Kevin Colbert spoke to the media in Indianpolis Thursday regarding the Steelers cap situation - which was getting better as he was speaking.
The team restructured the contract of Ben Roethlisberger to free up a little more than $8 million in cap space, putting the Steelers right around where they need to be heading into free agency.
The league hasn't officially told teams what the cap will be, so the moves they have made thus far have been to put them in the ballpark.
Of course, to begin tendering their restricted free agents, more restructuring and cuts will be coming, something Colbert acknowledged today.
"We’ve already done some restructurings," Colbert said. "We know we’re going to have to do more. We know we’re going to have to terminate players. We just don’t know what combination or how much restructuring we have left."
Colbert said the team is confident it will be able to keep wide receiver Mike Wallace, who will be a restricted free agent.
The Steelers likely won't put the franchise tag on Wallace, but they will have the first right of refusal on any contract offer he might receive. Given how creative they have already been getting to the cap, it's likely he's right.
Colbert also said he doesn't expect running back Rashard Mendenhall to be placed on season-ending IR or to be released. Colbert expects Mendenhall to contribute in some manner in 2012 despite suffering a torn ACL in the final regular season game.
Colbert was also confident that nose tackle Casey Hampton will fully recover from his torn ACL - his third - and be ready to go at the start of the season.
"You don’t have to worry about speed," Colbert said. "You don’t have to worry about the quick change of direction when you’re talking about the offensive and defensive linemen. The one edge Casey will have on anybody is he’s been through this twice and he knows what to expect and he knows how he’s going to feel at a certain point when he feels he’s healthy."
23 comments:
So Colbert thinks they'll be able to keep Wallace, but Ed Bouchette thinks they won't. Both can't be right.
Well Ed knows everything.... just ask him :-)
Something tells me that Colbert may have more information than Bouchette. He has better sources.
adamg said that Nfl talk show said that the bengals will sign him
sounds like a done deal
Why do we want to keep a declining Hampton coming off yet another knee injury?
It's time to move on.
Good God some of you people are idiots. Who cares what Bouchette says? I like him, but he's a reporter, whereas Colbert is the freaking GM. If they WANT to keep Wallace they will. End of discussion. There will be no, 'oh but the salary cap!"
Those of you whining and worrying about the salary cap simply amaze me. Like they wouldn't be able to restructure as many contracts as needed and trim a little roster fat to get under the cap.
This team wins almost every year and you doubt them? They get paid millions of dollars to figure this crap out, and they will. Sure, they'll make a mistake here or there, but overall this franchise knows how to draft, restructure, negotiate and win. Bottom line. I'm sick of Steeler fan whiners.
You bring back a declining Hampton for one reason only - depth. He's still good and hopefully they will be able to restructure him as well and negate his cap hit.
And for the last time, can we stop with the quoting of guys like Schefter and other NFL 'talk show' guys? Who cares what they say? Most of what comes out of their mouth is nonsense just to get ratings, web hits, etc. If we lose Wallace, we get another late first rounder to help add depth. And guess what, this team will still win.
I'd rather bring back Hampton than Farrior
"You bring back a declining Hampton for one reason only - depth. He's still good and hopefully they will be able to restructure him as well and negate his cap hit."
He's entering the final year of his contract, so there's no restructuring to be done. We would have to extend him in order to get his cap number down. And I don't understand the logic of keeping a backup NT that is a 2 down player and has no position flexibility. If Hampton isn't starting, then he's virtually useless.
Wallace is gone and Colbert simply said the Steelers would have the option to do what they want....in case any of you didn't know what restricted free agent means....
The issue I have with Hampton is that he has never been a workout warrior and lazy old fat guys who have major surgery rarely return. I think we wait as long as possible before cutting him in case he surprises me but I wouldn't count on anything and wouldn't bet a lot of money that he returns to help us for one last season.
hampton's conditioning is always an issue. however, he has successfully rehabbed two acl injuries before, so he does have that going in his favor. as far as restructuring his contract, couldn't they just cut him then strike a new deal, say 2 years?
the salary cap will be set at the combine, i think, and then we will see more moves by the steelers. i expect them to be well below the cap before march 13th and very flexible in their negotiations. besides, they've tagged guys before just to by time to work out a long term deal.
So because Hampton is fat, he's lazy? Nice.
Dude is one of the strongest guys on the team, but he's lazy. Jerome Bettis was fat. Was he lazy too.
Believe it or not, some of these guys are just naturally heavy.
Casey Hampton could work out 18 hours a day and he'd still be 340 pounds. That's what makes him an effective nose tackle
I agree dale, but you can't argue that Hampton hasn't had some conditioning issues in the past, and unable to train recovering from surgery could make them arise again
How would you define lazy?
I define lazy as someone who makes millions and doesn't like to work out in the off season, somehow considering it outside the scope of his contract.
I don't know if Bettis paid any attention to his health in the offseason but was Bettis really as obese as Hampton? Was he as defiant about his right to be overweight and out of shape?
I'm surprised you would argue anything other then that I'm not very nice/PC. He's an older player that doesn't have a history of doing more then the minimum to take care of himself when unsupervised. I can't imagine a much higher risk group for recovery.
Geeze, when did Casey Hampton turn into chopped liver? He plays the most un-glorious position on the team, and he's been doing it at a high level for us for about a decade. If we just cut him loose the run defense will suffer considerably and all the hacks on here will be griping about how we let him walk.
Old ballplayers don't die. They just get disrespected.
Dale,
Any early reports of which prospects the Steelers are meeting with/interviewing at the combine?
No reports yet, but honestly, I haven't looked into it too closely yet. I will, however, be doing that once the smoke begins to clear.
As for Hampton, you bring him back - at a reduced salary – because you know what he can give you. McLendon is still untested over the long haul.
That could change if they get a stud NT in the draft, but at this point, why not.
As for Hampton's weight issues, they pay him all that money because he weighs 350 pounds and can still has the athleticism to move like 350 pound people should not be able to.
Has he been too heavy at times? Sure. But he's fighting genetics, just like Bettis was.
And yes, there were times when Bettis was too heavy.
from what i read so far
Nix and Pead have had interviews
"Has he been too heavy at times? Sure. But he's fighting genetics, just like Bettis was."
He's not fighting genetics, he's fighting the buffet table. Are you seriously implying that Hampton eats similar portions as Aaron Smith or Brett Keisel?
No doubt that Hampton gets paid to be that big, but lets not pretend that Casey couldn't be significantly smaller if he cared to be.
So Dale, how many 350 pound low body fat nose tackles are available in the draft this year?
actually it's a good year to draft a nose tackle. there are 2 good ones
Poe
and
Ta'amu
"As for Hampton, you bring him back - at a reduced salary – because you know what he can give you."
I agree, but Colbert made no mention of a reduced salary, which is concerning. Last year he inexplicably brought back Aaron Smith and Hines Ward at their full salaries.
"So Dale, how many 350 pound low body fat nose tackles are available in the draft this year?"
Hard as it may be to believe ... that massive gut isn't what makes a NT hard to move off the line. Fat doesn't make a NT ... NTs are allowed to get fat.
Post a Comment