Pittsburgh Steelers News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/7/19

Here are today’s minor moves on the eve of regular season openers:

Arizona Cardinals

Cleveland Browns

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

Brown Felt Slighted When Steelers Prioritized Ben Roethlisberger

  • Brown did not completely morph into the polarizing figure he now is until Week 17 of last season, a sequence that began his Pittsburgh exit. A 2012 date sticks with some Steelers figures, however. A day after Brown received the first of his two Steelers extensions (July 28, 2012), he engaged in a heated exchange with Steelers defenders and then-DC Dick LeBeau at a training camp practice, Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com notes. Another component in the Brown saga, per Robinson: Steelers owner Dan Rooney‘s death. The late owner was a Brown supporter, and Robinson adds Brown “took it hard” when the organization prioritized Ben Roethlisberger over him. This is a bit strange because the Steelers did not give Big Ben his latest extension until Brown forced his way out, though the team did back Roethlisberger after Brown’s Week 17 became an amazing run of drama.
  • Drew Rosenhaus mentioned this Brown saga indeed could become a legal situation, regarding the released wideout’s $29MM-plus in guarantees, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). “We’ll do what’s best for Antonio. We will speak with the NFLPA,” Rosenhaus said, via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (Twitter link). While the Raiders no longer employ Brown, their part in this process does not look to be over. If Brown were to win a grievance, the Raiders could be tagged with $29.125MM in dead money, ex-GM Mike Tannenbaum tweets. The Steelers are already eating $21.12MM in 2019 dead cap charges.

NFL Cap Space By Team For 2019

With hours to go before the start of the 2019 NFL season, here’s a rundown of how much cap room each NFL team has (via ESPN.com’s Field Yates, on Twitter):

  1. Indianapolis Colts – $42.1MM
  2. Cleveland Browns – $32.7MM
  3. Miami Dolphins – $31.9MM
  4. Houston Texans – $29.5MM
  5. Buffalo Bills – $24.8MM
  6. Tennessee Titans – $24.1MM
  7. Dallas Cowboys – $22.3MM
  8. Detroit Lions – $19.2MM
  9. San Francisco 49ers – $18.7MM
  10. Chicago Bears – $17.3MM
  11. Carolina Panthers – $16.6MM
  12. Washington Redskins – $15.9MM
  13. Philadelphia Eagles – $14.8MM
  14. Cincinnati Bengals – $13.3MM
  15. Kansas City Chiefs – $12.4MM
  16. Oakland Raiders – $12MM
  17. Denver Broncos – $11.2MM
  18. Green Bay Packers – $10.8MM
  19. Los Angeles Chargers – $10.2MM
  20. Jacksonville Jaguars – $9.5MM
  21. New York Jets – $9.3MM
  22. Seattle Seahawks – $8.6MM
  23. Baltimore Ravens – $8.2MM
  24. Pittsburgh Steelers – $6.3MM
  25. New England Patriots – $4.9MM
  26. Arizona Cardinals – $2.7MM
  27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – $1.2MM
  28. Minnesota Vikings – $1.2MM
  29. Los Angeles Rams – $852K
  30. New Orleans Saints – $604K
  31. Atlanta Falcons – $493K
  32. New York Giants – $457K

Steelers Put In Claim For Seals-Jones

Hines Ward is back in the NFL, this time as a coach. The legendary former Steelers receiver will join the Jets as an offensive assistant, the team announced in a release. Ward had been a coaching intern, and after impressing during camp got invited back as a member of the full-time staff. “He’s going to be an offensive assistant, he’s going to be working with the wideouts with Shawn so I think that’s a great addition for us. He’s done a lot of really good things with that group, helping out with those guys,” head coach Adam Gase said.

  • The Browns got tight end Ricky Seals-Jones off waivers from the Cardinals this weekend, and they weren’t the only AFC North team interested. The Steelers submitted a claim for the Texas A&M product as well, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Seals-Jones has shown flashed during his two years in the league, but the 2017 UDFA fell out of favor with the new coaching staff in Arizona. The Steelers have Vance McDonald but not a ton behind him on the depth chart, so their interest makes some sense.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/2/19

We’ll keep track of Monday’s practice squad moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Signed: WR Davion Davis

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers 

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Redskins

Steelers Unlikely To Sign Javon Hargrave To Extension

With Joe Haden‘s new deal in the books, the next man up would appear to be defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. However, a deal appears unlikely to come together before the start of the season and Hargrave is prepared to play out the final year of his contract before reaching free agency, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.

This jibes with what we heard back in August – the Steelers are short on cap room and aren’t ready to meet the asking price of Hargraves, who is deployed largely a run-stuffer. Like most interior lineman specializing in stopping the ground game, he’s not quite a full-time player, though he has also been effective against the pass, as demonstrated by his 6.5 sacks last year.

It’s not hard to imagine the 26-year-old cashing in next March, just after his 27th birthday. If he sees more snaps this year and frustrated opposing quarterbacks even more, he could easily price himself out of Pittsburgh.

Steelers, Joe Haden Agree To Extension

At long last, Joe Haden has agreed to a new deal with the Steelers. Haden’s brand new two-year extension will pay him $22MM and keep him under club control through the 2021 campaign (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 

As a part of the deal, Haden will receive a $16.8MM signing bonus. For this year, he’ll earn his previously slated $10MM/year salary.

We’re still waiting on the specific breakdown of the pact, but it’ll likely lessen Haden’s cap hit in the near term, giving the Steelers some additional flexibility.

After missing time in 2018 with an injury, Haden returned to play 15 games last season. He graded out as a top-40 cornerback, according to Pro Football Focus – that’s a notch below his best Browns years, but the 30-year-old remains an upper-echelon cover man.

The Steelers added cornerbacks this offseason, signing Steven Nelson and drafting Justin Layne in Round 3. Meanwhile, they’ll move forward with disappointing 2016 first-rounder Artie Burns after cutting him an $800K bonus check in August.

Haden, meanwhile, has brought consistency as a boundary corner, something the Steelers have sorely lacked. His new deal is sizable for a 30-year-old, but it also makes plenty of sense for the Steelers.

 

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC West

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC West teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Broncos, ChargersChiefs and Raiders are noted below.

Additionally, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads today. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s AFC West transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Denver Broncos

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC North

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the RavensBengalsBrowns, and Steelers are noted below.

Additionally, as of today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s AFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Pittsburgh Steelers

* = International Pathway Program player

Broncos Claim QB Brandon Allen

The Broncos have claimed quarterback Brandon Allen off waivers, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Allen was dropped by the Rams on Saturday, making him available to the league’s 31 other teams.

Allen is now set to serve as Joe Flacco‘s primary backup. Drew Lock was supposed to be the top clipboard holder, but a hand injury will keep him sidelined for a while. Kevin Hogan, an internal candidate to fill that void, was dropped over the weekend.

In addition to Allen, the Broncos have also been awarded the following players off waivers:

  • TE Andrew Beck (Patriots)
  • C Corey Levin (Titans)
  • WR Diontae Spencer (Steelers)