So, did Justin Fields pack some sort of grudge with him on the flight to New Jersey, possibly angry that Mike Tomlin pulled the plug on him here in Pittsburgh?
Or did Fields wonder if there'd be a sequel someday?
Eh. Sorry, I'm not there. Like, at all.
Ask me, and the real reason Fields and the Jets agreed to terms on a two-year, $40 million contract, $30 million of that guaranteed, is about as boring as it gets: Omar Khan and the Steelers simply didn't want to pay him that much. And within that, the reason the Steelers didn't want to pay him that much is that it exceeded their internal valuation of the player.
It's like this: General managers, with help from staff or even guidance from above, will set internal valuations on players they're pursuing. Meaning a term/price they have no intent to top. And when it starts getting dark outside, as it surely did over the past 48 hours, they'll eventually take those terms to the player and agent with an understanding that this is it.
This happens all the time, based on my countless conversations with agents and executives. All teams. All leagues. All sports.
If the Steelers did, in fact, offer Fields through his representative, David Mulugheta, a two-year, $30 million contract, $20 million of that guaranteed, then one of two events followed:
A. Fields and Mulugheta never gave Khan a chance to match, but that's immensely unlikely and goes against everything free agency's about.
B. It was too far over the Steelers' internal valuation.
Thus, Fields takes the money, plus the obvious opportunity, and heads for the swamps.
The end.
• Which isn't to suggest I'm fine with this from the Steelers' perspective. Because I'm not. Because Khan standing behind his internal valuation doesn't mean a blessed thing to anyone beyond South Water Street. Because Khan's still sitting on a relative mountain of salary cap space. And because Khan still doesn't have a quarterback.
It's the same silliness that's kept this franchise from addressing the position for a full decade now, beginning with Ben Roethlisberger's final few years, when that process should've been well underway.
• The $10 million extra that could've gone to Fields, deserved or not, would've solved infinitely more issues for the Steelers than, say, signing Malik Harrison to a two-year contract for that same amount of money over that same timeframe. Harrison's a nice player, but he's needed like a figurative hole in the head, considering he'll be No. 3 on the inside linebacker depth chart behind Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson, he'll help on special teams and, worst by far, he'll replace Elandon Roberts, the defense's premier run-stopper in the 2024 season, who signed a one-year, $3 million contract overnight with the Raiders.
• Yes, Fields had hoped to stay. Yes, he had strong support within the Steelers to keep him. I'm not guessing at either of those. Stuff happens.
• Someone really should've gotten Le'Veon Bell involved.
• I've no interest in Rodgers. None. I'm sorry, but that's absurd. And indefensible that it's been allowed to reach this stage. What NFL management gets away with ignoring and/or bungling the quarterback position for a decade straight?
• All anyone in our city should've been discussing this week was the wonderful overall acquisition of DK Metcalf. Imagine squandering that in any capacity.
• What'll George Pickens think of Metcalf's arrival? Who cares?
• Will it keep Pickens from getting a second contract? Who cares?
• Will it maybe prompt Pickens to grow up a little, no longer the big man -- at all -- in the wide receivers room? OK, now I'm listening.
• Someone else's treasure, indeed: Dan Moore had told me in Baltimore on the day the Steelers' season ended that he knew he was a goner and, what's more, he knew he was about to get big-time paid. But my goodness ... four years and $82 million from the Titans? With $50 million of that guaranteed? Mamas, make sure your babies grow up to be left tackles.
• Then again, there's Najee Harris settling for a year and $9.25 million from the Chargers, without, apparently, so much as a peep from his previous employer to prevent that. Whatever. He'll be routinely replaced, principally by the heavier workload for Jaylen Warren.
• There's a twisted part of me, believe it or not, that'd be OK with this:
I mean, he's only 43. Pretty much the same as the other guy. And he's the only real solution anyone around here has had at quarterback since the turn of the century.
