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Pittsburgh Steelers News & Rumors

Steelers Restructure Cameron Heyward’s Deal

September 4th, 2018 at 9:21am CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Steelers are creating some cap flexibility today, restructuring the contract of defensive end Cameron Heyward, according to Field Yates of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Yates the Steelers are converting $8.o5MM of Heywards $9MM base salary for this season into a signing bonus, freeing up $5.39MM in 2018 cap space. When converting salary into a signing bonus, it spreads the cap hit out over multiple seasons.

This strategy of kicking the can down the road can backfire and lead to even worse cap problems down the line if not executed properly. The Steelers and GM Kevin Colbert do it all the time, and in fact restructured Heyward’s deal at this same time last season. According to Overthecap.com, the Steelers had just $12.19MM in cap space for 2019 before this move, fourth least in the league, a number that will decrease when the restructure is factored in.

It’s unclear what the Steelers are planning to do with the extra space, but it wouldn’t make much sense to worsen their future cap situation and then not do anything with the freed up money. Perhaps there’s a big name veteran that the Steelers are looking to sign. Although Overthecap did project the Steelers to be very slightly over the salary cap before this move, so maybe they made it just to get comfortably under the cap and nothing else.

Heyward is signed through the 2020 season on a $52.81MM deal. He had 12 sacks in 2017, by far a career best.

Workout Notes: Giants, Jets, Raiders, Colts

September 3rd, 2018 at 9:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

As Week 1 practices are underway, here’s the latest from the workout circuit:

  • The Giants appear to envy the Raiders’ roster depth. After adding Mario Edwards and cornerback Antonio Hamilton, Big Blue will work out Raiders 2017 fourth-round tackle David Sharpe, Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets. Sharpe’s shed 30 pounds this offseason, per Gehlken. He played in five games and started two as a rookie. The Giants will also audition former Broncos cornerback Michael Hunter, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). These workouts will take place Tuesday.
  • Hunter was part of a four-cornerback contingent that auditioned for the Texans on Labor Day, with veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer tweeting Hunter, Breon Borders, Chris Campbell and Jalen Myrick took part in the Monday showcase. Of this quartet, only Myrick has NFL experience. He played five games as a Texan last season.
  • Dan Bailey appears to have a good chance to be the Jets‘ next kicker, but in the event the team doesn’t sign him, an insurance option is coming to the Big Apple for a workout. Matt McCrane will kick for Jets brass on Wednesday, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets. The Cardinals cut McCrane last week. Jason Myers currently sits as Gang Green’s kicker, but he may not have a good grip on the job.
  • Prior to the Raiders signing Brandon LaFell, they worked out one of their former wideouts. Brice Butler trekked back to Oakland for a Monday workout, Vic Tafur of The Athletic tweets. Although most of Reggie McKenzie‘s draft picks aren’t too popular with Jon Gruden right now, Butler joined the Raiders as a 2013 seventh-round and played sparingly in 2013 and ’14. The Raiders traded him to the Cowboys prior to the 2015 season. Butler did not impress the Cardinals in camp, despite signing a two-year deal this spring.
  • The Patriots worked out tight end Stephen Anderson, tackle Eric Smith and wide receiver Jace Billingsley on Monday, Balzer tweets. New England will sign Smith to its practice squad.
  • Thinner at wide receiver after losing Marqise Lee, the Jaguars will work out former Giants wideout Kalif Raymond on Tuesday, Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com tweets. The former UDFA mostly served as a Giants return man last season.
  • Multiyear Steelers backup Fitzgerald Toussaint visited the Colts on Monday, per Pro Football Talk (on Twitter). The Steelers cut the 28-year-old running back last week after what ended up being a three-year stay.
  • Linebacker Jonathan Celestin will work out for the Browns on Tuesday, per NFL Draft Diamonds (Twitter link). The Falcons axed Celestin after the preseason.
  • Lastly, the Chiefs auditioned tackle Pace Murphy on Monday, per Balzer.

