the rookies appear to already have their contracts signed and it is expected that the Steelers will announce the signings later today or Friday. Under the new labor agreement the 4-year base salaries of the Steelers 2011 draft draft picks is expected to total out at $2.2 million as I have previously reported. That Read more [...]

Steelers unrestricted free agent cornerback Ike Taylor will not make to market as Adam Schefter is reporting via Twitter that he will likely end his career in Pittsburgh after agreeing to a new 4 year contract. Details of the contract are unavailable right now, but it means that Taylor is signed through the 2014 season. More info on the deal as I get it. Taylor will not officially be able to sign his contract until 6 p.m. on Friday per the new labor rules and will not be able to practice until Aug. 4 due to the stipulations of free agent signings. He is currently entering his 9th season with Steelers Read more [...]

Ben Volin, who covers the Miami Dolphins for the Palm Beach Post, joined me for a short phone interview just a while ago to clarify the $3 million veteran salary cap credits included in the new labor agreement that teams can use in 2011 to give them some instant cap relief. Volin explained that teams can designate up to three players currently under contract, with at least 5 accrued seasons or more in the league, and take a $1 million salary cap credit on each. The credit has to be accounted for in future years, but can be stretched out over a course of a four year span in years 2014-2017. Should Read more [...]

The NFLPA and the league's owners have reached an agreement on the remaining points needed in their 10-year labor deal and now only requires a majority vote from the players on Monday to finalize the deal to end the lockout. Great news. rces-say Hard not to know now by now that Ben Roethlisberger and Ashley Harlan were married Saturday at Christ Church at Grove Farm in Ohio Township and some pictures from the event are here. Almost all of the Steelers offensive line were included in the wedding and even WWE professional wrestler Triple H and Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux were in attendance. Read more [...]

The early news this morning is that the new CBA could help teams keep high priced veterans as opposed to making them salary cap casualties. While PFT and others on Twitter have not expanded on this, it seems this could be some sort of soft cap that allows credits to players with a certain amount of accrued years in the league. We can only speculate on this right now until the new labor deal is reached. So which Steelers players could this affect? The most obvious would be players like Flozell Adams and Aaron Smith, but could include a few more depending on what the new deal considers a veteran Read more [...]

John Harris reports that linebacker James Harrison is probably about 80-85 percent right now according to his agent Bill Parise. Harrison has undergone two back procedures this offseason. [phpbay]Steelers James Harrison, 3, "", ""[/phpbay] Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is suing Hanesbrands for ending their endorsement deal with him a few months back because of his 9/11 tweet. Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons says he isn’t worried that the lockerroom will get divided because of the comments made by Harrison recently in Men's Journal. Timmons compared the team to a family. Read more [...]

According to a tweet by Ken Rice of KDKA, Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is suing Hanesbrands for ending his endorsement deal with Champion earlier this offseason. Champion announced in a May statement that they were ending their business relationship with Mendenhall because the company didn't think he could appropriately represent the company going forward after he posted his views on the events of 9/11 following the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden. The remarks Mendenhall made via Twitter garnered quite a bit of attention by the media and people lined up both in support and Read more [...]

The dust is slowly starting to clear after the explosive interview of Steelers linebacker James Harrison in Men's Journal surfaced on Wednesday. Harrison released an apology type statement Thursday night for comments he made about his teammates, more specifically the ones about quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Rashard Mendenhall, and Harrison also apologized for speaking in such a candid manner to someone outside of the team. Since the news of the article first surfaced, it was reported that Harrison had called and cleared the air with Roethlisberger, who reportedly said he was Read more [...]