- The Steelers recently had two players retire, long-time Center Maurkice Pouncey and tight end Vance McDonald. Although both walked away from the game without Pittsburgh cutting them, the Steelers are still taking a financial hit. Those two retirements will result in $9MM in dead cap for Pittsburgh, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic tweets. The Steelers aren’t in the best cap situation, which helps explain why Ben Roethlisberger is going to have to restructure his contract if he wants to return for another season.
Hours after the Texans released J.J. Watt, the free agency pursuit of the three-time Defensive Player of the Year is underway. Around a dozen teams are interested in the future Hall of Fame defensive end, Ed Werder of ESPN.com tweets.
Among the early pursuers are the Bills, Browns, Titans and Steelers, Werder notes. While Watt would be a fit in most places, each of these teams could use an additional pass rusher. Watt intends to sign with a contender but does not plan on making a final decision until next week.
The Texans received calls on Watt over the past two weeks but opted to grant his release request. Watt will turn 32 later this year. Under his Texans contract, Watt was set to make $17.5MM in 2021. The salary cap reduction and Watt’s injury history may prevent him from a monster free agency deal, but the number of teams in the mix here stands to drive up the veteran’s price — if, in fact, this pursuit will come down to finances.
The Steelers would likely be unable to match some of the top offers for Watt, but they certainly have an interesting selling point. Younger brothers T.J. and Derek Watt are under contract with Pittsburgh for 2021; T.J. is on track for a big-ticket extension in the near future. The Steelers are well over the projected cap, as of Friday, and may have to replace several veteran starters next season. One of those could be free agent Bud Dupree. Pittsburgh’s fit would also be interesting considering their talent at Watt’s position. The Steelers have Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt signed to long-term deals. While Watt has been dominant as an inside and outside pass rusher, the Steelers have two high-end starters at his position.
Coming off their first playoff berth in 18 years, the Browns are projected to be in the league’s top sector in terms of cap space. Olivier Vernon suffered an Achilles tear late in the season, and the defensive end is on track for free agency anyway. The Browns, who will be looking for an edge rusher opposite Myles Garrett, made a steady push for longtime Watt teammate Jadeveon Clowney last year.
The Bills have several veteran defensive ends under contract, but Watt is younger than Buffalo starters Mario Addison and Jerry Hughes. The team that did land Clowney, Tennessee struggled mightily on defense last season. The Titans’ Clowney and Vic Beasley signings produced zero combined sacks. Watt did play under Mike Vrabel for a time in Houston. Both the Titans and Bills reside in the middle of the pack in projected cap space.
While Watt did not make the Pro Bowl, he did play a 16-game season for the second time in three years. Despite major injuries in 2016, ’17 and ’19, Watt graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 7 overall edge defender in 2020, with the advanced metrics site praising the veteran’s work against the run and pass. His five sacks, however, were a career-low for a season in which he played 16 games. Watt made the most recent of his five All-Pro first teams in 2018, when he recorded 16 sacks and forced seven fumbles. More teams figure to emerge in this pursuit soon.
Maurkice Pouncey and Mike Pouncey have retired from football. The Pouncey twins made the announcement on Friday, via Maurkice’s longtime teammate Ramon Foster (Twitter link). 
“It’s my honor that my brothers from another asked me to announce the next stage in their life. After over a decade Maurkice Pouncey and Mike Pouncey are retiring from the NFL,” Foster tweeted.
They came into the world together and they’re leaving the NFL together, but they actually turned pro in separate years. Maurkice entered the league in 2010 when the Steelers drafted him No. 18 overall. In 2011, the Dolphins tapped Mike with the No. 15 selection. They both went on to enjoy long careers as starting interior linemen, playing predominantly in the middle.
Maurkice spent his whole 11-year career with the Steelers and earned a reputation as one of the game’s best centers. He leaves the sport with nine Pro Bowl nods and two first-team All-Pro selections. Mike, meanwhile, was limited to nine seasons by injury, but still managed five Pro Bowl appearances.
“We began this journey at 6 years old and now, at 31, we will close this chapter of our lives.” Mike wrote. “I am thankful for everything football has taught me and everywhere it has taken me! Dream big, kids, because [dreams] do come true..Never be afraid to make a mistake, learn from them, and fix it!“
The Raiders are “very interested” in signing JuJu Smith-Schuster, according to John Clayton of 710 ESPN (Twitter link). The Steelers wide receiver is currently on track to reach the open market in March. 
