Steelers sign Worilds to 1 year deal...9.7 mill

[grotonsteel]

I saw Jones beat Joe Thomas few times...now if he beat the best LT in NFL i think he can develop into a nice player.

2nd year will tell us if he has improved.

[feltdizz]

But with Troy you always saw off the charts physical abilities so you always knew the potential greatness was coming. Do you see that with Jones? I don't

I HEARD Jones first tackle before I saw it... that CJ hit was bone crushing.

Preseason he was all over the field but it was probably because we were in our base D the whole time.

ST's Jones is always in on the tackle.

I think we saw Troy running late to plays with hair flying so it had the ohhh we see something. Seeing JJ almost get a sack doesn't impress people like you. You need production to see it because you don't want to see the little things he did that showed he has something. He also is honest in his assessment and THAT is the best thing about him. He knows he needs to fix things and has no problem admitting his faults.

[hawaiiansteel]

Jason Worilds unlikely to sign a new contract anytime soon

By Simon Chester on Apr 14 2014



Steeler fans are hoping to see a number of players in the final year of their contracts extended in the coming months. Just don't expect Jason Worilds to be one of them.

When Jason Worilds was hit with the transition tag at the start of March it was seen as a precursor to an expected long term extension by most fans. By placing the transition tag on him the Steelers reduced the amount they were guaranteed to pay him by about $2 million compared to the more commonly used franchise tag and it gave them right of first refusal should he receive a contract offer elsewhere while he shopped his services around the league.

Only unlike with the Cleveland Browns and Alex Mack that was never an issue.

Perhaps even more surprising than the Steelers breaking out the seldom used transition tag, less than 24 hours after they had tagged him, Worilds signed the offer sheet. Worilds rejected his opportunity to talk with other clubs despite reported interest from a number of teams, in particular the Philadelphia Eagles and signed the deal that will pay him a guaranteed $9.754 Million in 2014.

There can be no doubt the Steelers have made efforts to sign Worilds to a long term deal way before the start of free agency and beyond. It would be illogical to think with their cap issues the Steelers are happy to take up almost $10 million of it keeping one player but without a deal in place there wasn't much else they could do as the deadline rolled around to keep him off the free market.

The Steelers are not a team that has used the permitted tags very often. The last time the Steelers used the transition tag was on Max Starks in 2008. Despite all expectations of a new contract Starks played the year under the tag worth just under $7 million. In 2009 he was this time franchised tagged after they still had not reached agreement on a long term deal. Eventually in 2009, as training camp was starting he signed a $26.3 million, four-year contract that included a $10 million bonus.

In just two years Starks had banked $17 million in cash plus his base salary for 2009 pushing him over $20 million for two years work. If he had signed back in 2008 he would have banked around $16 million in that same time frame. The agents for Starks did their job for their client and it paid off handsomely.

With that history in mind the speed at which Worilds signed his deal should have set off alarm bells for fans and front office staff alike.

When Starks signed his tag it was clear he was not worth $7 million a year coming off a season where he had lost his starting job to Willie Colon after a number of years of average to poor play. An injury to Colon gave him his job back through the playoffs but he was not worth elite money.

Worilds is not worth elite money, his career history certainly supports that statement yet right now that is what he will be getting. He will be the fifth highest paid OLB in 2014.

There is little doubt the agent for Worilds had an idea of his market value and the tag the Steelers placed on him went beyond that, otherwise why would you sign so fast and not test the market to try and get a little bit more.

When Paul Kruger signed with the Browns last year many where shocked at the scale of his deal. He signed a five year $40.5 million deal with $13 million guaranteed and will take home $20 million in the first two years. His stats and career history in the four years before that were strikingly similar if not better than that of Worilds.

At $2.754 million more in 2014 that Kruger will earn, clearly Worilds is getting a great deal this year.

So all of this begs the question if you are Worilds why would you WANT to sign a new deal right now. It certainly wont pay you any more money. Any deal the Steelers offer will look to reduce his cap hit this year. They could look to make that up by offering a signing bonus in excess of the almost $10 million he is set to earn but if Worilds waits the season out he will be in position for a big signing bonus with a new deal next year and like Starks would be in position to bank far more money than he would get otherwise over the two years and beyond.

With a full year on tape as a starter Worilds could well expect a signing bonus in excess of $13 million as part of a new deal in 2015 and with his $9.754 million of 2014 he has just banked over $25 million plus with base salary in two years.

If he signs today with the Steelers he will not be taking home $25 million over the first two years of any deal.

The incentive suggested for Worilds signing a long term deal is that he may get injured and his career could be over. It does happen but when was the last time you remember it happening ? Who is the last high profile starter you can remember it happening to ? The chance of it happening is real but relatively unlikely.

Something like an ACL injury that drops his stock and raises concerns is possible. But not career ending. He is a young man and it is likely he feels somewhat invincible, as many seem to at that age in his profession.

If the Worilds camp have faith in his skills that he will be a dominant player, If they have faith that he will have a good year and if they have faith in his body and ability to remain healthy they will roll the dice against a possible injury and look to score big again next year as a free agent, rejecting any offer that doesn't blow them away.

