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Pittsburgh Steelers News & Rumors

Broncos To Meet With Mike Munchak

January 11th, 2019 at 4:03pm CST by Zachary Links

The Broncos’ agreement with Gary Kubiak went bust, but they’re still intent on adding experience to Vic Fangio‘s staff. The Broncos notified the Steelers of their intention to speak with Mike Munchak, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 

Munchak’s contract with the Steelers has (or will soon) expire, so the Steelers wouldn’t truly have the means to block him from taking a clear promotion elsewhere. Munchak’s possible role in Denver is unknown, but he would fit as a logical OC candidate to fill the role that was set aside for Kubiak.

Just days ago, Munchak was interviewing with the Broncos in their head coaching search. He did not get the nod, but he did impress and he wound up as a finalist alongside Fangio.

Munchak is widely regarded as one of the league’s best offensive line coaches in the NFL. Under his command, the Steelers’ front five helped transform Le’Veon Bell into a star and also made backup James Conner

Munchak served as the Titans’ coach from 2011-13 and has overseen one of the NFL’s best offensive lines in recent years. Pittsburgh’s front helped turn Le’Veon Bell into a star and James Conner into a quickly capable replacement while also aiding Ben Roethlisberger to four straight Pro Bowls and a 2018 5,000-yard season.

Steelers OL coach Mike Munchak is among the best at what he does, and Denver had him in the final 2 for their HC interviews. Possibly adding both Munchak and Vic Fangio would be quite a coup for the #Broncos… and clearly a rough loss for Pittsburgh.

Steelers Hire Teryl Austin

January 11th, 2019 at 2:57pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers hired former Bengals’ defensive coordinator Teryl Austin to serve as a senior defensive assistant, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). In Pittsburgh, Austin’s focus will be on the secondary. 

After the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Austin was in the mix for head coaching jobs around the league. In 2018, he pushed for the Lions to promote him from defensive coordinator to head coach after Jim Caldwell was fired, but the team was dead set on hiring Matt Patricia. When that became apparent to Austin, he hooked on with the Bengals to serve under Lewis.

Unfortunately, things did not work out with the Bengals. He was canned in November after the Bengals suffered a brutal one-sided loss to the Saints.

In other Steelers news, the club seems open to trading star wide receiver Antonio Brown. It’s a big departure from their stance just a couple of weeks ago when Brown blew up at teammates and coaches in practice.

Latest On Steelers, Antonio Brown

January 10th, 2019 at 3:09pm CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown is unhappy with Steelers brass and coach Mike Tomlin, but the assumption so far has been that the Steelers would not trade the wide receiver. Apparently, things have changed. In an interview with Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette, Steelers president Art Rooney II said it would be “hard to envision” Brown being with the Steelers in training camp this summer. 

“There’s not much we can do right now; we have time to make a decision,” Rooney said. “We’ll look at all the options. We’re not going to release him, that’s not on the table. But I will say all other options are on the table.”

With that, it appears that one of the game’s most dangerous offensive weapons could be on the market. It’s likely that every team will have interest in adding Brown, but the cost figures to be sky high. Not only is Brown a superstar player, but trading him would also leave the Steelers saddled with an astronomical cap hit. Even though dissatisfied players are often traded for pennies on the dollar, a Brown trade could call for the forfeiture of two first-round picks, and possibly more.

Even though Rooney is leaving the door open to a possible trade, he’s not slamming the door on a potential reconciliation either.

“I’m not going to use those words. All options are on the table. We have two months to go before we can do anything. There’s no sense making the decision now,” Rooney said. “We’ll see how things play out. Maybe he decides to come talk to us some day and we learn more about where he is. We’ll see.”

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/9/19

January 9th, 2019 at 6:13pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2019 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/8/19

January 8th, 2019 at 8:19pm CST by Zachary Links

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2019 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

  • WR Duke Williams

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Miami Dolphins

  • LB Sam Eguavoen

New England Patriots

  • C Jake Eldrenkamp

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Houston Texans

Philadelphia Eagles

  • LB Alex Singleton

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • K Matt McCrane

Seattle Seahawks

Broncos Deciding Between Vic Fangio, Mike Munchak?

January 8th, 2019 at 9:56am CST by Zachary Links

The Broncos’ head coaching search may soon be coming to a close. Denver is GM John Elway appears to be deciding between Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak, according to Mike Klis of 9News. 

