Welcome back to your Pittsburgh Steelers mailbag. As always, we’re here for the next hour to answer whatever is on your mind.
To your questions!
Mark O’Connor: Hi Alex, why not extend James Daniel’s contract? He is an above average player and McCormick is an unknown quantity. Thanks!
Alex: Preaching to the choir, man. I’ve asked and wondered the same. Maybe McCormick will be really good but it seems like a risk to take and assume for a fourth round pick making the small-school jump.
I suppose their issue is the guard market just got too hot. Kevin Dotson, Robert Hunt, and others got paid $16 mil+ this free agency. Daniels signed a deal making less than $9 million two years ago. So it’s a big-time jump (in part because the cap spiked). And I’m guessing the Steelers like Daniels but don’t think he should double/more than double his salary. A true “we like the player but not at the price tag” situation.
But I’d hate to have to re-work this offensive line just as you’ve built it up. Pittsburgh had a great era of DeCastro/Pouncey/Foster/Villanueva/Gilbert not just because they found and cultivated talent but because they retained them. They didn’t have to go out and find a replacement at one of those spots each year. That continuity was big for the line to jel, too.
RazzleG: Hi Alex,
I keep seeing stories about Leveon Bell, and how he changed the running back position, which reminded me that he said he wanted to come back, and for the steelers. As he’s not back in for OTAs can we assume they consider that ship has sailed?
Thanks
Rory
Alex: It would appear so. Since making those series of videos and announcements, I’ve seen no indication he actually trained and tried to return to football. He’s still boxing and won a recent match. Seems like that’s the career he wants to keep pursuing.
He wouldn’t have just joined OTAs anyway. He would’ve been training by himself for awhile. Maybe he quietly did and realized he wasn’t going to do it. But his football days are done.
Matt Smith: Do you believe there will be any semblance of a QB competition in August? Given the Steelers probably will take the preseason with the biggest grain of salt after last preseason’s giant tease, I just don’t see a scenario where a healthy Wilson doesn’t take the first snap in Atlanta.
Alex: I don’t. This is 2022 “Trubisky battling Pickett/Rudolph” all over. Unless Wilson gets hurt or just completely implodes in the summer (“hand the ball off to the other team” levels of bad), Wilson will start Week 1. I think he’ll get more time and patience than Trubisky but where exactly things go from there is anyone’s guess.
Steel Rain: Hey Alex, what are your reasonable expectations for Muth this year? And what do you think is his ceiling in this offense year one?
Alex: Hadn’t dedicated a lot of thoughts to specifics but it’s reasonable to think he’ll bounce back and be around/slightly above the numbers he put up his first two years. He’s healthy in a tight end heavy offense. So something like 60-70 receptions, 700-800 yards, and probably a decent number of touchdowns (at least four) seem reasonable and logical to me.
The ceiling for this offense? Top Ten. If the run game is aces and play action works off it and the group stays healthy. I’m shooting for them being at least average, Top 16 in scoring. With a Top 10 defense and good special teams, that should get you into the postseason with as much nail-biting as past years.
stan: If Wilson or Fields finishes the year as the starter and puts up league average stats, what do you think each guy would cost to re-sign?
Alex: I’d need to study that more and that all feels down the road. But starting QBs aren’t cheap. I’d think $35 million per year is about the floor on a starter-level, multi-year deal. And that wouldn’t even put them Top 15 at the position. Maybe Fields is willing to take a little less since it’s his first payday. If Wilson plays well and wins a playoff game, he’s going to want to get paid $40 million-plus. He won’t come cheap again.
Douglas Prostorog: so, here’s an odd question–is it just me or does it seem like there is a lot more one year (and often one year vet minimum) deals this year than in the past?
Alex: I’d have to look. It’s hard to say. Consider this year’s draft class was considered shallow so that may have pushed teams to sign a few more vets than banking on their undrafted class to better fill out the end of the roster. That could be one factor. But even if there’s an increase, it could just be noise.
George Hareras:
Hey Alex,
New coordinator and new QB. I think we all expect a better offense, however, I keep getting the feeling that it was Tomlin’s choice to essentially handcuff the offense by making it no turnover conservative.
Did he have his say in this and if so, will it happen again?
Alex: Sure, he has a say in the general direction of the offense. He creates the framework, the OC fills in the details. And I think that’s a fair assessment that Tomlin and this offense’s main directive was to protect the football. They won when they did. So I get why they took that path.
I wrote about Tomlin’s role in the offense here. That should help provide more detail on what you’re asking.
I do think with a vet OC like Arthur Smith, Tomlin will offer a little more control and freedom. There’s more trust in Smith to do the job.