Texans, Raiders Were Interested In Josh Dobbs

September 3rd, 2018 at 12:56pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

When the Steelers took Mason Rudolph in the third round of this year’s draft, many assumed it was the beginning of the end for Josh Dobbs. Since it’s extremely rare for a team to carry four quarterbacks, the conventional wisdom was that Pittsburgh would keep Landry Jones as a veteran backup, Rudolph as the developmental rookie, and that Dobbs would either be traded or cut.

Despite facing questions about his future all summer, Dobbs was focused and showed tangible improvement this preseason. His performance in the fourth preseason game in particular was very strong, and it was enough to convince the Steelers to cut Jones instead.

While Dobbs will enter the season as Ben Roethlisberger‘s backup, the Steelers apparently did have opportunities to trade him, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN (Twitter link). Fowler reports that both the Texans and Raiders were interested in Dobbs, but that the Steelers ultimately decided to keep the second-year signal caller from Tennessee.

Steelers Re-Sign Nat Berhe

September 2nd, 2018 at 7:17pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Steelers are re-signing safety Nat Berhe after cutting him yesterday, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN (Twitter link).

The San Diego State product was drafted in the fifth round by the Giants back in 2014, and spent the first four years of his career in New York. He signed with Pittsburgh back in April, but failed to make the initial 53. Fowler writes that Berhe is “a valuable special teamer.”

Fowler notes the Steelers must now make a corresponding roster move, and that sending someone to injured reserve is a strong possibility. The Steelers have a few guys that are banged up, and now that rosters have been set players can be sent to injured reserve and later re-activated.

Berhe never played a ton on defense for the Giants, but did start two games back in 2016 and could fill in at safety in a pinch. For his career he has 26 tackles across 38 games.

Sunday NFL Transactions: AFC North

September 2nd, 2018 at 3:02pm CST by Dallas Robinson

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 Ravens, Bengals, Browns, and Steelers are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT 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

Practice squad:

Cincinnati Bengals

Signed:

Practice squad:

Cleveland Browns

Claimed:

Cut:

Pittsburgh Steelers

Practice squad:

* = international player
** = practice squad exception

Steelers Cut QB Landry Jones, Others

September 1st, 2018 at 2:53pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers have reached the 53-man roster limit by cutting a number of players, including quarterback Landry Jones.

Jones, 29, hasn’t played much during his six-year NFL career, as he’s attempted just 169 passes in relief of Roethlisberger. In that span, Jones has been a middling option, completing 63.9% of his passes for 1,310 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

The Steelers also placed wide receiver Eli Rogers on the Reserve/PUP List, which will keep him off of the field for at least the first six weeks of the season.

Here’s the full rundown of the Steelers’ moves:

Released:

  • QB Landry Jones
  • S Nat Berhe

Waived:

In addition to those moves, the Steelers designated the following players waived/injured:

Steelers QB Landry Jones Generating Trade Interest

August 31st, 2018 at 8:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Steelers backup quarterback Landry Jones has generated trade interest from other NFL clubs, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). However, it may be difficult for Pittsburgh to deal Jones given that he’s the most experienced reserve signal-caller on its roster, per Fowler.

Jones isn’t the only Steelers quarterback being discussed by rival teams, as second-year pro Joshua Dobbs is reportedly also garnering interest. Clearly, Pittsburgh will keep third-round rookie Mason Rudolph behind starter Ben Roethlisberger, and is attempting to choose between Jones and Dobbs for its other quarterback roster slot.

Jones, 29, hasn’t played much during his six-year NFL career, as he’s attempted just 169 passes in relief of Roethlisberger. In that span, Jones has been a middling option, completing 63.9% of his passes for 1,310 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

Among the quarterbacks who have thrown at least 160 passes since 2013, Jones ranks 35th in passer rating and 26th in adjusted net yards per attempt, but it’s difficult to assign much relevance to those numbers given his small sample size. With that 160-pass cutoff in place, Jones ranks second-to-last in attempts since his rookie campaign, just ahead of Derek Anderson.