[RELATED: PFR’s Head Coaching Search Tracker]

Fangio was largely overlooked in last year’s cycle, but he’s high atop the Broncos’ list this year. The two sides met on Monday and Elway was said to be seriously mulling him on his flight home. Fangio is 60 and has never been a head coach his 40 years of coaching, but his resume and recent results are impressive. In 2018, the Bears ranked No. 1 in scoring defense and allowed just 17.7 points per game. For all of the Broncos’ offensive woes, they’d be doing a lot better if they got back to being one of the league’s scariest defenses.

Munchak, meanwhile, is widely regarded as one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL. Since taking the job in Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger‘s sack rate has been cut roughly in half, which is no small feat. Unlike Fangio, Munchak boasts previous head coaching experience, though he’s also in the same age range. Munchak will turn 59 in March, but Elway does not seem afraid of bucking the league’s youth-forward trend.

Steelers Not Bringing Back RB Coach James Saxon

January 7th, 2019 at 3:30pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

More changes are coming to the Steelers’ coaching staff. After they announced a few days ago they wouldn’t be bringing back linebackers coach Joey Porter, the team announced in a tweet they weren’t retaining running backs coach James Saxon. 

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is shaking up his staff after a disappointing season where Pittsburgh missed the playoffs and the team became embroiled in internal drama. While Tomlin’s job is safe, he’s clearly starting to feel a little bit of heat as things seem to be falling apart in Pittsburgh.

After going one and done in the playoffs last season, the team didn’t bring back offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Now the team is letting go multiple assistant coaches, and it’s definitely possible they aren’t done. After the announcement about Porter, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, wrote that it felt “like a warning shot” to Tomlin from ownership, and that the decision on his assistant coaches might not be his.

Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak is reportedly the early favorite for the Broncos’ head coaching job, so next year’s Steelers coaching staff could look radically different. The team is reportedly set to trade Antonio Brown, so it looks like an offseason of change for Pittsburgh.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/6/19

January 6th, 2019 at 3:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2019 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Chicago Bears

  • LB Jameer Thurman

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers Expected To Trade Antonio Brown By March?

January 6th, 2019 at 10:36am CST by Rory Parks

Not only will the Steelers be entertaining trade offers for Antonio Brown, but ESPN’s Chris Mortensen expects Brown to be dealt by the first week of March (video link). Mortensen says the star wideout has ignored phone calls from ownership and from head coach Mike Tomlin, and while he has had some communication with support staff, it looks as though he is trying to separate himself from Pittsburgh.

Brown is due a $2.5MM roster bonus when the new league year begins in March, and Mortensen believes the Steelers will trade Brown before they have to pay that bonus. While Brown’s significant salary cap hit has been cited as a deterrent to such a trade, Mortensen observes that the Steelers will be credited with $14.5MM towards the 2019 cap because of the Le’Veon Bell situation, and if the team extends quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as expected, that could open up more cap space.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets that one NFL GM believes Brown will not be traded and that the Steelers will be able to resolve their differences with him. But if that does not happen, Pittsburgh may have enough cap flexibility to make a trade feasible.

The Steelers are said to be seeking at least a first-round pick in exchange for the increasingly-mercurial Brown.

Steelers Expected To Extend Roethlisberger

January 5th, 2019 at 11:41am CST by Ben Levine

Ben Roethlisberger will be entering the final season of his contract in 2019, but it sounds like the Steelers quarterback may be sticking around for longer than that. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the Steelers and Roethlisberger are expected to “restructure and extend” the quarterback’s deal prior to the beginning of the league year on March 13th.

In recent years, there have seemingly been whispers every offseason that the 36-year-old Roethlisberger could decide to hang up his cleats, although the veteran has hinted that he’s open to playing beyond his current contract. The Steelers did use a third-round pick on Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph in this past year’s draft, but that wouldn’t necessarily prevent Roethlisberger from playing another handful of seasons. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes that team president Art Rooney II previously said that he’d like to ink Roethlisberger to one more contract.

Despite being up there in age, the veteran quarterback set career-highs in completions (452), pass attempts (675), passing yards (5,129), and touchdowns (34) this past season. Roethlisberger has taken an absolute beating throughout his career, and his 24 sacks in 2018 was his highest total since 2014. Still, the signal-caller managed to play in all 16 games for the first time since (of course) 2014.

The quarterback signed an extension with Pittsburgh back in 2015, and he’s set to have a cap charges of $23.2MM. As Schefter notes, an extension could open up some extra cap space for the Steelers, perhaps making an Antonio Brown trade more tolerable.

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