How I Would Attack this Offseason

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smithessmokin
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How I Would Attack this Offseason

Post by smithessmokin » Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:16 pm

Steelers completely overhaul and make this the last chance with Big Ben. They absolutely make their last stand, doing the following moves to free up cap space in order to keep the future of this team together.

Parameters:
1. The Steelers only have 17 players currently on the roster for 2022. Add in 8-10 draft picks from this draft class, they only have half of a roster set. They also have an incredible $177M in cap space. The future is a blank canvas for the Steelers essentially.

2. The Steelers extend the following players: Roethlisberger($14.34), Haden($4.74M), Nelson($5.80M), Decastro($6.14M), Watt(7.27M), Ebron($3.94). TOTAL= $42.23M. I won't get into how many years or for how much. Watt's extension is the only one that should really be one to "break the bank" so to say. I'm hoping Haden takes a similar path to Roethlisberger and realizes that he could end up retiring a Steeler. I'd give 2 year extensions to Roethlisberger and Haden; 3 year extensions to Nelson, Decastro, and Ebron; and 4/5 year extension for Watt.

3. The Steelers restructure the following players: Heyward($7.06), Tuitt($3.96). TOTAL= $11.02M

4. For those of you keeping record, that would free up a cool $53.25M in cap space. Now, I'm going to apply a 80% to this figure as what I will call a reality check. You may not exactly see what I what do here to fruition, but I think you could see something close to this happen. Maybe they don't extend/restructure for a much as savings as they possibly the could. Maybe Haden/Ebron is cut to save more to use that towards our own free agents, maybe the Watt extension doesn't get done this year. So for arguments sake and a player here/there, I'm going to say the Steelers could have somewhere in $41M in cap space if they really wanted to do so for 2021. I've only spent $10.32 on returning players before our big name free agents are addressed(GREEN). So we have $31M looking at Dupree, Smith-Schuster, Hilton, and Sutton(which I already have said we could do a swap of him and Haden).

5. Current free agents:

OLB Bud Dupree
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
DT Tyson Alualu- yes, sign him to another 2 yr $6M
CB Cameron Sutton
CB Mike Hilton
OL Alejandro Villanueva- no
OL Matt Feiler- no
OL Zach Banner- yes, could sign him to a very team friendly deal given injury plus he wants to be here. 2 years $6M. He is the LT according to his exit interview with Tomlin. $3M CAP HIT
LB Avery Williamson- no, which could turn into a wait and see cheap vet signing.
P Jordan Berry- I'd punt on him and sign a UDFA, this guy just isn't good enough for $$$ and Corliss Waitman could be ready to play.
S Sean Davis- wait and see cheap vet signing
DE Chris Wormley- no
RB James Conner- no
WR Ray Ray McCloud- yes, ERFA at $850K
OL JC Hassenauer- yes, ERFA at $780K
OL Jerald Hawkins- yes, vet min of $990K
LB Marcus Allen- yes, ERFA at $850K
QB Josh Dobbs- no, which could turn into a wait and see cheap vet signing
SAF Jordan Dangerfield- no
LB Robert Spillane- yes, ERFA at $850K
LB Ola Adeniyi- no

Significant Players Heading into Draft Under Contract
QB/ Roethlisberger, Rudolph, Haskins
RB/ Snell, McFarland, Samuels
TE/ Ebron, Rader, Gentry
WR/ Claypool, Johnson, Washington, McCloud
OL/ Banner, Dotson, Hassenauer, Decastro, Okorafor, Hawkins
DL/ Hewyward, Alualu, Tuitt, Buggs, Davis
OLB/ Dupree, Watt, Highsmith
ILB/ Bush, Williams, Spillane
CB/ Haden/Sutton, Nelson, Hilton, Layne, Pierre
SAF/ Edmunds, Fitzpatrick
ST' Boswell, Canaday

39 players expected back currently before examining our top free agents.



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bradshaw2ben
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Post by bradshaw2ben » Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:32 pm

Completely agree, which is why I don’t understand all the room and gloom this off-season. Feels like the Steelers *could* be better in 2022 than they were at the end of 2020.
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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Post by Jobu » Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:38 pm

OL/ Banner, Dotson, Hassenauer, Decastro, Okorafor, Hawkins
:shock:
I think you just convinced Ben to retire. :lol:
“Ah, who cares about Seattle’s Space Needle? Dumb looking building, you can see the whole stupid town, built by some jag off! Pittsburgh got Mt. Warshington, gorgeous hillside, beautiful views of the whole city, built by God…we win!” - Pittsburgh Dad

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Post by stillthere » Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:38 pm

smithessmokin wrote:
Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:16 pm
OLB/ Dupree, Watt, Highsmith
So you are bringing back Dupree. 1 year to show he is back from the injury or multi year deal?

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Post by steelmann58 » Mon Feb 22, 2021 1:05 am

Plus the potential Comp Picks adding to their haul in 2022

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Post by steelcountry » Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:06 am

smith, one key piece regarding your one comment RE: 41M in cap space. They may clear that much cap space but they're sitting at about 15M over the cap (assuming ~183-185M cap). If they're aggressive with their extensions/restructures they could have about 15-20M in cap space to start the FA period.

smithessmokin
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Post by smithessmokin » Mon Feb 22, 2021 4:58 am

steelcountry wrote:
Mon Feb 22, 2021 2:06 am
smith, one key piece regarding your one comment RE: 41M in cap space. They may clear that much cap space but they're sitting at about 15M over the cap (assuming ~183-185M cap). If they're aggressive with their extensions/restructures they could have about 15-20M in cap space to start the FA period.