While all of this is clear to the Worilds camp it would be naive to think the Steelers front office don't know all this too and a quick glance at the list of players the team has expressed interest in ahead of the draft suggests they have already started looking into plan B.

So far the position that has been invited for a pre-draft visit to Pittsburgh the most is outside linebacker with six players linked so far. These players range from potential high first round picks to fourth round selections. For a team that spent a first round pick on one last year it certainly seem like they are expecting a need for another one soon and you don't draft for depth that high if you expect to have both current young starters locked up for the next 4 years or more.

When the draft is done there might be more clarity about the Steelers long term plans for Jason Worilds but it seems like a good idea to wait before rushing out to buy a No. 93 jersey.

[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2014/4/14/5611210/steelers-jason-worilds-contract-extension-transition-tag-2014-free-agency[/URL]

[K Train]

Knee Jerk reactions all around!
We've already started working on an extension. Transition tag just gives the team the opportunity to not lose Jason without a fight.
i don't know if I want to go past page one of this thread.
EVERY YEAR WE HAVE 100 POSTERS WHO FLIP OUT ABOUT SOMETHING TOTALLY RIDICULOUS. THIS IS THIS YEARS VERSION.

my money is on they dont get a deal done by opening day

I don't bet cash, but I'll bet you .1 of a bitcoin they do

I'll do that

Chances of me receiving this when worilds doesnt sign a deal? hmmmm

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

Although I like the idea of his suiting up this year, I think the only reason we overpaid him by such an absurd amount is the Rooneys took the accusation made elsewhere on this board (that they are too cheap and stingy) to heart in a big way. I didn't realize they were so thin-skinned! Maybe tougher owners is what we need to put us over the top this coming season ...

[SidSmythe]

The Steelers shouldn't sign WORILDS to a long term deal. Losing WORILDS would have left us with 1 Veteran OLB and that would have been WOODLEY.

SO...... give WORILDS a chance to prove he's worth a Long Term Deal. He can be signed at the end of next year (at the same price tag he'd want now) if he proves he's legit. If NOT, then he walks and the Steelers have $9.7 million in cap space to work with. It's a Win/Win.

The STEELERS are not in cap trouble with WOODLEY's Deal falling off June 1st.

[Oviedo]

The Steelers shouldn't sign WORILDS to a long term deal. Losing WORILDS would have left us with 1 Veteran OLB and that would have been WOODLEY.

SO...... give WORILDS a chance to prove he's worth a Long Term Deal. He can be signed at the end of next year (at the same price tag he'd want now) if he proves he's legit. If NOT, then he walks and the Steelers have $9.7 million in cap space to work with. It's a Win/Win.

The STEELERS are not in cap trouble with WOODLEY's Deal falling off June 1st.

The problem is if you wait and Worilds has a 10 sack season this year, you won't be able to keep him so you are in the same situation with no depth at the most important position on your defense and a still unproven J Jones on the other side. If Jones doesn't really come on (jury is still really out) you are in a worst situation.

[Shawn]

The problem is if you wait and Worilds has a 10 sack season this year, you won't be able to keep him so you are in the same situation with no depth at the most important position on your defense and a still unproven J Jones on the other side. If Jones doesn't really come on (jury is still really out) you are in a worst situation.

It can also be said that you dodged a bullet if Worilds gets more injuries, or was just a flash in the pan. The fact is this...the Steelers missed on yet again evaluating their own talent. Worilds would have been an easy sign in 2012. But, they didn't think much of him...now they are paying the guy 10 mill? That's a pretty poor evaluation of talent if you ask me.

[Shoe]

It can also be said that you dodged a bullet if Worilds gets more injuries, or was just a flash in the pan. The fact is this...the Steelers missed on yet again evaluating their own talent. Worilds would have been an easy sign in 2012. But, they didn't think much of him...now they are paying the guy 10 mill? That's a pretty poor evaluation of talent if you ask me.

For sure! It is a red-flag in that regard.

They thought so little of Worilds, that they drafted Jones to replace him. They (further) gave Jones (who obviously had a poor grasp of the system and admittedly poor strength and poor speed) the starting job ahead of the veteran Worilds. Worilds strings together a month and a half of good play... and he's the 5th highest paid OLB in football? I'm sorry--that is Oakland Raider/Cleveland Brown GM'ing if you ask me.

And someone (above) posed the statement: Let's let him prove if he's legit. Well, that if all fine and dandy, if he suddenly becomes James Harrison or Kevin Greene next year. No problem. But that is pretty unlikely, I think we'd all agree. MORE likely: He gives us another middling, 7-10 sack season, mixing good with not-so-good. What then? (This is what I envision for the guy, another year like he had last year.) That is still good production, though not "top 5" OLB money. You can't ask him to come back at less money.

[Slapstick]

There is no reason to fret about Worilds' salary...it would be Cleveland Browns GMing if they signed him to a LaMarr Woodley type deal...

They didn't...