MY Offseason Moves 2022

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • steeler_george
    Hall of Famer
    • Dec 2008
    • 3417

    MY Offseason Moves 2022

    I started to write this the day after we got bumped from the playoffs.
    I usually write it that early to get those "rash thoughts" and keep those season fresh memories on paper.

    Quick take on my impulse thoughts
    * Canada sucks
    * Our WR suck, it was a false claim we had a good core, especially DJ and Claypool.
    * Our FO mishandled the OL from FA and not draft.

    I am still leaning towards those thoughts, but now in line with Tomlin's rational is that our offense was limited by the talent.

    With that said let me restart writing this.

    Part I
    What went right:
    1) Sheesh, this is harder than I thought
    2) Watt proves his worth and dominates.
    3) Najee is the real deal, it is going to be fun seeing him with a proper OL.
    4) Cam is our best player, in words and in action.
    5) We finally have a TE, I been screaming for one ever since Miller left. Draft, after draft, we passed on Goedert, passed on Kittle, passed on Moroux (LV).

    What went wrong:
    1) The domino effect of the roster-depth we had on offense. ( especially OL)
    I really want to blame Canada, but maybe Tomlin is right that we were so limited by the players we had (and an aging Ben).
    Real blame is thinking Finney is good enough to be a starting center. When he left, so did his game. And in camp of course Green looked so much better than him.


    2)The injuries/mess to OL:
    It started in camp, Banner out forcing OKA to flip back to RT, and Morre back to LT ( remember early, him as the RT in camp, he was getting to "bust' status)
    No Decasrto to provide leadership, Coaches not happy with Dotson reports, and then the injuries to all our guards: Finney, JC, Dotson, Turner.
    No stability. With no cohesiveness it only sets up the OL to fail, especially the growth of Green.


    3) The run D
    I am blaming this on 3 things.
    1) Lack of talent at ILB.
    2) Scheme, with no talent at ILB, depended on OLB to pressure make the plays. Even Butler mentioned this, the scheme called for the OLB to provide pressure which often took them out of the play.
    No ILB and no CB to support the over play of the OLBs.
    3) Maybe we miss Hilton and Nelson more than thought in regards to run support. ( Witherspoon is not one for that)



    4)ILB
    We miss Vince Williams more than we think or a player like him.
    Having Bush lined up with Spillen and Shobert killed his instincts. His read and reaction, more often being 1 step too slow and being taken out of the play.
    Don't say it was the DL injuries, because the D of stats of 2020 and 2021 are both horrible, and in 2020 we had Tuitt-ALU- CAM

    5)WR
    ( Not taking the possibilities of Ben's limitations and Canada's game planning in covering for Ben, and not the impact of Juju's injury) <= <= <= Too many "IFs" there.

    Need more consistant play from them. No more timely drops, no more time on the ground ( is it me or do they always seem to make a break/cut and then fall), no more bad body adjustment to the ball.
    I am starting to think that we should start the process of breaking up this tandem. It never meshed right.


    Juju was brought in to replace Ward, to mesh with AB and Bryant.
    Washington was brought in to mesh with JuJu and AB.
    Dj was brought in to mesh with Juju and Washington.
    Claypool was brought in to mesh with Juju and DJ.

    Somewhere along that way, it went wrong.
    We ended up with slow, inconsistent hands, and no big splash plays.

    PART II

    Needs:
    offense: C, G, OT, WR, RB
    QB- not sure where they stand, is it MR-Haskins? Is it a FA? Is it a Rookie? It might become a crowded room. or they might just blow
    defense: ILB, CB, DL

    FA to resign:
    Edmunds
    Witherspoon
    Okorafor
    Killebrew
    *Juju ( we resign him, if we can sign him cheap or if we can trade DJ for high draft pick)
    **Ray-Ray/Washignton, if we can sign cheap only.
    ***Haden, I would give him another year, maybe even over pay. Leadership, player coach, and keeps Sutton in the slot along with Norwood.

    Cut/let walk list:
    Banner saves 5 M
    Schobert saves 8 M
    Ebron - I hated this pick up from day 1. Hated it even more resigning him ( waste of $, could of signed better C and filled his role with scrubs)
    Snell - he was passed up for Ballage.
    *Tuitt-????
    Finney- redundant player. JC even better ( and he is not worthy to bring back)

    Too long will continue....
    Last edited by steeler_george; 02-02-2022, 11:01 AM.

  • SteelerMaine83
    Starter
    • Feb 2013
    • 826

    #2
    Always like your posts, George.

    That said, I want to inject reality into our "big" salary cap that we have this year. Yes, we have more than we usually have, but let's do an exercise on our FA you want to keep for perspective.

