Tomlin special edition and other stuff

Before I get into the Tomlin press conference today, I was questioned on why I thought the Steelers offseason cap problems were an easy fix:

Here's the breakdown.

Pittsburgh has 43 players under contract for next season at $131 million and change. The cap is expected to be between $126 and $127 million.

The first order of business will be to release Levi Brown at a savings of $6.25 million. That's perhaps the easiest cap cut in the history of cap cuts. That move alone puts the Steelers under the 2014 cap.

But wait, that means they'll only have 42 players under contract. OK.

A conventional restructure of Lawrence Timmons' contract, turning his base salary into bonus money would be an additional savings of $3.9 million. They could also do the same with Antonio Brown and pick up another $3.9 million.

In the matter of three moves, we just trimmed about $14.5 million off the cap, with the only release being a player who's never played a down for the Steelers.

The Steelers have no restricted free agents this season, so they won't have to worry about clearing space for any tender offers.

They can also gain further money by extending Ben Roethlisberger's contract.

In this case, you offer Roethlisberger a six-year deal - in reality four new years since he's still got two remaining - at between $100 and $110 million with a $30 million bonus.

Now, on this, I'm using cap expert Ian Whetstone's numbers. So in this case, you lower his base salary in 2014 to $2.1 million, which would shave another $4 million off your 2014 cap.

That brings the cap savings with now four offseason moves to $18.5 million without working up too much of a sweat.

BTW, Roethlisberger's future numbers, in this scenaro would be $5.6 in 2015, $14.8 in 2016, $15.5 in 2017, $17.2 in 2018 and $19.8 in 2019. His cap hit in 2015 would remain what it is now ($18.4) and going up to $20.8, $21.5, $23.2 and $19.8 in the final seasons.

They are big future numbers, but that's the going rate for a franchise quarterback who seems to be finding his groove in Todd Haley's offense.

And there are still some other moves the team could make - asking some vets to take pay cuts or releasing LaMarr Woodley after June 1 - that would free up even more cash.

This is why I don't feel the Steelers are in dire straights with their cap this year.

And now, on to Tomlin.

@ Tomlin said today that the injuries suffered by Terrence Garvin (knee sprain) and Emmanuel Sanders (lateral meniscus) aren't as serious as feared, but that both will be questionable to play against Cleveland.

@ Tomlin was grilled extensively on his clock management at the end of Sunday's game.

Here's what he had to say:

"I just had a concern of kneeling under the circumstances with the weather conditions being what they were. [Mason] Crosby, their kicker, had a kick blocked earlier on that end of the field. And to be honest with you, it wasn’t anything that we did. I just think it was a low-hit ball and you’re talking about a guy who’s been kicking great all year. I was concerned about the weather conditions from that standpoint. Also, when they utilized their last timeout, I was more comfortable with putting the defense on the field under those circumstances after getting a touchdown. If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably do it the same. Obviously, if I knew they were going to return the kickoff 70 yards, I’d probably have a different approach. But I don’t anticipate them doing that, although they did."

@ Le'Veon Bell was named the Steelers rookie of the year on Tuesday, while cornerback Ike Taylor won The Chief Award.

Bell was a no-brainer despite more competition than usual. Jarvis Jones and Vince Williams have both started the majority of the team's games this season at linebacker, while safety Shamarko Thomas has seen significant time, especially early in the season, in the pass defense as well as being a solid special teams contributor.

Taylor has had some rough patches to this season, though that will happen when you're matching up against the other team's best receiver  on a consistent basis. The Steelers scrapped that plan after their last meeting with Cleveland, when Taylor struggled with Josh Gordon, and he's responded with better overall play.

Throughout it all, however, Taylor has remained accessible to the media - win or lose, good game or bad, which is what The Chief Award is all about.