Smith-Schuster, 25 in November, seemed on track for superstardom just a few years ago. As a rookie, Smith-Schuster caught 58 passes for 917 yards and seven touchdowns in just 14 games. In his last regular season game as an NFL frosh, he took a 96-yard kickoff all the way to the house and became the youngest player in NFL history to record more than 1,o00 all-purpose yards in a season.
Then came the true breakout year — 111 grabs for 1,426 yards and seven TDs and a Pro Bowl selection, helping the Steelers make up for the absence of Le’Veon Bell. The following year, Antonio Brown was shipped out, which should have set the stage for Smith-Schuster to have an even bigger season. Instead, his 2019 was marred by a knee injury and played without the services of Ben Roethlisberger.
Smith-Schuster was healthier in 2020 and bounced back somewhat, finishing with a 97/831/9 stat line. If the Raiders don’t retain Nelson Agholor, Smith-Schuster could have appeal. Of course, between Brown and Martavis Bryant, the Raiders haven’t had the best of luck with ex-Steelers WRs.
In contention for the Jaguars’ quarterbacks coach position, Mike Sullivan will instead land in Pittsburgh. The Steelers are hiring the former Giants and Buccaneers offensive coordinator, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Sullivan, 53, will replace Matt Canada, who is now the Steelers’ OC. Pittsburgh’s QB coaching role grew in importance recently, with the Steelers giving Dwayne Haskins an opportunity to reboot his career. While Ben Roethlisberger is planning to return for an 18th season, Sullivan will have multiple developmental QBs — Haskins and Mason Rudolph — to mentor. Sullivan has not coached since the 2018 season, when he served as the Broncos’ QBs coach.
- The Steelers will add Chris Morgan as their assistant offensive line coach, per Dan Duggan and Mark Kaboly of The Athletic (Twitter link). Morgan, who also interviewed with the Giants this offseason, spent the past six years as the Falcons’ O-line coach.
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Denver Broncos
- Waived: WR Fred Brown, DE Joel Heath, S Alijah Holder, TE Jordan Leggett, T Darrin Paulo; Heath was a COVID-19 opt-out
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed to reserve/futures contract: LS Steven Wirtel
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed to reserve/futures contract: OL Aviante Collins
Offensive line coach Mike Munchak left the Steelers for Denver after the 2018 season, and Pittsburgh’s O-line immediately declined. Shaun Sarrett initially replaced Munchak, but after two disappointing seasons he wasn’t retained this offseason. It was a big hire for Mike Tomlin that was talked about a lot, and in the end he opted to promote from within. The Steelers are promoting Adrian Klemm to the role, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. Klemm had spent the past two seasons as an assistant offensive line coach. A second-round pick of the Patriots back in 2000, Klemm spent a handful of years in the league as a player. He then started coaching in the college ranks, and was the run game coordinator and associate head coach at UCLA for a while under Jim Mora.
While it sounds like Ben Roethlisberger is willing to meet the financial demands of owner Art Rooney II, those impending contract discussions still left some question marks about the quarterback’s future in Pittsburgh. Well, it sounds like Roethlisberger will have a say in roster construction, another indication that he’ll be back next season. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (via Twitter) that Roethlisberger is set to meet with Rooney and head coach Mike Tomlin next month to discuss “what roster plans they have for the 2021 season.”
“Ben knows he has more left, but having key players back, like (Maurkice) Pouncey, will be important,” agent Ryan Tollner told Dulac (Twitter link). “Ben’s contract won’t hold things up. We told them immediately after the season we will make any necessary adjustment to help their cap situation in 2021.”
Earlier this week, we learned that Rooney wanted to reduce Roethlisberger’s $41.2MM cap hit for next season. We learned later that day that the quarterback’s camp was willing to oblige, and these recent quotes from Tollner seem to emphasize that they won’t be haggling over a contract. It sounds like the main sticking point will focus on what the Steelers do with the rest of their roster.
The organization is already projected to be more than $30MM over a $175MM cap, though it is not known how far the cap will drop from this year’s $198MM ceiling. Wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster is set to hit free agency, and the Steelers front office will have to trim some more salaries (like, potentially, Pouncey’s) before the start of next season. While any hypothetical Roethlisberger restructuring would undoubtedly help the cause, the organization will still have to make tough decisions elsewhere on their roster.
