Which Aging Steeler Gets Cut?

[Mister Pittsburgh]

NO.............

I swear I am on an episode of the twilight zone.....

[SS Laser]

A couple of things to keep in mind...

If the Salary Cap does not jump significantly in 2014 (as is now the current belief), then the Steelers will likely find themselves in the same Cap situation next year as they are this year. Without taking into account who will or won't be cut this offseason, the only significant players (Capwise) that are UFA's (and therefore reduce the salary outlay of the Steelers) are:

Ryan Clark (2013 Cap hit of $4.75m)
Brett Keisel (2013 Cap hit of $4.5m)
Ziggy Hood (2013 Cap hit of $1.9m)
Jerricho Cotchery (2013 Cap hit of $1.5m)

That's roughly $13-$14m shaved off the Steelers Salary Cap in 2014 (so long as the Steelers do not attempt to resign any of these players).

While that might sound like some Cap relief, keep in mind that the Cap numbers of Ben Roethlisberger, LaMarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons & Antonio Brown will jump SIGNIFICANTLY in 2014 as a result of the Contract Restructures. As an example- after the contract restructure of Antonio Brown, he will now count for $3.12m in 2013. In 2014, however, his 'base salary' alone in $6m, not including the jump in his pro-rated signing bonus (which just jumped due to the restructure), meaning Brown will go from costing just over $3m in 2013, to roughly $9m in 2014. Timmons is similar, costing just over $5m after his restructure in 2013 to upwards of $10m in 2014. The money 'saved' by losing the FA's above, will get soaked up by the contracts of these restructures.

What Chadman is saying is, the Steelers need to consider deeply if they choose to restructure any other players. One guy that might be a 'smart' restructure is Willie Colon. Cutting him saves roughly $1m against the Cap (and that is obliterated by the need to then sign a replacement), but if the Steelers were to restructure his $5.5m base salary, and spread it over the remaining 3 years of his contract, the impact is not overly significant (his current Signing Bonus pro-rated yearly payment is $1.2m, by converting say $4 million of this year's contract into signing bonus, the bonus cost will only increase by around $1.3m per year to a total of $2.5m + base salary).

Any cuts the Steelers make this offseason need to be thought out well. The Steelers might need to cut players in 2013 not to sign FA's this season, but in order to free up money in 2014 to afford the contracts they are restructuring now. Harrison, Polamalu, Taylor all cost upwards of $10m next season, and Heath Miller is on about $9m next year. A couple of these guys might HAVE to go in 2013, so that the money saved from cutting their contracts allows the Steelers to avoid similar cost-cutting strategies in the years ahead. Cutting Keisel, Clark or Cotchery only helps in 2013, not beyond. At some point, the Steelers need to get this contract thing sorted out, so that in 2015/16, they don't find themselves in a financial Salary Cap black hole.

While it sucks to have to consider it, it might be better for the long-term good of the team to cut Harrison & Taylor (particularly if Lewis is re-signed) this year, in order to save the full $10m value of each players contract value next season, instead of portions of that $10m each in 2014. Then the Steelers could look at cutting Polamalu & Miller next offseason & saving a portion of their contract values against the 2014 salary cap (while still giving the Steelers a chance to get young players ready to step in and start in 2014).

By doing that, the bloodletting/restructuring of the last couple of years might not be so significant in 2014, allowing the Steelers to get some normallacy in their offseason's, going forward.

For some players 2014 could be there last year. Some my take a cut like Hampton did. Some might retire. Some will be cut. I don't understand all the cap hell talk? What maybe 5 or 6 teams are not doing this same stuff right now. This restructure stuff is the norm now for most in the NFL. I have not seen what the expected cap will be in 2015? That could help some. Plus Ben will be extended at some point which will help in that year. Maybe 2014? Will there be money to sign a player that wants overpaid (Wallace) NO. Will there be extra cap money to pay for a high profile FA? No. I have no problem with either. Plus we still get to the playoffs 98% of the time. Now I would be more concerned with the cap if at BEST the Steelers were a 8-8 team.