Ah, you are right my friend. The point I was trying to make is that if the Steelers really wanted to go all in with Ben and bring back most of the key players, they definitely could. Bu just restructuring Heyward and Tuitt, they’re basically right at the cap. My fugues $180 will be the floor with the actual cap being higher.

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jebrick
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Post by jebrick » Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:40 pm

Best they can hope for is no cap movement so $198M. I think it will be south of that
“If you see the handwriting on the wall, you’re in the toilet.”

- Fred Sanford

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Post by bradshaw2ben » Mon Feb 22, 2021 6:54 pm

stillthere wrote:
Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:38 pm
smithessmokin wrote:
Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:16 pm
OLB/ Dupree, Watt, Highsmith
So you are bringing back Dupree. 1 year to show he is back from the injury or multi year deal?
you can't do a 1-year deal with Dupree, since that would yield a much higher cap hit than year 1 of even a big long-term deal.
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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tbsteel
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Post by tbsteel » Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:14 pm

Jobu wrote:
Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:38 pm
OL/ Banner, Dotson, Hassenauer, Decastro, Okorafor, Hawkins
:shock:
I think you just convinced Ben to retire. :lol:
:lol:

I'm gonna have to be sold on Banner. Why are we convinced he's a good player again? Couldn't even make it out of camp as a fourth rounder his rookie year, cut by the Browns and Panthers, and looked pretty trash against the Giants before he got hurt. Does not look like he can handle speed at all to me and looks like he plays soft, which would be a disaster at LT.
Tiny hands, smaller heart.

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Post by Jobu » Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:50 pm

tbsteel wrote:
Mon Feb 22, 2021 8:14 pm
Jobu wrote:
Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:38 pm
OL/ Banner, Dotson, Hassenauer, Decastro, Okorafor, Hawkins
:shock:
I think you just convinced Ben to retire. :lol:
:lol:

I'm gonna have to be sold on Banner. Why are we convinced he's a good player again? Couldn't even make it out of camp as a fourth rounder his rookie year, cut by the Browns and Panthers, and looked pretty trash against the Giants before he got hurt. Does not look like he can handle speed at all to me and looks like he plays soft, which would be a disaster at LT.
I’m with you on this. Banner, from my view, is nothing more than JAG at best.
But you know, he is a social media loud mouth...giving his two cents about anything and everything. Plus he spent the 2019 season reporting as “eligible“, (let’s be honest... he was very meh as the 6th lineman) which gave all Steelers fans inside Heinz Field the jollies, so I guess he’s golden.
And Cool Shades giving this guy, coming off of major knee surgery after playing less than 2 quarters of real footbal, the thumbs up as a starter is just awesome.
Chuks and Banner as LT/RT or RT/LT along with Hausenpfeffer at C will be a disaster.
“Ah, who cares about Seattle’s Space Needle? Dumb looking building, you can see the whole stupid town, built by some jag off! Pittsburgh got Mt. Warshington, gorgeous hillside, beautiful views of the whole city, built by God…we win!” - Pittsburgh Dad

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Post by bradshaw2ben » Mon Feb 22, 2021 10:33 pm

The best Banner looked since he’s been in Pittsburgh was when he played LT during the 2019 preseason. That gives me an ounce of hope about him as a stopgap.
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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Post by cop1211 » Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:19 am

If Banner is the left tackle who ever is the QB is going to get killed. The guy is a JAG as a RT.

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Post by bradshaw2ben » Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:13 am

cop1211 wrote:
Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:19 am
If Banner is the left tackle who ever is the QB is going to get killed. The guy is a JAG as a RT.
I guess my wait-and-see attitude is because I thought he looked better at LT than RT. He didn't look so hot at RT.
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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Post by cop1211 » Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:44 pm

bradshaw2ben wrote:
Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:13 am
cop1211 wrote:
Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:19 am
If Banner is the left tackle who ever is the QB is going to get killed. The guy is a JAG as a RT.
I guess my wait-and-see attitude is because I thought he looked better at LT than RT. He didn't look so hot at RT.
Tomlin “The standard is the standard “

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Post by bradshaw2ben » Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:03 pm

cop1211 wrote:
Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:44 pm
bradshaw2ben wrote:
Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:13 am
cop1211 wrote:
Tue Feb 23, 2021 1:19 am
If Banner is the left tackle who ever is the QB is going to get killed. The guy is a JAG as a RT.
I guess my wait-and-see attitude is because I thought he looked better at LT than RT. He didn't look so hot at RT.
Tomlin “The standard is the standard “
:lol:
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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jebrick
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Post by jebrick » Wed Feb 24, 2021 6:59 pm

Max Starks surprised at LT so Banner might as well. I would at least draft one but it would be high if it were not a developmental OT
“If you see the handwriting on the wall, you’re in the toilet.”

- Fred Sanford

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Post by bradshaw2ben » Thu Feb 25, 2021 2:57 pm

jebrick wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 6:59 pm
Max Starks surprised at LT so Banner might as well. I would at least draft one but it would be high if it were not a developmental OT
I do think it changes your draft mindset if you think you have a starter in place. Much more likely to take a guy you wouldn’t necessarily want to roll with in week 1. You could take one of the two FCS tackles who didn’t play all of last year and might be a bit rusty. You could draft someone with tools and size who you think might respond to coaching. You could draft a player who isn’t as experienced at the position. And so on.
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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jebrick
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Post by jebrick » Fri Feb 26, 2021 12:32 pm

IIRC, Starks was left handed and played better at LT because it was more natural to him for the sets. Banner could be similar or not.
“If you see the handwriting on the wall, you’re in the toilet.”

- Fred Sanford

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