This enough change for you?
The Steelers began making coaching moves on Thursday with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner, offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett and defensive backs coach Tom Bradley not being retained while tight ends coach James Daniel retired.
Things might not end there. Quarterbacks coach Matt Canada is a candidate to become the offensive coordinator of the Dolphins, while senior defensive assistant/secondary coach Teryl Austin is a candidate to be the new defensive coordinator for the Titans.
With 19 players heading toward unrestricted free agency, those are hardly the only changes the Steelers are going to undergo this offseason.
Who will be back and who won't? That's a great question and one with many facets.
How low the salary cap falls is a big part of that.
The NFL and NFLPA agreed before the season began that the cap couldn't fall lower than $175 million. But there's a strong belief it won't go that low. Negotiations will take place again between both sides after the season to figure out if that can be adjusted upward.
But let's assume it comes in at $190 million. That would mean the Steelers would need to trim about $12 million off their cap just to get in compliance.
Say, for example, Maurkice Pouncey does in fact retire. That would trim $8 million off that total. Not picking up the $6.5 million option on Vance McDonald would create the rest of the space the team needs to get under the cap, though he would need to be replaced. They could decline his option and potentially sign him back to a cheaper deal.
Currently, Overthecap.com is estimating the cap to come in at $181.9 million. If that's the case, then those two moves would still leave the Steelers with another $7 million in cap space to create.
Extending Ben Roethlisberger with a "dummy year" that includes a 2022 salary but no signing bonus would allow the Steelers to trim another $3 million or more off their cap -- spreading his remaining signing bonus over more years, even if he doesn't play in 2022.
Extending T.J. Watt in the offseason wouldn't change that number much -- he's slated to earn $10.089 million -- though there would be some savings, even with a four-year, $100-million extension that will be the going rate for a player of his talents. But that also would include a major signing bonus.
Either way, it won't leave the Steelers with much wiggle room -- unless Roethlisberger retires. And even that only creates $19 million in cap space.
So, if Pouncey and Roethlisberger retire and the Steelers declined to pick up the option on McDonald, it leaves them with just over $11 million in cap space -- with a cap of $182 million.
With just $11 million in cap space, the Steelers would barely have enough money to keep some of their lower-priced free agents -- say, Cameron Sutton, Zach Banner and Tyson Alualu -- while signing their rookie draft class. One thing for certain: The Steelers can't afford big-ticket items such as Bud Dupree or JuJu Smith-Schuster. That's just not in the cards -- though they should reap big rewards in compensatory picks in 2022.
If Roethlisberger returns, the overall savings has to come from elsewhere. That means veterans such as Vince Williams ($4 million) and Joe Haden ($7 million) might have to go. With a cap of $182 million, that would create enough cap space to sign the rookie draft class, and again, little else.
Restructuring Stephon Tuitt and Cam Heyward along with releasing Williams and Haden would get the Steelers to a similar spot they would be at if just Roethlisberger and Pouncey retired.
Now, if Pouncey retires, and Tuitt and Heyward are restructured, perhaps the team could get away with just releasing Williams and going with Robert Spillane and/or a rookie at inside linebacker next to Devin Bush.
That's not so bad. There's no easy fix. But it is doable.
But so much of it depends on those negotiations that will take place sometime after the Super Bowl is completed.
None of that gets the Steelers the money necessary to re-sign Dupree or Smith-Schuster, but such is life. And the Steelers will reap the benefit of that in 2022 with compensatory selections that can then be used to make the moves needed to acquire their quarterback of the future.
The whole thing will be one big jigsaw puzzle. And right now, the Steelers don't have a picture from which to work.
STEELERS
• One deal I expect to get done rather quickly -- because it won't cost much -- will be some kind of extension for Banner. In fact, I'm told those negotiations will start soon. Banner signed a one-year deal last year at a below-market price of $1.75 million and then earned the starting right tackle job coming out of training camp. He then tore his ACL in the first game of the season. With no preseason and just one game of film as a starter, there's not a lot of film of Banner out there. But the Steelers like the 27-year-old and he could wind up being their starting left tackle next season. Another one-year deal likely gets that done with the promise of something more substantial down the road. -- Lolley
• If Austin does leave to become defensive coordinator of the Titans, one name to keep an eye on as a potential replacement as senior defensive assistant/secondary coach -- if the Steelers like that title -- is former Bucs heads coach and current Falcons interim head coach Raheem Morris. Tomlin and Morris are close from their days together in Tampa Bay. And at 44, Morris is still viewed around the league as bright, young defensive mind. It would be interesting to see if Tomlin explores bringing Morris into the fold in some capacity, even if Austin stays. -- Lolley
• As mentioned in this space last week, Steelers Vice President of Football & Business Administration Omar Khan got an interview for the GM job with the Texans because of close ties with the head of the search firm that ran that process. Khan, along with more than a dozen other people, were interviewed this past week for the GM job with the Panthers. I'm told that interview came about via a call by Kevin Colbert to Panthers owner David Tepper, a former minority shareholder of the Steelers. I'm also told by a source with knowledge of the situation that Khan hasn't been the only Steelers front office member to reach out to the Panthers for a potential job. According to a source, Steelers Pro Scouting Coordinator Brandon Hunt, also made some inquiries about joining the Panthers recently. That's interesting because Hunt is widely viewed as the eventual internal replacement for Colbert when he decides to retire. That's why those rumors of Colbert potentially being lured away by the Lions the past few weeks have been laughable. Colbert turns 64 this month. He's going year-to-year with his contract with the Steelers because he doesn't want to be locked into a long-term deal when he's close to retirement. But he also doesn't seem to be ready to hang it up just yet. And Hunt at least inquiring about a job with another organization backs that up. He doesn't think Colbert is retiring any time soon. Either that, or he's been told he's not the hand-picked successor for Colbert. -- Lolley
