The sooner the Steelers move on from Johnson, Rudolph and Chucks, the better.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Agree or disagree? Trade Johnson and Rudolph now! A 2nd round pick for Johnson, a 5th round pick for Rudolph. and And Chucks, let's hope one if the many tackles in camp not named Moore beats him out. He sucks. He hasn't been hurt so in a way we don't know about his backups. I do not see a future for any of these players relative to thier performance level and they cap demands.

Agree of Disagree? We will see what kind of GM Khan is.

[WindyCitySteel]

Fine with trading Rudolph for a bag of footballs, but Chuks' cap hit is $4M for an average RT, DJ's is $3M for a very good WR. Who are you going to upgrade them with for that cap hit this late in the offseason?

[Mr.wizard]

Is someone offering a second round pick for Johnson?

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Johnson: Disagree that we should be trying to move on from him as a player, but I would not re-sign him due to the cost of signing someone of his caliber. If there is a second rounder available for him I would consider it but not having a fire sale.

Rudolph: I'm waiting for the first time the phone rings.

Chuks: I've wanted the team to draft a tackle high for years now. Chuks is a LT who has been masquerading as a RT for a few years and below average at best. Serviceable for now because there is no other option but find the replacement and move on.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Fine with trading Rudolph for a bag of footballs, but Chuks' cap hit is $4M for an average RT, DJ's is $3M for a very good WR. Who are you going to upgrade them with for that cap hit this late in the offseason?

We trade them, hence the pick up the salary. Cap management 101 . You don't pay a sup par starter ( Chucks ) 30 million. You don't pay bak up QB, soon to be third string at all beyond the rookie deal, and you don't pay a merely good WR 80 million or anything close to that.

Who do I upgrade them with for Chucks? Good question, look at free agency or the draft next year. It shouldn't be too hard to upgrade Chucks or Rudolph. We seem to be set at WR for a few years, though I would like to see more out of Pickens, and Austin. But we can get value for Johnson now! More than a projected 3rd round comp pick or pick #98-101 in the 2023 NFL draft...and that is not a guarantee depending on who we sign.

Get value for these players now, do not wait on the comp picks for them! Teams that over pay for a non-star receiver sink themselves on the cap. Make Johnson the 3rd highest paid Steeler on the caps. Don't think so! I hope Khan agrees with me.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Is someone offering a second round pick for Johnson?

Put him on the market. He may be already...we don't know. I think he would get a 2nd round pick, that a good cheap player for us on the rookie deal. Pay him 70-80 million for 4 years? No way.

Who knows if he as good as he thinks we might get a first round pick for him! Houston has an abundance of draft picks and a need for a receiver. If they were to offer second round pick for Johnson I'd say deal.

[WindyCitySteel]

We trade them, hence the pick up the salary. Cap management 101 . You don't pay a sup par starter ( Chucks ) 30 million. You don't pay bak up QB, soon to be third string at all beyond the rookie deal, and you don't pay a merely good WR 80 million or anything close to that.

They've paid Chuks $4.3M this season. That's it. They can cut him next year. DJ's being paid $3.1M this year, not $80M.

Somebody needs to go back and re-take Cap Management 101, but perhaps not who you think.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Johnson: Disagree that we should be trying to move on from him as a player, but I would not re-sign him due to the cost of signing someone of his caliber. If there is a second rounder available for him I would consider it but not having a fire sale.

Rudolph: I'm waiting for the first time the phone rings.

Chuks: I've wanted the team to draft a tackle high for years now. Chuks is a LT who has been masquerading as a RT for a few years and below average at best. Serviceable for now because there is no other option but find the replacement and move on.

Who says re-sign someone for a cap draining type of deal? WR's can be found in the draft and we are good at scouting them. Again I'm for getting value now, and working for what we've got in 2020. This team needs draft picks and paying the right players for the cap their value. We need to re-build guys, and I for one am not afraid to say it.

If we get the following: A 2nd for Johnson, a 3rd for Chucks, and a 6th for Rudolph or cap is going to be fresh and have money and I will be excited for the future.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

They've paid Chuks $4.3M this season. That's it. They can cut him next year. DJ's being paid $3.1M this year, not $80M.

Somebody needs to go back and re-take Cap Management 101, but perhaps not who you think.

I was referring to Johnson's future demands ( the 80 million next year ) on the cap. No no no! Got it? As for Chucks the Steelers over paid for him, if we keep him. I know he " only " making 4.3 million this year.

[Oviedo]

Chuks isn't going anywhere. Fans hate him, but the organization doesn't

He isn't a Pro Bowl player but is he really awful

[feltdizz]

That would put a lot of pressure on the rookie WR’s if we traded Johnson.

