Steelers temporarily 'capping' problems

[mesaSteeler]

Steelers temporarily 'capping' problems
By Jamison Hensley
http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/print?id=43083

The Pittsburgh Steelers have kept the core of their team together to make another Super Bowl run -- at a cost.

The NFL's busiest team this offseason, the Steelers whacked $25 million in three weeks by restructuring the contracts of five players. This got Pittsburgh under the cap this year, but the $25 million doesn't just disappear. The chunk of cap change gets spread over future years.

What it boils down to is this: The Steelers got themselves out of cap jail today by handcuffing themselves in the future. These moves are putting pressure on the Steelers to win now.

"As a former cap manager in the NFL for 10 years, I know that if you want to make something work for one year, you can," ESPN NFL business analyst Andrew Brandt said. "It’s just a question of how much pain are you pushing off to the future."

The first real pinch will come in 2013, when the Steelers could be anywhere from $10 million to $15 million over the cap depending on the limit next year. Add that to having three starters on offense becoming unrestricted free agents: wide receiver Mike Wallace (if he doesn't go elsewhere this year as a restricted free agent), running back Rashard Mendenhall and tight end Heath Miller.

Pittsburgh will have to either find cap room to re-sign these players, look for cheaper replacements in free agency or hope someone already on the roster can take their spots. Plus, wide receiver Antonio Brown becomes a restricted free agent in 2013, so the Steelers could be facing another Wallace situation all over again with a limited budget. It looks like there will be tougher decisions in 2013 than this year.

Adding to the Steelers' potential cap woes for 2013, Antonio Brown will become a restricted free agent after the upcoming season.

One alternative is to restructure more contracts, but that creates a vicious cycle. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger restructured for the second straight year, dropping his 2012 cap number from $16.92 million to $8.895 million. That simply increases Roethlisberger's cap number for the remaining four years of his contract (signed through 2015), making him a long-term cap burden.

"If it [the constant restructuring of contracts] didn’t catch up to them, then every team would not worry about doing this," Brandt said. "And most teams do worry about doing this."

What helps the Steelers is that the salary cap is expected to jump significantly in 2014 and beyond, perhaps as much as $30 million, with the new television contracts. That should help absorb a lot of the players' increased salary-cap numbers from the restructuring of Roethlisberger, LaMarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons, Ike Taylor and Willie Colon.

But that also means other teams can spend more in signing free agents and retaining their own players than the Steelers. These restructured deals will put Pittsburgh at the bottom of the list in terms of cap room for the foreseeable future. It's true that the Steelers rarely throw around money in free agency. (Trivia question: Who was the last high-priced free agent signed by the Steelers?) The reason why has been Pittsburgh's success in drafting.

Teams that spend the most in free agency are the ones trying to fill holes that are created when a high draft pick fails to develop. The Steelers now have little room for error in their upcoming drafts because they won't have the same cap space to compete with other teams for free agents if they need to do so.

In the end, the Steelers are only temporarily capping their problems. Pittsburgh has to address the long-term answers at running back (Do they move in a different direction from Mendenhall?) and wide receiver (Can they keep Wallace, Brown or none at all?). The Steelers have to figure out the eventual replacements for aging veteran defensive players such as�James Harrison, Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor and Ryan Clark.

But the bigger question that remains: Will they have enough cap space to find these answers?

"It’s hard to lock down that in 2013, they won’t be able to manage their team. Or in 2014, they’re going to have some real problems," Brandt said. "What has to be emphasized, though, is whatever the cap situation is league-wide, they are going to be in the most disadvantaged state."

[Atlanta Dan]

Originally Posted by mesaSteeler

Steelers temporarily 'capping' problems
By Jamison Hensley
http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/print?id=43083

The Pittsburgh Steelers have kept the core of their team together to make another Super Bowl run -- at a cost.

The NFL's busiest team this offseason, the Steelers whacked $25 million in three weeks by restructuring the contracts of five players. This got Pittsburgh under the cap this year, but the $25 million doesn't just disappear. The chunk of cap change gets spread over future years.

What it boils down to is this: The Steelers got themselves out of cap jail today by handcuffing themselves in the future. These moves are putting pressure on the Steelers to win now.