PENGUINS
• The Penguins didn't accomplish everything they'd like to during a normal training camp while conducting just seven on-ice workouts during the abbreviated training camp that ended this week, and some of that was evident during their 6-3 loss in the regular-season opener Wednesday in Philadelphia. They did achieve at least one thing of consequence, though: They made it out of training camp without any significant injuries to members of their NHL roster. For a team that had to contend with major lost-time injuries to pretty much every key player on the payroll last season, that's significant. And while there was an element of luck -- there's no way to guard against a deflected puck hitting someone in the face, or a guy losing an edge and going hard into the boards -- it also reflected planning by the coaching and conditioning staffs. Mike Sullivan, who said "I couldn't envision our team going through more of an injury experience than we did in the past season," said just about every aspect of camp was taken into consideration when constructing the practices. "When we planned our training camp, we had lengthy discussions about workloads," he said. "We don't want to put guys in compromising positions early on. We want to make sure our workloads escalate. We want to work smart as much as we work hard." He added that input from players was important -- "We have a mature group, and I certainly trust the feedback that the players give our coaching staff in that regard" -- as the coaches tried to strike a balance between keeping guys healthy while preparing for the games ahead. The objective, Sullivan said, was to "try to give our guys the opportunity to get in the best possible shape, from a a cardiovascular standpoint, but also (prepare for) the grind, the bumping and the grinding and the physical aspect of the game. A lot of times, that's hard to simulate in a training environment. The only way you really get that is to get into game action." -- Dave Molinari in Philadelphia
• While there wasn't much for the Penguins to like about the third period of their season-opening loss, when Philadelphia scored three unanswered goals to turn a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 romp, those 20 minutes produced at least one stat that could offer a bit of encouragement: Evgeni Malkin won four of the five faceoffs he took in the period. What makes that particularly noteworthy is he had been 1-5 on draws in the previous two periods. (Not that he was faring any worse than most other Penguins centers, aside from Sidney Crosby, at that point. Teddy Blueger was 0-5, while Mark Jankowski had gone 1-5.) But Malkin showed in 2019-20 he can be effective on draws -- he went 441-435, the first time in his career that he finished above .500 -- and the Penguins will need him, as well as their other faceoff men, to at least break even over the course of the season. Allowing the other team to possess the puck the majority of times after there's a stoppage in play is, at best, counterproductive. -- Molinari
• The NHL waiver wire was a busy place in the days leading up to the start of the regular season, as clubs assigned players to their minor-league affiliate or taxi squad as they finalized their rosters for the opener. Even so, only about a half-dozen players were claimed by other teams. Whether that portends a slow year for trades and waiver claims is hard to say, but it certainly underscores the possibility that will be the case. There are a few obvious factors at work here, all stemming from the pandemic. Franchises have lost a lot of revenue because crowds have been prohibited, or severely restricted, since March, which means some GMs have been instructed to spend only as much as absolutely necessary. What's more, because of quarantine regulations -- whether it involves moving from one state or province to another, or going from the U.S. to Canada -- there's not much chance of a newly acquired player being able to make an immediate contribution to his new team. Jim Rutherford said predicting how much personnel movement will happen in 2020-21 is "a tough call," but noted there are circumstances under which a waiver claim still would make sense. "I suppose that if there's a player out there on waivers that somebody feels can help them, they're going to claim him," he said. "Sometimes, when you're claiming a guy off waivers it's not for immediate help, anyway." -- Molinari
PIRATES
• Yes, there is obviously history with Ben Cherington and Andrew Benintendi -- Cherington took him in the first-round of the 2015 draft, a few weeks before he resigned as Red Sox general manager -- and the Pirates could use another outfielder, but regardless of the report that came out this week linking the two, it doesn’t make sense. The Red Sox want Major League pitching, which the Pirates do have available to trade. Joe Musgrove, Chad Kuhl and Steven Brault have all drawn trade interest over the last five months, but the Pirates are looking for controllable talent. Benintendi is not that. Like Kuhl and Musgrove, he is scheduled to hit the free agent market in two years. It would be one thing if the Pirates could acquire him cheap and hope he bounces back so they could either extend him or flip him for better prospects. But to trade a starter with the same amount of control for a position player who was pedestrian in 2019 and horrendous in 2020 is at best a lateral move. -- Alex Stumpf
• The Pirates haven’t made a formal announcement for when pitchers and catchers will report to Bradenton, Fla. for spring training, but unofficially, I'm told it is set for Feb. 15. Their first spring training game is scheduled for Feb. 27, so that would put them on the same shortened schedule Derek Shelton and Don Kelly implemented last year. That gave the Pirates 10 workout days -- five with the full squad -- before they started playing games. -- Stumpf
• There will be fewer players at spring training this year, though, at least at first. Like the rest of the league, the Pirates will not hold their Major League and minor-league camps at the same time. Instead, there will be the MLB camp first, which consists of players on the roster and select non-roster invitees. Once they leave, the minor-league camp, which will consist of players in class A and AA, will begin. As a result, the lower levels of the system will have their season start later. A team executive from one of the Pirates’ lower level affiliates said they don’t have a schedule for the upcoming season in place, but to speculate, if the MLB camp concludes at the end of March, that could push Altoona, Bradenton and Greensboro’s regular season start into May. Perhaps the league will extend the minor-league season deeper into September to add more games to the schedule. -- Stumpf