Troy Polamalu's future uncertain

[birtikidis]

They made him an offer reported by several outlets, but he wanted to remain a coach in some forms or fashion. So please get your facts straight.

I spent three days trying to find one article that mentions ANY other position for DL. Found ONE quote from Art that stated that "IF DL came back it would have been in some other role". Maybe I'm just bad at google. doubt it though.

[Steelhere10]

Try listening to Iheart radio sometimes, Dulac, Presuda and many more be on there.

[birtikidis]

I haven't checked out iHeart. Not to get off topic, but is it like Pandora? I have close to 250k songs (no lie, I was a collector for a very long time) on my computer so I tend to listen to my ipod the most. What's your opinion of iheart?

[phillyesq]

I haven't checked out iHeart. Not to get off topic, but is it like Pandora? I have close to 250k songs (no lie, I was a collector for a very long time) on my computer so I tend to listen to my ipod the most. What's your opinion of iheart?

iHeart is great for the out of state fan. There is a station for SteelersNation Radio where you get lots of the local guys. Sometimes you get live stuff (especially pregame and postgame) and other times they will replay older stuff.

[Steelhere10]

iHeart is great for the out of state fan. There is a station for SteelersNation Radio where you get lots of the local guys. Sometimes you get live stuff (especially pregame and postgame) and other times they will replay older stuff.

Yep BNG radio, you get all the good information you need .Birt it's like Pandora but you have dedicated sports station.

[squidkid]

im shocked that neither side has said anything yet

[birtikidis]

im shocked that neither side has said anything yet

they don't gain anything by rushing it. If anything happens it'll be after June 1.
We all know they aren't going to be breaking the bank anyway, so no reason to get all antsy

[squidkid]

they don't gain anything by rushing it. If anything happens it'll be after June 1.
We all know they aren't going to be breaking the bank anyway, so no reason to get all antsy

if troy retires dont we get all his cap savings now?

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

if troy retires dont we get all his cap savings now?

I believe that retirement works the same way as waiving or trading a player. His cap hit can be accelerated into this year prior to June 1, or it can be partially pushed into next year.

FWIW - Troy has a cap hit of $8.25M this season. If cut/traded/retired before June 1 - dead money $4.5M, cap savings $3.75M. After June 1 - dead money $2.25M, cap savings $6M, with $2.25M dead money deferred to 2016.

[Chadman]

I'm thinking that Polamalu's decline has been prematurely reported. If they were going to remove him from the roster, even as a June 1 cut, they'd have said so by now to give him time to negotiate another contract elsewhere.

We can hate on the FO as much as you like, but they wouldn't leave Troy hanging like that. They just wouldn't.

He either gets cut, or designated a June 1 cut prior to FA, or he stays.

Could he be in line for a paycut? Potentially..

[Slapstick]

I don't know...I hope you're right.

I'm not sure that a decline can be prematurely witnessed...

[hawaiiansteel]

Mark Kaboly @MarkKaboly_Trib -

Tomlin said he wouldnt be opposed moving mike mitchell to strong safety

[URL]https://twitter.com/MarkKaboly_Trib[/URL]

[Rara]

Mike Tomlin 'not opposed' to Mike Mitchell moving to strong safety
March, 23, 2015
MAR 23
6:40
PM ET
By Scott Brown | ESPN.com
1114COMMENTS4EMAILPRINT
PHOENIX -- Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he expects Mike Mitchell to play better in 2015. He also is “not opposed” to Mitchell playing strong safety given the uncertainty at the position.

The Steelers plan to move on from 12th-year veteran Troy Polamalu, putting Shamarko Thomas in line to start at strong safety in 2015. Thomas, however, has played primarily on special teams in his first two seasons, and his inexperience coupled with Mitchell’s aggressive sensibilities could cause the Steelers to take a look at Mitchell at strong safety.

[+] EnlargeGreen
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Mike Mitchell recorded 70 tackles last season despite battling a groin injury.
Mitchell, who signed a five-year, $25 million contract with the Steelers last March, started every game at free safety in 2014 and finished second on the team with 70 tackles. The sixth-year veteran did not record a sack or interception and was credited with just three passes defensed.

Mitchell became a target of fan ire even though he had to adjust to a new defense and also played through a groin injury in 2014. Tomlin said Mitchell is close to full strength and that the injury is a “non-issue.”

Familiarity with the Steelers, Tomlin said, will lead to significant improvement in Mitchell's second season with the team.

