Watt's Up with T.J.?

[Eddie Spaghetti]

20% of the cap? No.. I never wanted either of those guys to get paid that much money.

I have no problem with Watt trying to get as much as possible but I don’t want our FO to give him 20% of our cap space.

This place freaked out at Bell getting 10%.

you are moving the goal posts as you like to accuse others of doing. now its the % of cap space, before it was get every dime while you can etc

suggesting watt should play for 20 million or kick rocks when premium edge defenders make close to 30 is asinine and reeks of some type of bias

you sure didn't feel that way when bell wanted to reset the RB market. this watt contract wouldn't do that and he plays a much more valuable position than bell

[feltdizz]

https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/artic...&mb_loc=left_r

Sometimes, the Steelers don't know how to change with the times. Remember when they refused to sign any FA for less than 2 years? Old and stodgy gets you dirt. They finally woke up on that outdated policy. They need to wake up on this one as well.

The team is wide awake. They know they risk losing players like Bell and Watt due to their contract structures but.. they just go out and draft more players and do it all over again.

also means fans will be left wondering what “could have been” with certain teams when a player decides to chase the money.

We won 6 SB’s with our conservative FO so I think we are okay continuing this formula even though its frustrating for fans

[feltdizz]

you are moving the goal posts as you like to accuse others of doing. now its the % of cap space, before it was get every dime while you can etc

suggesting watt should play for 20 million or kick rocks when premium edge defenders make close to 30 is asinine and reeks of some type of bias

you sure didn't feel that way when bell wanted to reset the RB market. this watt contract wouldn't do that and he plays a much more valuable position than bell

Bell wanted like $15 mill per.

$30 Mill deserves a new conversation.

If that’s moving the goal post that’s cool. I’ll admit its different when a player who isn’t a QB wants $30 mill per and 100 mill guaranteed.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

you seem to be blaming watt for the market as it relates to premium edge defenders

he's a top 3 defensive player in the league. that's what those guys get paid now

[feltdizz]

you seem to be blaming watt for the market as it relates to premium edge defenders

he's a top 3 defensive player in the league. that's what those guys get paid now

Don’t care what it looks like I’m doing. When you pay a defender 20% of the cap its not ideal.

He has every right to demand big money.. but that doesn’t mean we have to be the ones to pay it.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

thats a pretty stupid philosophy to adopt for a player going into his 2nd contract as one of the 3 best defensive players in the league

like I said, the cap is gonna increase quite a bit in the next 2 years and this deal won't like bad at all when lesser talents sign for as much or more

[feltdizz]

thats a pretty stupid philosophy to adopt for a player going into his 2nd contract as one of the 3 best defensive players in the league

like I said, the cap is gonna increase quite a bit in the next 2 years and this deal won't like bad at all when lesser talents sign for as much or more

well maybe the Steelers are stupid. We shall see.

Khalil Mack is a few years into his deal and the results haven't been good. His sacks have dipped since he signed his monster deal.

I hope we can keep Watt for a second contract but I won't be surprised one bit if he refuses to sign due to the way we structure guarantees.

I'm sure lesser talent will get more than Watt but that is because there are teams who are more concerned with having a big name than having a good team.

[NorthCoast]

Guarantees are only as good as the teams honoring them.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/saints-cut-veteran-player-hour-163337862.html

[feltdizz]

Guarantees are only as good as the teams honoring them.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/saints-cu...163337862.html

Is this considered a “rolling” guarantee?

[BURGH86STEEL]

thats a pretty stupid philosophy to adopt for a player going into his 2nd contract as one of the 3 best defensive players in the league

like I said, the cap is gonna increase quite a bit in the next 2 years and this deal won't like bad at all when lesser talents sign for as much or more

I am not sure anyone knows how much or if the cap will increase or decrease in these uncertain times. I read that the salary cap went from 198 mill in 2020 to 182 mill for 2021. Take it for what it's worth.

I don't see anything wrong with the Steelers philosophy of not guaranteeing the majority of contracts. They paid players handsomely up front while allowing players to earn a lot more of their money.

The business side of sports is one of the ugly sides of sports. The Steelers hold the cards. They can franchise him, trade him, ect. TJ can hold out. They will move on with or without TJ. It's not the first time the Steelers loss a great player for financial reasons.

[Northern_Blitz]

Bell wanted like $15 mill per.

$30 Mill deserves a new conversation.

If that’s moving the goal post that’s cool. I’ll admit its different when a player who isn’t a QB wants $30 mill per and 100 mill guaranteed.

TJ is in his prime.

Bell was past his.

It sucks, but RB careers are short relative to just about any other position. And the writing was on the wall with Bell because of all the touches we gave him and the dramatic decline in YPC (even though his total yards was still very good because of all the carries). Maybe the big drop in performance is because of teams and usage...we'll get a better idea with a great running team like Bal (although we also said we'd get a better idea with offensive juggernaut KC).

And we still offered Bell "too much" money. He just turned it down.

We will also offer TJ "too much" money. My guess is that he won't turn it down. In part because he has 3 years of service to the team still (5th option, tag1, tag2...it's very unlikel, but there could even be an argument for a 4th year @ tag3 if he's still a DPOY candidate after 3 years of that)...

Bell only had 1 more. And it was still shocking that he opted to give up a year of earnings that he must have know would had been very hard to make up for.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

the cap for 22 has already been set at 208 million and the steelers are projected to have the 2nd most space at 77 million. this from an article in May

it will likely go up as much or more in 2023. it would be absurd to draft and develop a player into one of the 3 best defensive players in the league and let him walk. who do you guys want to pay?

[Northern_Blitz]

well maybe the Steelers are stupid. We shall see.

Khalil Mack is a few years into his deal and the results haven't been good. His sacks have dipped since he signed his monster deal.

I hope we can keep Watt for a second contract but I won't be surprised one bit if he refuses to sign due to the way we structure guarantees.

I'm sure lesser talent will get more than Watt but that is because there are teams who are more concerned with having a big name than having a good team.

I wonder who's performance has "dipped" more...Mack or Bell?

[Northern_Blitz]

I am not sure anyone knows how much or if the cap will increase or decrease in these uncertain times. I read that the salary cap went from 198 mill in 2020 to 182 mill for 2021. Take it for what it's worth.

I don't see anything wrong with the Steelers philosophy of not guaranteeing the majority of contracts. They paid players handsomely up front while allowing players to earn a lot more of their money.

The business side of sports is one of the ugly sides of sports. The Steelers hold the cards. They can franchise him, trade him, ect. TJ can hold out. They will move on with or without TJ. It's not the first time the Steelers loss a great player for financial reasons.

If there's fewer guarantees, it sounds like the trade offs will be that TJ gets a bigger SB and that the contract has more money in the first 3 years...and probably that the AAV will be higher than it would be if we guaranteed more money.

[Northern_Blitz]

the cap for 22 has already been set at 208 million and the steelers are projected to have the 2nd most space at 77 million. this from an article in May

it will likely go up as much or more in 2023. it would be absurd to draft and develop a player into one of the 3 best defensive players in the league and let him walk. who do you guys want to pay?

Eddie, do you know if that's the cap number or just that floor (i.e. it won't be less than that)?

I thought I heard that it was a floor, but maybe there was a later report I missed.