The Steelers have $19 million in cap room with only a talented cornerback and a slew of mediocre or injury-prone linemen heading to free agency. So everything's great, right?Well, take a look at this list of Steelers who are getting ready to head into the final year of their current contracts (thanks to davaughnci for pulling a list together over at Football's Future Forum): RB Willie Parker, LB James Harrison, WR Hines Ward, TE Heath Miller, C Justin Hartwig, S Ryan Clark, CB Deshea Townsend, DE Brett Keisel, NG Casey Hampton, K Jeff Reed.
If you're counting, the Steelers have the NFL's defensive player of the year (Harrison), a running back who ran for 1,400-plus yards just a year ago (Parker), the team's all-time leading receiver (Ward), two-thirds of an outstanding defensive line (Hampton and Keisel), one of only two starting offensive linemen who isn't headed to free agency this offseason (Hartwig) and the solid free safety who gives Troy Polamalu a chance to roam all over (Clark).
That's not counting Miller, who won't be an unrestricted free agent unless the owners and union work out a new collective bargaining agreement.
So while many Steelers fans may be dreaming of Pittsburgh becoming players in the free agent market for a change to acquire a solid offensive tackle or maybe a guard, the reality is that a good bit of the Steelers' cap room will likely be taken up to re-up Harrison, Keisel, Clark, Reed and others.
That doesn't mean the Steelers won't have some money to try to re-sign Bryant McFadden and maybe Max Starks, but don't expect the Steelers to go on a spending spree this offseason, they just don't have the money to do that and keep the nucleus of this team together over the long-term.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-10-2009 @ 10:37AM
jim said...
big brave ben played the tv championship game with broken ribs that only he and not his team knew about, bens ribs and a rod saying he did not juice up,
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2-10-2009 @ 10:45AM
marc said...
in my opinion,
harrison, miller, hartwig, clark, kiesel, and reed will be re-upped.
they will make an attempt at hampton, but for less than he wants.
they will ask ward and townsend to take less to stay.
parker will split time with mendenhall next year and head to free agency with mendenhall taking over.
mcfadden and starks will be signed with courtesy offers to kemoautu and colon, though they will probably leave.
they will bring in an average lineman thru free agency.
with all that said, this draft will be extremely important to their success in the next 2-3 years. if they miss on any of the linemen (offense and defense) they take, then we will have some problems being successful.
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2-10-2009 @ 2:43PM
waterlillies10 said...
quit writing atricles about the stealers . we don't care .who gives a damn what they do, the forever remebered team with an asterisk bt their games seahawks and cardinals,
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2-11-2009 @ 3:33PM
ERIC BUZZATTO said...
Its great even the refs are STEELER fans. everyone loves the STEELERS. I bet you are a closet STEELER fan.
2-10-2009 @ 3:00PM
A. J. said...
For what it's worth, waterlillies10 just escaped from a mental institution.
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2-10-2009 @ 3:38PM
t said...
waterlillies10-
You must be trolling these boards for every chance tio whine about the Steelers. Are you retarded, obsessive, or you on the Patricheats' payroll and doing your desperate best to find them some company in the basement of the NFL's cheaters, liars and thieves?
Take another pill and *let it go*. It's over. You lost.
It's a shame for decent Cardinal's fans everywhere that you're embarrassing them with your idiocy.
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2-10-2009 @ 4:54PM
IronCity4ever said...
Ahh, waterlillies! there's obvious mental issues refelected in that name alone! Not to mention the idiotic remarks you made in the blog.
Its amazing how many times I've read how the Steelers were "given" the game by the refs or they cheat or they're a dirty team. WTF? Is that all you can come up with?
That argument is so dead and pointless please by all means take time and watch the game again with somone who has common football sense. Ther were calls in that game and the Seattle game that went both ways. Did you see the holding call on Pittsburgh that gave the Cards a safety? That would have been a first down for Pittsbrugh BTW.
We won. We win alot. deal with it and for GODs sake get out of that Arizona heat its starting to have a bad effect on your sensibilites.
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2-10-2009 @ 9:26PM
theloadedgun said...
I feel I have to respond to these moronic comments from waterlillies10, even though many of you already have.
In Superbowl XL, there were definitely some questionable calls. I will, even as a Steelers fan, admit that. However, there were some questionable calls both ways, and some of the penalties called against the Seahawks... get this... were f'n penalties! Jackson's (I believe it was Jackson. I don't watch the Super Bowl XL tape everyday) offensive pass interference call was, in fact, a push off. I saw Hines Ward get called for something that looked very similar the following season. I remember thinking, "I wish Seahawks fans were watching this game." If you extend your arms the way Jackson did, it's going to get called.
There was a play in which Jerame Stevens clearly fumbled the football, yet it was called an incomplete pass. The Seahawks didn't end up scoring on that drive, but they punted it away and had a field position advantage. Had it been ruled a fumble... who knows? Maybe someone would have scooped it up and taken it for 6. It's not that far-fetched considering what Harrison did in XLIII.
The holding calls were holding. So that's that. The one call I thought was ridiculous that went against the Seahawks was the tripping call against Hasselbeck after the Ike Taylor interception (yes Steelers fans... he caught one). So, Seahawks fans... stop whining. Mike Holmgren... the "men in the striped shirts" didn't make a terrible decision to punt late in the fourth quarter of that game and blow a coverage on a trick play that Ray Charles even saw coming.
I had to rewrite this part, so I'm going to give the condensed version. There were a few bad calls in SB XLIII as well; however, once again, it went both ways. I would say there were more calls that negatively affected the Steelers in that game. Don't get me started on the whole "if Santonio Holmes had been penalized for his celebration, the Cardinals would have had one last throw from the 30 yard line" crap. I'll embarass you during that conversation.
