Steeler Salary Cap Relief......

[83-Steelers-43]

Steelers search for salary cap relief
Friday, March 03, 2006

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



The Steelers yesterday feverishly were searching for every last dime they could shave off their roster in order to get under the NFL's $94.5 million salary cap by Monday.

They were so desperate they released safety Russell Stuvaints, although he is injured. They did so in order to save $230,000 under their cap. Stuvaints, entering his fourth year, would count $460,000 against them but by releasing him, a younger player would count only $230,000.

Because Stuvaints is injured with a torn ACL, the Steelers have 25 days to re-sign him or be subject to a grievance filed against them, according to Stuvaints' agent, Joe Linta.

The highest-paid 51 players under contract count under the cap as of the Monday extension deadline for the start of the league season.

The Steelers also intend or may already have cut quarterback Tommy Maddox ($1 million) and cornerback Willie Williams ($1.235 million) to save their salaries. They tried to reach Maddox to inform him of their plans, but were unable to yesterday. In these cases, neither player will be brought back.

They have been trying to re-negotiate center Jeff Hartings' contract down from the $4 million plus $750,000 roster bonus scheduled for 2006. They also are trying to reduce backup center Chukky Okobi's $2 million salary for 2006.

[Koopa]

lmao @ maddox dodgeing phone calls, damn i hate to say this but i can't wait to read that maddox has been cut

[83-Steelers-43]

Sort of stinks to see a Pittsburgh kid get the boot, but I guess that's the business.

[FanecaFan66]

I believe maddox is blaming his unreachability over the phone due to "unpredictable winds" that have knocked out his service.


thankfully Tommy Gun hasn't been forced to throw under these conditions

[Haiku_Dirtt]

Originally Posted by FanecaFan66

I believe maddox is blaming his unreachability over the phone due to "unpredictable winds" that have knocked out his service.


thankfully Tommy Gun hasn't been forced to throw under these conditions

The wind really was kicking that day. I already lost any and all tolerance to cold weather but that sunny Sunday morning turned frigid in minutes.

The fact that 70,000 people in seats and some 50 Jag players (and the trainers with their backs to the field) knew where Tommy was throwing the ball the moment he dropped into the pocket brings new meaning to the word predicatable.

Since everyone recognized this by at least halftime, I blame Whiz and the coaching staff for the second half and overtime. When you see your toddler repeatly come dangerously close to the fire at some point you need to sit him down and knock it into their brain what and what not to do, even if your toddler has 10 years of NFL experience. Thankfully he was never a Trojan.

[BB2W]

It's official, Maddox and Williams were released today...

The Steelers today told quarterback Tommy Maddox that they had released him, and that came as no surprise to the veteran former starter.

They also told veteran cornerback Willie Williams that he was released. Williams, who started half of the 2004 season for them but was replaced by Ike Taylor at the start of 2005, was to earn $1,235,000 in 2006.

Maddox had dropped to No. 3 on the depth chart behind Charlie Batch at mid-season. He was scheduled to make $1 million in salary and a bonus next season.


link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06062/664446.stm

They also restructured Duce Staley's contract, and plan to offer Ike Taylor the 1.55 million mid-level tender...

The Steelers have restructured the contract of running back Duce Staley, his agent Derrick Harrison said Thursday. "We're in agreement at this point. It's just some fine-tuning now," Harrison said.

Staley was scheduled to make $2.5 million next season, while counting $4.3 million against the salary cap. But those numbers will be reduced when the Steelers submit their player salaries to the NFL by the 10 p.m. deadline Sunday.

Staley, who will be entering his 10th season, accepted a restructuring of his deal because he is expected to be a backup to Willie Parker next season.

"Duce is a team guy, he's willing to make those concessions," Harrison said. "He understood the business aspect. Duce never has totally been motivated by money. When he was a free agent, there were teams that put more money on the table than the Steelers, but when we looked at his options, we both felt like Pittsburgh was a good fit for him. Coach (Bill) Cowher has a reputation of taking care of his veterans."

Also, restricted free-agent cornerback Ike Taylor will receive a one-year tender of $1.55 million.

By giving Taylor a mid-level tender, the Steelers can match any offer sheet made to Taylor by another team because they have the right of first refusal. If the Steelers don't match a potential offer, they'll be compensated with a first-round draft choice.

The team continues to try to re-work deals with Hartings, who is scheduled to make $4 million next season and would count $8.1 million against the cap, and Okobi, who is scheduled to make $2 million and would count $2.7 million against the cap.

Okobi could take a pay cut of between 20 and 50 percent, according to his agent, Joe Linta of Freedom. Or, the two sides could decide it is best to release Okobi, a five-year vet.

"We want to lean toward staying," Linta said. "The Steelers have assured us that Chukky is the center of the future. However, we just hope the future comes before he's on Medicare."


link: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/trib.../s_429494.html

[OX1947]

If I had to assume how this off season will work out according to the Steelers decisions, it looks like they will want to keep everyone together as much as they can. According to the article and what some of the players who are free agents have said, it looks like everyone is willing to work together. I think Hartings restructures and plays one more year and then Chucky will take over after 2006. Ike is staying unless someone wants to give a 1st rounder(unlikely). Duce is our back up RB(Bettis Role).

If the CBA is done by Sunday, we will have at least enough money to resign 2/3 of our big 3 (Hope, Keisel, El). I really hope the CBA thing is a go on Sunday, I think we may have more depth with the draft going into next year and keeping our core players.

[Atlanta Dan]

One problem of the Steelers getting more cap $$ if a new CBA is announced is that teams seeking to sign Steelers FAs also will get more $$ to spend; in other words, the Steelers are chasing a moving target in terms of the available funds for other teams.

At some point it becomes a "how many yachts do you need to buy to water ski behind" syndrome. While all of the multi-million $$ contracts look good to this non-millionaire, if you are as hyper-competitive as most pro athletes are it is probably not enough to simply be very well compensated but important to be the best compensated among your peers.

That raises my concern that since the Browns can win any spending war for Brett Keisel he may go to the Browns and can rationalize it(not that he needs to - it is a capitalist society in which we live) because: Romeo Crennel is a pretty smart guy to work with; and being part of something that is being built may be at least as satisfying as stepping into a situation where it has already been built.

With regard to Chris Hope, I have not heard of any team specifically targeting him so it is hard to see whom the Steelers may need to outspend to retain Hope.

ARE is gone - even Ben & Hines Ward did not make any pretense that they thought he would be back when they made their obligatory statements that he is a valuable part of the team. Interesting how in my view the least valuable of the three FAs I have discussed (I am not dissing ARE, I just think he will be the easiest to replace) is the hot FA based on a lateral and an option pass in the playoffs.

[WyomingCowgirlBarbie]

Brett going to the browns would surprise me. They aren't the ones sniffing around him the hardest. Hopefully as the front office talk salary they talk about him being a starter.

[83-Steelers-43]

Originally Posted by WyomingCowgirlBarbie

Brett going to the browns would surprise me. They aren't the ones sniffing around him the hardest. Hopefully as the front office talk salary they talk about him being a starter.

The Browns are the only team I have heard mentioned locally. Do you know of other teams?