"As a former cap manager in the NFL for 10 years, I know that if you want to make something work for one year, you can," ESPN NFL business analyst Andrew Brandt said. "It’s just a question of how much pain are you pushing off to the future."..

"It’s hard to lock down that in 2013, they won’t be able to manage their team. Or in 2014, they’re going to have some real problems," Brandt said. "What has to be emphasized, though, is whatever the cap situation is league-wide, they are going to be in the most disadvantaged state."

So I guess that means since he now works as an "ESPN NFL business analyst" Andrew Brandt got fired as a "cap manager" and nobody hired him after that?

I will take my chances with Omar Khan and Kevin Colbert over Mr. Bryant

[zshelhamer]

I recall hearing about a TV deal for the NFL that is supposed to kick in soon and cause the salary cap to sky rocket. Does anyone know about that?

[tony hipchest]

Originally Posted by zshelhamer

I recall hearing about a TV deal for the NFL that is supposed to kick in soon and cause the salary cap to sky rocket. Does anyone know about that?

it is true.

and since the steelers will already have their own great players locked up for the long term we wont worry about other teams free agents or the "newfound wealth" all other teams have in cap space (anyone worried about the tampa bay bucks having $50 mil this year?).

pretty much business as usual. (the steelers have been expecting and planning for this). its just the clueless media and fans who find it shocking or alarming.

[19ward86]

If we can stop throwing $60 mil contracts around then i think we will be fine. I love Lawrence Timmons but he didnt earn his $8 mil. Willie Colon is a guy who i could see disappearing quickly. Im sure our head office has a plan.

[tony hipchest]

dick lebeau might beg to differ, which begs the question...

who is david blaine?

(rhetorical question- please dont send Captain Irrelevancy to the rescue.)

[60_MINUTES]

This guys an idiot... yes in normal years we may be screwed but because of the jump in Cap in 2014 the Steelers have done this perfect... he then says we wont be able to be big players in the cap that year because of what we are doing now.....lol we are never big players in that field.. we will draft guys and cont to kick ass.. our cap relief is coming.. we just have to stop the bleeding for the next two years.. which it looks like we did this year.. one more to go and this shit is behind us

[Atlanta Dan]

Originally Posted by 60_MINUTES

This guys an idiot

Gerry Dulac of the P-G agrees

Accroding to Hensely's AFC North Blog on ESPN, he thinks that the restructuring of contracts will cripple the Steelers in coming years regardless of a huge money influx from new TV contracts. Do you think that in 2013-14, the Steelers will lose their competitiveness when they no longer can sign their own talent?

Gerry Dulac: Look, when it comes to restructuring and contract stuff, the Steelers are among the best, if not the best, in the league. Why do you think they stay competitive all these years, have won 20 division titles and been to three Super Bowls since 2005? They know what they're doing.

http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/i...anscript-22912

[60_MINUTES]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Dan

Gerry Dulac of the P-G agrees

Accroding to Hensely's AFC North Blog on ESPN, he thinks that the restructuring of contracts will cripple the Steelers in coming years regardless of a huge money influx from new TV contracts. Do you think that in 2013-14, the Steelers will lose their competitiveness when they no longer can sign their own talent?

Gerry Dulac: Look, when it comes to restructuring and contract stuff, the Steelers are among the best, if not the best, in the league. Why do you think they stay competitive all these years, have won 20 division titles and been to three Super Bowls since 2005? They know what they're doing.http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/i...anscript-22912

Bingo... again we may not go out and sign all the big time FA...in 2014 and make no mistake about it... the NFL will explode that year... teams like the Skins and cowboys are gonna go off... hell you will prob see the skins go off the charts this year with signings..but anyway we may not be able to sign FA outside the team but in 2014 we will for sure have our guys signed and the money we are pushing back will fall right into place.. As long as we draft well we will be fine like we always are..

This guy basically says we are gonna be old by then... I guess he didnt see guys like Timmons, Woodley, Cortez Allen. Hood, Heyward.. pouncey. gilbert Wallace brown sanders... shit that sounds like a pretty good start to me... If we draft good... not great but just good... hit about 2 or 3 picks this year and 2 or 3 next year and we will be ready to roll again for the next 6 year stretch... what you guys think 2 or 3 more superbowl apperances in the next 6 years... sounds good to me