    Reportedly, we have about $34M in cap space available. I'll throw out possible cap hits for each player you propose to keep, with each estimate probably a little on the low side of what I think the cost may be (especially this year):

    Edmunds 3 yr/$18M, 6M signing bonus (SB). Low first year cap hit of $3M
    Witherspoon 4 yr/$28M, 8M SB. Low first year cap hit of $4M
    Okorafor 2 yr/$8M, 2M SB. Hit of $2M
    Killebrew 1 yr/$1M. $1M hit
    JuJu 3/$21M, 6M SB. Hit of $3M
    Ray-Ray/Washington 1 yr/$1M
    Haden 1 yr/$3M. Below market hit of $3M

    That totals $17M. You still have $17M left. However, indications are the Steelers will keep RFA Haskins, which would cost at least a $2.5M tender, and EFRA Hassenauer, at about $1M. So, $20.5M Couple that with a price tag of about $7.5M for the rookie pool, and the customary amount they hold back for in-season transactions (somewhere between $7-9M), you're already above the $34M available, and I don't see how the team is improved much.

    Of course, potential cap saving moves such as cutting Tuitt, Banner, Schobert, etc can bring in additional cash, and that will be the money you have for those FA you want to get from outside, but for big ticket guys that may only get you 2 players.

    Not trying to be a downer, but that's the reality once you start spending the cap space.

    Comment

    • steeler_fan_in_t.o.
      Legend
      • May 2008
      • 10281

      #3
      Originally posted by SteelerMaine83
      That said, I want to inject reality into our "big" salary cap that we have this year.
      Without getting into it I agree with this. Just giving the number as a way to talk about cap space is wrong. Until you also acknowledge that none of QB, CB, LT, WR are sufficiently stocked at a high level, you'd either better have a heck of a draft or acknowledge that you are not close.

      I still believe that this team is in pretty good position to pivot, but not in time to be competitive in '22 with all that cap space.
      http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...to_Mike/to.jpg

      Comment

      • Northern_Blitz
        Legend
        • Dec 2008
        • 24373

        #4
        Originally posted by steeler_fan_in_t.o.
        Without getting into it I agree with this. Just giving the number as a way to talk about cap space is wrong. Until you also acknowledge that none of QB, CB, LT, WR are sufficiently stocked at a high level, you'd either better have a heck of a draft or acknowledge that you are not close.

        I still believe that this team is in pretty good position to pivot, but not in time to be competitive in '22 with all that cap space.
        I'm on this train too.

        It's nice to have room because we'll have more flexibility to spend than we have in a long time.

        But I think we'll find that the presence of that room doesn't mean we get all the toys we want. I think we'll get 1 big name acquisition (or maybe 2 if they are lower paid positions like center). Then probably a few guys in the slightly-better-than-we-usually-spend bin.

        Comment

        • steeler_fan_in_t.o.
          Legend
          • May 2008
          • 10281

          #5
          Originally posted by Northern_Blitz
          I'm on this train too.

          It's nice to have room because we'll have more flexibility to spend than we have in a long time.

          But I think we'll find that the presence of that room doesn't mean we get all the toys we want. I think we'll get 1 big name acquisition (or maybe 2 if they are lower paid positions like center). Then probably a few guys in the slightly-better-than-we-usually-spend bin.
          I'm good on this, even going after higher priced guys as long as they are on the young side. I wouldn't want to bring in a good C, OT, CB in their 30s only to have to replace him once we believe most other pieces in place.
          http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...to_Mike/to.jpg

          Comment

          • Northern_Blitz
            Legend
            • Dec 2008
            • 24373

            #6
            Originally posted by steeler_fan_in_t.o.
            I'm good on this, even going after higher priced guys as long as they are on the young side. I wouldn't want to bring in a good C, OT, CB in their 30s only to have to replace him once we believe most other pieces in place.
            This makes sense to me.

            Comment

            • steeler_fan_in_t.o.
              Legend
              • May 2008
              • 10281

              #7
              Originally posted by Northern_Blitz
              This makes sense to me.
              thanks NB, I try to make sense at least once a day until the meds wear off.
              http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...to_Mike/to.jpg

              Comment

              • steeler_george
                Hall of Famer
                • Dec 2008
                • 3417

                #8
                Originally posted by SteelerMaine83
                Always like your posts, George.

                That said, I want to inject reality into our "big" salary cap that we have this year. Yes, we have more than we usually have, but let's do an exercise on our FA you want to keep for perspective.

