Welcome back to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers mailbag. As always, we’re here for the next hour to answer whatever is on your mind.
To your questions!
Steel Cretin: Hey Alex- just something I’ve been thinking about. Since we’re paying a collective $6.49 for our QB and WR rooms this year (the two rooms that I expect are eating the most cap for most teams), shouldn’t we be more “loaded” elsewhere on the team than we are? Other than our OLBs, do we have any position groups that anyone else in the league is envying? We’ve all been praising Khan since he took over, but I’m struggling to figure out where all the money is going since we’re nothing special in terms of O-Line, TE, RB. Our D-line is good but probably not top 5. Corners are OK (as long as no-one gets hurt and we don’t have to defend the slot), but our really good one is on a rookie deal. ILB room is good, but not anything close to the best in the league. We have one really expensive, top tier Safety and beyond that, no-one would be scared of that room either. Depth is not really great anywhere on the roster, so what am I missing?
Alex: Well this is the highest-paid defense in football. That is where their money is allocated, too. But it’s a young offense and you have a bunch of guys who are on their rookie deals. They’ll get paid in time. And that’ll change the numbers.
Pittsburgh also has a fair amount of cap space and we’ll see how they use it. Some will get to a Freiermuth deal. And we’ll see what’s down the road. But a lack of spending just to spending isn’t my concern right now.
Cory Fisher: Is it just me, or is it a big problem if Fields doesn’t play this year and we go into next year not knowing what we have in him? Hypothetically, let’s say Wilson has a so-so year, we sneak in the playoffs, and lose in the first round. Doesn’t that seem like a wasted season in planning for the future?
Alex: It’s a problem, yes. I don’t want to call it a “waste” because you’re not planning to have that kind of season when you announce Wilson as the starter now. But it will make the offseason tricky. Do you trust either player to pay them a large sum and hitch your wagon? It’s a very real concern and plausible outcome. But we’ll cross that bridge if and when we get to it. Not much we can do but just acknowledge that possibility right now.
J Alexander Wright: How does this practice squad injury list work? Is Boston Scott returning at some point or is he done
Alex: I’m not certain of all the rules for practice squad IR but he could come back. At least, I base that off of DB Josiah Scott being placed on there last September and then signing with the Eagles the following month. So the rules seem a little shaky to me but it seems like there could be a path for him to return. But I know no details over the severity of the injury.
Tangitau Attack: Hey Alex, I have never gotten critics and fans saying that Tomlin hasn’t won a playoff game in x amount of years. Call me mistaken but the Steelers are in it for Super bowl wins, if we win a playoff game but lose the next then the win is moot. Am I wrong for thinking that the playoff win stat is pointless?
Alex: I get your point but to be painfully obvious, you gotta win a playoff game to even think Super Bowl. And it’s reasonable to assume this team won’t be in the Super Bowl every year. Only one AFC team gets to do that. But to have this kind of prolonged playoff drought is literally historic, the longest streak post-merger for a goal that’s more attainable.
You’re right their eyes are always on a Lombardi but the fact they’ve yet to even win a playoff game to take a step there is the concern. And it’s right to criticize. The issue is the stagnation and the team never feeling closer to its ultimate goal.
Peter-Petersen:
Hey Alex,
missed a few weeks now due to work so I got more than one question if you’d allow me to.
Would you poach Edmunds and hire Boyking/ are you wondering why none of those moves happened yet?
If you’d have to predict wether the WR rumors would increase or not, what would your prediction be and when would the stories start getting track?
What’s the game you are looking forward to the most?
Alex: Hey man! Sorry for the delay, put this in the wrong post! Nah, I wouldn’t poach Edmunds. I would grab Boykin though as a gunner. As for why they haven’t, we can speculate a lot and not really get anywhere. The team is comfortable with who they have, clearly. We’ll see if they’re right. I’m skeptical.
For WR rumors, about a week or two ahead of the deadline. So we’re talking Week 7-8 and then obviously Week 9 and at the deadline. That’s when teams start getting an idea of how their season is going. If they’re going to buy and sell. NFL pushed it back a week to allow teams more time to decide.