THE ASYLUM
DK: What went wrong with Fields?
So, did Justin Fields pack some sort of grudge with him on the flight to New Jersey, possibly angry that Mike Tomlin pulled the plug on him here in Pittsburgh?
Or did Fields wonder if there'd be a sequel someday?
Eh. Sorry, I'm not there. Like, at all.
Ask me, and the real reason Fields and the Jets agreed to terms on a two-year, $40 million contract, $30 million of that guaranteed, is about as boring as it gets: Omar Khan and the Steelers simply didn't want to pay him that much. And within that, the reason the Steelers didn't want to pay him that much is that it exceeded their internal valuation of the player.
It's like this: General managers, with help from staff or even guidance from above, will set internal valuations on players they're pursuing. Meaning a term/price they have no intent to top. And when it starts getting dark outside, as it surely did over the past 48 hours, they'll eventually take those terms to the player and agent with an understanding that this is it.
This happens all the time, based on my countless conversations with agents and executives. All teams. All leagues. All sports.
If the Steelers did, in fact, offer Fields through his representative, David Mulugheta, a two-year, $30 million contract, $20 million of that guaranteed, then one of two events followed:
A. Fields and Mulugheta never gave Khan a chance to match, but that's immensely unlikely and goes against everything free agency's about.
B. It was too far over the Steelers' internal valuation.
Thus, Fields takes the money, plus the obvious opportunity, and heads for the swamps.
The end.
• Which isn't to suggest I'm fine with this from the Steelers' perspective. Because I'm not. Because Khan standing behind his internal valuation doesn't mean a blessed thing to anyone beyond South Water Street. Because Khan's still sitting on a relative mountain of salary cap space. And because Khan still doesn't have a quarterback.
It's the same silliness that's kept this franchise from addressing the position for a full decade now, beginning with Ben Roethlisberger's final few years, when that process should've been well underway.
• The $10 million extra that could've gone to Fields, deserved or not, would've solved infinitely more issues for the Steelers than, say, signing Malik Harrison to a two-year contract for that same amount of money over that same timeframe. Harrison's a nice player, but he's needed like a figurative hole in the head, considering he'll be No. 3 on the inside linebacker depth chart behind Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson, he'll help on special teams and, worst by far, he'll replace Elandon Roberts, the defense's premier run-stopper in the 2024 season, who signed a one-year, $3 million contract overnight with the Raiders.
• Yes, Fields had hoped to stay. Yes, he had strong support within the Steelers to keep him. I'm not guessing at either of those. Stuff happens.
• Someone really should've gotten Le'Veon Bell involved.
• I've no interest in Rodgers. None. I'm sorry, but that's absurd. And indefensible that it's been allowed to reach this stage. What NFL management gets away with ignoring and/or bungling the quarterback position for a decade straight?
• All anyone in our city should've been discussing this week was the wonderful overall acquisition of DK Metcalf. Imagine squandering that in any capacity.
• What'll George Pickens think of Metcalf's arrival? Who cares?
• Will it keep Pickens from getting a second contract? Who cares?
• Will it maybe prompt Pickens to grow up a little, no longer the big man -- at all -- in the wide receivers room? OK, now I'm listening.
• Someone else's treasure, indeed: Dan Moore had told me in Baltimore on the day the Steelers' season ended that he knew he was a goner and, what's more, he knew he was about to get big-time paid. But my goodness ... four years and $82 million from the Titans? With $50 million of that guaranteed? Mamas, make sure your babies grow up to be left tackles.
• Then again, there's Najee Harris settling for a year and $9.25 million from the Chargers, without, apparently, so much as a peep from his previous employer to prevent that. Whatever. He'll be routinely replaced, principally by the heavier workload for Jaylen Warren.
• There's a twisted part of me, believe it or not, that'd be OK with this:
I mean, he's only 43. Pretty much the same as the other guy. And he's the only real solution anyone around here has had at quarterback since the turn of the century.
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