4:40pm: A reality in which the top quarterback in Jaguars history mentors the passer the franchise hopes will surpass him in that regard will not come to pass. Brunell’s interview with the Lions is expected to him signing on as their QBs coach, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Rather than coaching Lawrence, Jacksonville’s presumptive first-round pick, Brunell may well be in line to work with a first-round passer in Detroit. The Lions, who hold the No. 7 overall pick, are expected to move on from Matthew Stafford soon.
4:29pm: Former Pro Bowl quarterback Mark Brunell is back on the NFL radar, this time as a coach. Despite Brunell having worked in the media industry in recent years, he is on multiple teams’ radars as a prospective quarterbacks coach.
Both the Jaguars and Lions are interested in Brunell for that job, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter links). Brunell is interviewing for Detroit’s QBs coach position Thursday, Rapoport notes.
New Jaguars coach Urban Meyer is interested in Brunell, former Chargers HC Mike McCoy and former Buccaneers and Giants OC Mike Sullivan for the job, per Wilson. Jacksonville’s next QBs coach will work under OC Darrell Bevell and will hold one of the NFL’s higher-profile position coach gigs, with Trevor Lawrence likely ticketed for Jacksonville.
Sullivan was most recently Denver’s QBs coach in 2018, but the veteran assistant began his NFL career in Jacksonville in 2002. The Steelers, however, have discussed their QBs coach position with Sullivan recently, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets.
While McCoy was the Broncos’ play-caller during Peyton Manning‘s first season in Denver (2012) and led the Chargers to the playoffs in 2013, he has experienced a rocky path in recent years. The Chargers ended his four-year stay as head coach after the 2016 season, and both the Broncos and Cardinals fired him as OC in-season in 2017 and ’18, respectively.
Brunell, 50, is the top quarterback in Jaguars history. He led the team to four straight playoff berths in his first four years as the team’s full-time starter, 1996-99, and twice guided the Jags to AFC championship games. Brunell was an NFL starter until 2006, his third season with Washington, and played in the league until age 41 before retiring in 2012. Brunell finished his career with the Jets, his multiyear stay overlapping with Anthony Lynn‘s time as Gang Green’s running backs coach. The Lions hired Lynn as their new offensive coordinator this week.
Shortly after Art Rooney II indicated Ben Roethlisberger would need to restructure his contract to return to the Steelers next season, the future Hall of Fame quarterback said he would do so.
Roethlisberger, who has contended he wants to return for an 18th season, said Thursday he is not concerned about money for the 2021 season and is willing to restructure, Ed Bouchette of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). Roethlisberger’s deal calls for a whopping $41MM cap hit next season. The 38-year-old quarterback went to the Steelers about restructuring his contract.
“I want to do everything I can and made that very clear to them from the very beginning that it was my idea to basically help the team however I can this year,” Roethlisberger said, via Bouchette (Twitter links). “I am pretty sure I want to go one more year (because) I think I can do it and give us a real chance (at) winning.”
The Steelers are projected to be more than $30MM over a $175MM cap, though it is not known how far the cap will drop from this year’s $198MM ceiling. And that is without players like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Bud Dupree or Mike Hilton factoring into Pittsburgh’s 2021 payroll. More work will need to be done in order for the Steelers to move under the cap, but Roethlisberger agreeing to a pay cut would make matters much easier for the AFC North champions.
Roethlisberger signed his latest extension, which runs through 2021, in 2019. After counting $23.8MM against Pittsburgh’s 2020 cap, Big Ben’s contract balloons to the untenable $41.25MM figure next season. The decorated quarterback is due a $15MM roster bonus on the third day of the next league year. These numbers appear set to change soon.
Fond of restructures, the Steelers have continually made bad cap situations work. Though this year presents a greater challenge, due to the pandemic forcing a long-expected cap reduction. The franchise also has not made an investment in Big Ben’s surefire successor, even though it has Mason Rudolph and now Dwayne Haskins signed to low-cost deals. Roethlisberger returning at a reduced rate would surely help the Steelers next season, but the team losing several starters in free agency would make it difficult to assemble the kind of roster it possessed this past season.