                Reportedly, we have about $34M in cap space available. I'll throw out possible cap hits for each player you propose to keep, with each estimate probably a little on the low side of what I think the cost may be (especially this year):

                Edmunds 3 yr/$18M, 6M signing bonus (SB). Low first year cap hit of $3M
                Witherspoon 4 yr/$28M, 8M SB. Low first year cap hit of $4M
                Okorafor 2 yr/$8M, 2M SB. Hit of $2M
                Killebrew 1 yr/$1M. $1M hit
                JuJu 3/$21M, 6M SB. Hit of $3M
                Ray-Ray/Washington 1 yr/$1M
                Haden 1 yr/$3M. Below market hit of $3M

                That totals $17M. You still have $17M left. However, indications are the Steelers will keep RFA Haskins, which would cost at least a $2.5M tender, and EFRA Hassenauer, at about $1M. So, $20.5M Couple that with a price tag of about $7.5M for the rookie pool, and the customary amount they hold back for in-season transactions (somewhere between $7-9M), you're already above the $34M available, and I don't see how the team is improved much.

                Of course, potential cap saving moves such as cutting Tuitt, Banner, Schobert, etc can bring in additional cash, and that will be the money you have for those FA you want to get from outside, but for big ticket guys that may only get you 2 players.

                Not trying to be a downer, but that's the reality once you start spending the cap space.
                Does Juju's dead money ( void years) still count against the cap?

                I keep on hear that too, that the cap # is kind of misleading.

                Don't forget Colbert is still GM, and it is not like him to bring in big ticket guys in FA. But this year, I expect them to bring higher pedigree FA than they have done in the past.

                Comment

                • Northern_Blitz
                  Legend
                  • Dec 2008
                  • 24373

                  #9
                  Originally posted by steeler_george
                  Does Juju's dead money ( void years) still count against the cap?

                  I keep on hear that too, that the cap # is kind of misleading.

                  Don't forget Colbert is still GM, and it is not like him to bring in big ticket guys in FA. But this year, I expect them to bring higher pedigree FA than they have done in the past.
                  Yes. But I think the dead money (Ben, Juju, Ebron, etc.) is usually already counted in totals you'll see on OTC or whatever site you look at.

                  Sutton also signed a dead money deal, but his contract doesn't void until after next season iirc.

                  Comment

                  • steeler_george
                    Hall of Famer
                    • Dec 2008
                    • 3417

                    #10
                    if juju resigns does his dead money count in the new deal? or wouldthat be extra money?

                    Comment

                    • Shawn
                      Legend
                      • Mar 2008
                      • 15131

                      #11
                      I do believe we have a good core of young WRs. But, they are young, they will grow. I don't want to lose JuJu. If I'm the GM, I focus on OL and getting an elite talent at ILB. Whether that's through the draft of FA I don't care. With all our cap space there is no excuse. I say do not draft a QB. Get a vet who can teach Haskins while being a band-aid while we rebuild. If Haskins proves he can't be a franchise QB then next year in a much stronger QB draft we then grab one. We do so with a stronger OL and a stronger D. I'm not willing to throw Canada under the bus. I want to see more without Ben bucking him. I mean how long has it been since fans were happy with the OC?
                      Trolls are people too.

                      Comment

                      • hackjam
                        Starter
                        • Sep 2021
                        • 995

                        #12
                        Originally posted by steeler_george
                        if juju resigns does his dead money count in the new deal? or wouldthat be extra money?
                        I think they could renegotiate before the contract voids (Feb 10) and incorporate it in the new deal. At some point, all the money has to hit the cap. After Feb 10 it'd be the dead money hit ($5.6MM) plus whatever money applies under the new contract.

                        In some sense, letting it all hit now is preferable if they don't have to restructure others to make the cap work this year.

                        Comment

                        • WindyCitySteel
                          Legend
                          • Nov 2011
                          • 15684

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Shawn
                          I do believe we have a good core of young WRs. But, they are young, they will grow.
                          If they lose Juju they don't have a good core [sic] of WRs, they have two guys. And how much growth do you expect in years 3 and 4?

                          They need a true #1 that explodes onto the scene from the jump.

                          Comment

                          • Shawn
                            Legend
                            • Mar 2008
                            • 15131

                            #14
                            Originally posted by WindyCitySteel
                            If they lose Juju they don't have a good core [sic] of WRs, they have two guys. And how much growth do you expect in years 3 and 4?

                            They need a true #1 that explodes onto the scene from the jump.
                            So, are you wanting to spend a first on a WR?
                            Trolls are people too.

                            Comment

                            • Steel Maniac
                              Banned
                              • Apr 2017
                              • 19472

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Shawn
                              So, are you wanting to spend a first on a WR?
                              Shawn, none of these WR’s can separate . Good core? More like an okay core. Anytime you have an entire WR corps that can be stifled by press coverage, that’s not a good core. We need a true #1 WR.

                              Comment

                              Working...