Last season, the Steelers lost in the playoffs due to terrible officiating at the end of a wildcard round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars (the NFL has even apologized to the Steelers for these game-changing blunders). However, they didn't sit around and complain about it. They just went and won the SB the following year.
For the record, I believe I should be on the Fanhouse payroll for this comment. This is better than a lot of the stuff I've read on here (with the exception of Ryan Wilson who is, for my money, the most entertaining man on the internet).
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2-10-2009 @ 7:14PM
waterlillies10 said...
you won nada pendejo , the stealers are paper champions , me encanta which means in spanish i love it, heaping abuses on pittsturd, no me gusta nada de pittsturd, the pinche rooneys are going to give the refs a mini trophy and a bonus later on i will comment later on the grand event. meantime i will continue to support any team that plays pittsturd idiota.
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2-14-2009 @ 2:29AM
tmcpr4 said...
L@@$er
2-10-2009 @ 7:36PM
A. J. said...
More ramblings of a crazy person.
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2-10-2009 @ 9:22PM
gcn said...
Wow, waterlillies actually thinks the game was fixed. Hey, I've got an idea for you--why don't you quit being a fan? If you are offended at how these games are fixed, then just go ahead and stop watching. No one's holding a gun to your head, just quit. That's right, you're free to watch ESPN World Series of Poker, or the professional bowling league, or whatever else you want. As an added bonus, the rest of use on these blog will be free from your tired, unoriginal, unsupported posts. Everybody wins! Yay!
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2-11-2009 @ 5:14PM
imdusmcvp said...
Quit your crying, the games over, we won. Get ready to celebrate Super Bowl win number seven next season.
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2-12-2009 @ 5:09PM
waterlillies10 said...
i will continue to heap abuses on the stealers , it never grows old just like the blog on chuck noll the city plans to name a street, it should be called stealer ave, in honor of the team that needs the assistance of the refs
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2-12-2009 @ 10:29PM
gcn said...
Lillies is a lo-ser! Lillies is a lo-ser!
Ha ha, I kid (sort of). Waterlillies, you give yourself too much credit. You haven't backed up one bit of your "abuse" with intelligent arguments. It's all just straight, jealous hate.
Do you truly believe the SB was fixed? That the refs were trying to give the game to Pittsburgh? The refs calls, especially in the 4th quarter were a pretty poor way to ensure a Steelers win!
In fact, I have a better theory that the refs were paid to give the game to the Cards because the league thought it would make a great Cinderella story. There'd be no better way to do it than to give the Steelers a couple of calls early (so no one would suspect a fix) but then hit the Steelers hard in the critical 4th quarter to make sure they lose--except they didn't expect the Steelers to climb out of the hole dug by the refs!
Ridiculous? Maybe, but no more ridiculous than your idea of a league-wide conspiracy to give it all to small-market Pittsburgh!
In reality, the league carefully polices the refs to make sure cheating/bribery does not go on. You don't think the league stands to lose out on a massive scale if its product is tainted? They'd be killing the golden goose if they went all WWF on us. The league has every reason to prevent what you claim.
And despite all of this, and the fact you have no credible evidence of cheating, you still maintain that the refs handed the title to Pittsburgh. I hold to what I said earlier: No one is holding a gun to your head, if you are irritated because of your belief the SB was fixed, then quit being a fan. Yet somehow I suspect you won't stop, and you'll continue to post your tired, unsupported suspicions on these sites. Seriously, waterlillies, you're like some loser that takes a deep sniff of his armpit, then cringes at the stink, then sniffs again, then cringes again, over and over. Why would you do that to yourself? Quit smelling your armpit, dude. It's always going to be stink.
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2-13-2009 @ 4:27PM
waterlillies10 said...
why are these the only games with controversy when the stealers play the patroits no problem ravens, cowboys,49'ers won outright but these 2 games with the cardinals and seahawks too many questionable calls in favor by rooneys guys the referees. forever this team in alot of fans mind will be known as the stealers. from san diego, arizona . baltimore,dallas, all across the country , this is a permanent scar, that won't go away
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2-14-2009 @ 2:18AM
gcn said...
Ahhhh, waterlillies. Still sniffing that armpit crack, huh? Can’t get enough, I guess.
Only the Steelers’ games have controversies? Yeah, that’s believable. In reality, there are plenty of questionable calls to go around. Denver beats SD in week 2 with Hochuli failing to rule a fumble. Was that game fixed? The Cards beat the Eagles in the NFC title game when the Arizona DB grabs Curtis’ leg on the Eagles’ last play and no interference is called. Was that game fixed, too?
I remember the Steelers playing the Jags in a wildcard game last year. Pittsburgh has the chance to get the ball back for a potential game-winning drive if they can just stop Jax from converting third and long. That was when the refs failed to penalize the Jags for an obvious hold on Pittsburgh, Garrard ends up breaking a long scramble for a first down, Steelers‘ season is over. I remember being very angry over that non-call, but I never thought to myself that the game was fixed. Why didn’t I realize the Jags must have paid off the refs!
If that sounds crazy to you, hey, that’s how you sound every time you put up a new post. The truth is, there are always going to be questionable calls--this is a high speed game of inches we are talking about, and refs are only human. You can’t expect perfect officiating. And sometimes those erroneous calls are not going to be evenly divided between the two teams, so one team might get more benefit than the other by way of questionable calls. As a fan of the game, I can live with that so long as there is no credible evidence of cheating (proof of bribery, etc.).
But not waterlillies. He can’t take it. If the team he hates ends up winning, then that team must have cheated. Right? Never mind that he has no proof or logical arguments, the winner must have paid off the refs. Straight outta third grade. Waterlillies is a joke. A joke that continues to smell his armpit crack over and over.