Aaron Smith gets 1 yr contract extension...

[tony hipchest]

...as per jim wexel and SCI-

Our capologist at SCI, Ian Whetstone, reports Aaron Smith's contract was extended a year to free up $875,000 for this year's cap/Starks.
.

gotta love the FO spin-

"money is no issue"

"we are pleased with arians"

[PhantomJB93]

When put into perspective with the Starks signing it makes sense, but I hope to God they're not ACTUALLY planning to keep him another year...

[tony hipchest]

this ones kinda tough to figure out. by all accounts they had/cleared enough cap room for starks before this (if correct).

im thinking they told smith to take a good look at bryant mcfadden and what happened to max starks before the season, appealed to his sense of pride, and made aaron an offer he couldnt refuse.

help us out with some of the money you are stealing this season and retire a steelers with dignity as a back-up, or get your ass benched and kicked out the door, and still be searching for work at vet minimum week 4 of the 2012 season.

[Atlanta Dan]

Why the FO did not have this discussion with Smith in July still amazes me - working the tight cap around that deadweight contract has been ludicrous

[MACH1]

At least they didn't extend arians.

Yet.

[Atlanta Dan]

Originally Posted by MACH1

At least they didn't extend arians.

Yet.

Ron Cook probably is pushing for it based on the valentine he published in the P-G today

At this point, it's worth noting that there is nothing wrong with Arians' offensive philosophy. It was good enough to get the Steelers to the Super Bowl last season. It was good enough to help them win the Super Bowl after the 2008 season

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11280/1180315-87-0.stm

The Trib-Review noted prior to the latest debacle by the offense in Houston how ridiculous the claimed "good enough to win the Super Bowl" offense justifies Arians once you look at the stats

They're ranked 26th in points per game and only that high because the defense scored one of their six touchdowns. They have cracked the top 10 in scoring once in coordinator Bruce Arians' five years, tying for ninth in 2007.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_759292.html

After Houston that is 27th in points scored

[SH-Rock]

Originally Posted by Atlanta Dan

Ron Cook probably is pushing for it based on the valentine he published in the P-G today

At this point, it's worth noting that there is nothing wrong with Arians' offensive philosophy. It was good enough to get the Steelers to the Super Bowl last season. It was good enough to help them win the Super Bowl after the 2008 season

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11280/1180315-87-0.stm

Good enough? If I remember correctly Ben is an average QB in the pocket and the best outside. So that means it's all Ben on the field making those crucial plays.

[DanRooney]

Is this some sort of sick April fool's joke?

[Busman]

The difference though with Starks and McFadden.. McFadden got picked up by the Cards and Starks was not picked up by anybody. IMHO Aaron wont be as lucky as McFadden

Bman

Originally Posted by tony hipchest

this ones kinda tough to figure out. by all accounts they had/cleared enough cap room for starks before this (if correct).

im thinking they told smith to take a good look at bryant mcfadden and what happened to max starks before the season, appealed to his sense of pride, and made aaron an offer he couldnt refuse.

help us out with some of the money you are stealing this season and retire a steelers with dignity as a back-up, or get your ass benched and kicked out the door, and still be searching for work at vet minimum week 4 of the 2012 season.

[tony hipchest]

Originally Posted by Busman

The difference though with Starks and McFadden.. McFadden got picked up by the Cards and Starks was not picked up by anybody. IMHO Aaron wont be as lucky as McFadden

Bman

the point with mcfadden being that he is a veteran, making good money, who has probably seen his last start as a steeler, and may never even sniff the field unless there are multiple injuries to those ahead of him on the depth chart.

we may have very well seen the last start of a smiths career.

wexell wa s kind enough to answer a few of my questions. if i understand correctly this "extension" really isnt a bad deal.

we give him the rest of his paychecks up front for this year and able to shift some of the hit to next season. if we want him back next year to be a bench warmer, we essentially get him for free.

it sounds like he is basically giving back a little bit of the money he is "stealing" from the steelers this season.

jimwexell James C Wexell
@ @Steelers_Fever Much of this year's salary turned to bonus, divided by two (years of new contract) = amount on cap books both years.