Vets rooting for Faneca?

[tony hipchest]

Originally Posted by revefsreleets

If I was a veteran player on this Steelers team, I'm pretty sure that I would do whatever I had to do to appease Faneca. He's going to be a Steeler this year, no matter what, and he's still one of the best at his position (although the Steelers know he's starting to slip a little, or else we wouldn't be talking about this) and the team needs him to play to the best of his ability if they are going to make a run. If I was Hines Ward I'd tell him he was worth Peyton Manning money to get his head into the game.

great point. fanecas beef is with management, not his teammates and "brothers". i would be disappointed if the team turned their back on him. after all theyre in the "trenches" with him on a daily/weekly basis.

[GBMelBlount]

The FO philosophy of not overpaying 30+ "beasts" & most other premiere players (in general) has apparently paid off. I am curious. If that is the case why are the Steelers always up against the cap? Are they overpaying everyone else?

[Crushzilla]

Originally Posted by GBMelBlount

The FO philosophy of not overpaying 30+ "beasts" & most other premiere players (in general) has apparently paid off. I am curious. If that is the case why are the Steelers always up against the cap? Are they overpaying everyone else?

A lot of the money last year was tied up in the heart of our defensive core. An average of 3,218,000 went into our four starting linebackers. A little over 12 million combined.

I also think that can be attributed to giving reasonable reasonable salaries to a number of solid positional players as well as starters. IMO this is much more valuable because we have above average depth are are more resilient if an injury does occur. We are getting a pretty cheap price, though, on some of our backups.

For example, a lot of our backup players last year. Harrison, Kirschke, Hoke, Kriewaldt cost an average of 1.2 million against our cap.

The REAL damage, however, was in our Offensive line. The entire unit (starters and backups) cost us over 22.5 million against the cap. That's almost a quarter there.

22.5 To the O Line
12 million to the Linebackers

These two area are the core of any Steelers football team. Which is probably why they consume about one third of our cap room. This is all before QBs, RBs, Kreider, Dline, Secondary, Receivers, Tight Ends, Special Teamers...

With the exit of Hardings and Porter, though (11 million dollars against the cap) we should see some relief.

[Galax Steeler]

They want to see him get the big dollars so when there turn comes they will have the big dollars.

[HometownGal]

Originally Posted by galax steeler

They want to see him get the big dollars so when there turn comes they will have the big dollars.

They're not going to get the big dollars if Faneca gets that huge contract, which I am reasonably certain he won't. There is only so much moola to go around with the current cap system and with Troy and Ben's contracts coming up for renegotiation, the Steelers need to "conserve" however they can. Surely Faneca knows the relevance of signing both Troy and Ben.

I totally get why these vets are supportive of Faneca - he is still wearing the same black and gold uniform that they are and in order for them to be successful as a team this season, they need to maintain that comradarie.

[Big D]

I have a big problem with guards getting 7 million a year. I dont think giving faneca "market value" is a smart investment on the steelers part. I would trade him and get some more youth on this team.

[Aussie_steeler]

Originally Posted by steelreserve

That's the real truth of the matter. The league designed it years ago so that teams HAVE to let guys like Faneca walk. Let some other team pay him $7 million a year, and then watch what happens when they either have to cut two or three good players to get under the cap, or else get stuck in neutral for a couple years because they can't afford to add any good new players.

I agree totally. A brutal approach to the salary cap is the only way to remain competitive year in year out.

In Australia our national rugby league competition has the exact same scenario present itself. A salary cap of $3.6 million dollars spread across 25 players creates a much tighter situation.

THe best clubs like the Brisbane Broncos & Melbourne storm have a very clear philosophy in relation to the salary cap.

1. Be the best at identifying young talent
2. Sign them to long term contracts initially for market value
3. Once they get near 30 years of age get rid of them (dont get stuck with an aging overpriced star)
4. Take a punt on experienced players who had one or two poor years and buy them for minimum dollar
5. If players want to renegotiate contracts early they run the risk of being shown the door.
6. Make it attractive for stars to want to stay and accept a pay cut by providing them with playoff opportunities every year (players want to be measured by the number of trophies they have won)

CLubs that have a different philosophy try to by one or two great seasons and then spend the next decade crawling out of the hole they have dug.

Old diehard fans cry loudly for the good old days of player loyalty to club and jersey but we live in the age of CULTIVATED PARITY.

CLoser competition = means more fans = greater revenue for administrators

Without the safety net of trades the clubs have learnt to become BRUTAL and just blame the salary cap.

The players are aware of the reality of the situation and they therefore prostitute themselves to the highest bidder (in the NRL, overseas or to rugby union) and take the money wherever it comes from.

This situation has a lot of similarities to the NFL salary cap dilema.

We should be greatful that the steeler management has discovered the best way to manage the salary cap - dont overpay aging talent and be better than everybody else at drafting future starters.