Mason is whatever..

and if someone beats out Chucks in camp I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

[whisper]

We "need" DJ this year to give whoever is QB a chance; 2 of the slated WRs are already rookies, Chase is hardly dependable.

With Chuk, he's below avg., but with the team's non-moves at OT he's about all we have. It sucks, but that's what the team decided to do, in all their wisdom. The LT is no better. And the back ups are even worse. What a fine position to put your QB in.

With Mason, he's on a train out of here sans injuries to MT or KP. The other 2 we are stuck with for 2022.

[Flasteel]

No way. Johnson is our clear number one receiver at this point and we need his services as these rookies (and QBs) develop. I don't think we resign him, but we need to see what we have with these other receivers before we throw any goodbye parties. If he does leave for a big contract via free agency, then we might get a 3rd-rounder as a comp pick anyway.

I was no fan of resigning Chuks and not bringing in another tackle, but that ship has sailed. We would likely get minimal return on him and there is currently no viable Plan B behind him. Are you suggesting we start Haeg or one of the street free agents who might be able to beat him out? Without a starter-capable guy in the wings, there is no way you ship off your starter.

We should not be shopping Rudolph at all, in my opinion. Give him as many snaps as you legitimately can and wait for a QB-needy team to come knocking on your door. Shop him and you'll create a buyer's market. Wait and you may get top of the market value, if a team gets desperate at the position. So far, there have been reports that Rudolph looked better than the other QBs in mini camp. Even if he has no real shot of winning the battle, a good camp and preseason helps bolster his value.

A solid "no" to all 3.

[Northern_Blitz]

I wouldn't hate any of these deals if they happened and we got good value on the trades. But that's because I have low expectations this year and don't mind constructing the roster to be worse this year (as we wait out the dead money we pushed ahead) to try to be more competitive next year. But that's not how the Steelers run the team.

I think Rudolph is the only one that the team is going to think about for more than a few minutes.

They won't trade Chucks immediately after signing him. That's kind of a foolish move IMO. And we don't have another tackle on the roster. And I don't think there's anyone better than Chucks currently available (which is the reason we kind of had to sign him at market prices). He's probably something like an average RT. And we'd be replacing him with someone worse. Which means an even worse situation for the QBs we're trying to develop.

And since the main goal for this year is to develop at least one of the QBs, I don't see us trading away the only WR we have that isn't a question mark. I don't think we'll extend him (although Dave on the Depot talked about the room that was freed up with the Minkah deal and how it would be similar to the extra room he thinks Johnson would take up in year 1 of a new deal). I think we'll let him walk away and take the comp pick.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

No way. Johnson is our clear number one receiver at this point and we need his services as these rookies (and QBs) develop. I don't think we resign him, but we need to see what we have with these other receivers before we throw any goodbye parties. If he does leave for a big contract via free agency, then we might get a 3rd-rounder as a comp pick anyway.

I was no fan of resigning Chuks and not bringing in another tackle, but that ship has sailed. We would likely get minimal return on him and there is currently no viable Plan B behind him. Are you suggesting we start Haeg or one of the street free agents who might be able to beat him out? Without a starter-capable guy in the wings, there is no way you ship off your starter.

We should not be shopping Rudolph at all, in my opinion. Give him as many snaps as you legitimately can and wait for a QB-needy team to come knocking on your door. Shop him and you'll create a buyer's market. Wait and you may get top of the market value, if a team gets desperate at the position. So far, there have been reports that Rudolph looked better than the other QBs in mini camp. Even if he has no real shot of winning the battle, a good camp and preseason helps bolster his value.

A solid "no" to all 3.

Okay, you want to keep Johnson as his 80 million dollar demands? Not me . Next year we will be lucky to get a comp pick for him, 3rd or 4th! I say with 'Muth, Harris, and Claypool we have three go to guys plus a very promising rookie in Pickens and another good looking 4th option in Austin III. Aidios Johnson.


Chucks is a below average Tackles. Weak vs the run and only so - so vs the pass. PFF had him as a bottom barrel starter. Heag will be stronger vs the run and slightly weaker vs the pass. You want to keep him and spend 30 million on him? Not me. Move on and get something for him, and free up 30 Million in cap space I say.

Rudolph is not going to play this year unless injury hit to Turbisky AND Pickett isn't ready. Might as well get something for him. Rumor is we are trying and waiting for an injury to happen. I never said these trades should happen now, but sometime in August would be ideal.

These trades for the steelers are better off in the long run if we trade them all. We won't miss Rudy or Chuks one iota as they are not must keeps for the future. Someone else can get Johnson for cheap this yer and let him demand what he's asking for next year.

I'll take the draft picks....whatever fair market value for them it as all three of them are not in the Steelers long term plans.