“That experience that comes with being in our environment and how we do business I think is a platform for them to improve,” Tomlin said Monday at the NFL owners meetings. “I say that all the time in regards people who have had a lap around the track with us, whether it’s an unrestricted free agent like Mike Mitchell or whether it’s a drafted guy.”

Mitchell, despite his struggles last season, is as sure a thing as the Steelers have on the back end of their defense right now.

Thomas hasn’t played significant snaps on defense since the first half of his rookie season and Polamalu has almost certainly played his last down for the Steelers even though the eight-time Pro Bowler has two years left on his contract.

The Steelers are giving Polamalu time as he mulls retiring or playing in 2015 with the hope he calls it a career so they don’t have to release him.

Team president Art Rooney II said last Friday that he had no update on Polamalu. General manager Kevin Colbert said on Sunday that the team has not set any deadline as far as Polamalu making a decision on his future.

“I’m not getting into Troy,” Tomlin said about the future Pro Football Hall of Famer. “That’s been documented. Art’s made comments and I don’t need to add on to that. It doesn’t serve as any purpose.”

[RuthlessBurgher]

NFL coaches weigh in on Polamalu's legacy
By Mark Kaboly Steelers Reporter
Saturday, March 28, 2015, 10:30 p.m.
Updated 13 hours ago



The Steelers are done talking about Troy Polamalu.

The rest of the league? That's another story.

Five times in the span of six days last week, Steelers team officials — from president Art Rooney II to general manager Kevin Colbert to coach Mike Tomlin — declined to speak about Polamalu's future, other than saying there's no timetable for when a decision needs to be made.

That didn't prevent NFL coaches from weighing in on Polamalu's likely departure from the Steelers, his possible retirement, and what he has meant to the league at last week's NFL meetings in Phoenix.

“One of the all-time greats, without question,” said Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan, who coached against Polamalu when he was with the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens. “The way he is, just how physical he is as a player and how passionate he is. Those are the things, when he decides to hang it up, fans are going to miss.”

The Steelers and Polamalu, who will turn 34 in April, are expected to part ways after 12 seasons.

When? No one knows. The Steelers are waiting to hear from Polamalu about whether he wants to continue to play elsewhere or retire.

While Polamalu's days with the Steelers appeared to be numbered, the league meetings provided a platform for coaches to pay homage to the certain future Hall of Famer — and one of the best safeties in NFL history.

Browns coach Mike Pettine was an assistant with the Ravens during the early part of Polamalu's career.

Pettine, who had to prepare for Polamalu 12 times while a Ravens' assistant, twice last year as Browns coach and one time each when he was defensive coordinator with the Jets and Buffalo Bills, was always impressed with Polamalu's style of play.

“He looked like he was undisciplined, but a lot of the decisions he made were very smart and intelligent,” Pettine said. “He always knew where the ball was going on the information he gathered, and he knew how to make plays. To me, that was his trademark.”

One of the biggest plays of Polamalu's career came against the Ravens. His interception of Joe Flacco late in the AFC championship game sent the Steelers to Super Bowl XLIII.

Then, late in the 2010 season and with the Steelers down 10-6 against the Ravens with three minutes left in a regular-season game, Polamalu's strip sack of Flacco led to a game-winning touchdown.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh still can't get that one out of his mind.

“You had to account for him at all times,” Harbaugh said. “We had times when we didn't account for him, and I was like, ‘He is wearing No. 43 and he has hair down to his shoulders. There's no way we should miss the guy, right? Block him. Block him, please.' ”

Polamalu, who started 142 of 158 career games, was the 2010 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He made eight Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pros four times.

Even though he hasn't made as many big plays recently as his speed deteriorated, Polamalu played every snap in 26 consecutive games until injuring his knee in November against the Ravens.

That run of consecutive games included a span during which Polamalu was asked to play a pseudo-linebacker role out of necessity.

“He is such an unusual guy and a unique player on how he moves around … his timing, it was as good as anybody's,” Ryan said. “That set him apart.”

Tennessee Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt, a former Steelers offensive coordinator, watched Polamalu every day in practice for four years. There wasn't a day he wasn't impressed with what he saw.

“He saw things on the football field that very few guys could see,” Whisenhunt said. “He processed things at a speed that was incredible. He had that explosive burst that he could get there and makes those plays. He had such a great feel for the game. Probably one of the best players I've been around from that standpoint.”

Harbaugh added: “I love Troy Polamalu, and every time I've talked to him he has been nothing but gracious. A wonderful guy and a great player. Wow, what a great player.”

[Slapstick]

It is telling that all of these coaches refer to Troy's exploits as a player in the past tense...