Glennon, Other QBs Drawing Trade Interest

August 29th, 2018 at 2:09pm CST by Zachary Links

On Wednesday morning, the Packers traded Brett Hundley to the Seahawks. That deal is unlikely to be the last trade involving a backup quarterback, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Mike Glennon of the Cardinals, Tom Savage of the Saints, and Joshua Dobbs are the Steelers are among the QBs being discussed by teams of need, Rapoport hears. 

The Cardinals signed both Sam Bradford and Glennon in March, but the QB room changed dramatically in April when they drafted UCLA star Josh Rosen. Rosen may not be ready for primetime, but the Cardinals may feel that he is ready to be a capable No. 2 QB. Glennon flamed out in his one month as the Bears’ starter last year, but he would represent a QB2 upgrade for many teams around the league.

Savage has been long rumored to be on the bubble, but he is now firmly on the trade block following the Saints’ acquisition of Teddy Bridgewater. The Saints project to move ahead with Bridgewater and Taysom Hill as the backups to Drew Brees, leaving Savage without a spot in New Orleans. Savage, a former fourth-round pick out of Pittsburgh, entered the 2017 season as Houston’s starter, but he lost the job to rookie Deshaun Watson rather quickly. He finished the year with 1,412 yards and five touchdowns against six interceptions.

The writing has been on the wall for Dobbs ever since the Steelers used a third-round pick on Mason Rudolph in this year’s draft. Landry Jones is locked in as the backup quarterback and Rudolph is locked in as the No. 3, so Dobbs is clearly on the block.

Steelers Restructure Vance McDonald’s Deal

August 28th, 2018 at 6:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

A franchise big on reworking contracts made another cap space-clearing move on Tuesday. The Steelers adjusted Vance McDonald‘s deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

The Steelers tight end agreed to convert $3MM of his base salary into a signing bonus, Schefter reports. This move will free up more than $2MM in cap room. The Steelers came into Tuesday with $3.6MM in cap space — the second-lowest total in the league — and frequently utilize this tactic.

Both Vince Williams and Chris Boswell agreed to extensions last week, and Le’Veon Bell is attached to a $14.5MM salary this season. The Steelers restructured Stephon Tuitt and David DeCastro‘s deals earlier this year. They’ve been big on base-to-bonus conversions in recent years, with VP of football and business administration Omar Khan convincing ownership this strategy would benefit the team as the salary cap continues to rise by approximately $10MM annually.

McDonald is attached to a five-year, $32.5MM extension he signed with the 49ers in late 2016. The new San Francisco regime traded the tight end to Pittsburgh last year.

Bell To Report To Steelers On Labor Day?

August 28th, 2018 at 3:52pm CST by Zachary Links

Le’Veon Bell has told some of his teammates that he will report to the Steelers on Labor Day, Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette hears. If Bell is in the building on Sept. 3, he’ll be able to participate in the team’s first day of practice before the season opener. 

Bell has abstained from training camp after receiving a second consecutive franchise tag which is worth $14.5MM this time around. Last year, Bell also held out from camp, but officially reported on Sept. 4.

It remains to be seen how the Steelers will use Bell in the season opener. Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner could give Bell his typical workload, or he could start the year by splitting the carries between Bell and backup James Conner.

“That’s a hard question because it’s Le’Veon,” Fichtner said recently. “You’d like to think that he’ll be in good shape. But we’ll have to evaluate where he’s at — conditioning, health, things like that. Using him in the best way to help us win early will be the most important thing. There will be some things he can do that quite frankly most people who play his position can’t do. But that’s not anything against the running backs that have gone through training camp with us because they’ve done a heck of a job, including James.”

Despite his dissatisfaction with the team and his contract, it sounds like Bell will show up for work as scheduled. However, this may be his final season in black and yellow.

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