Steelers,Troy Polamalu to rework deal

[tube517]

While they still need salary-cap space, the Pittsburgh Steelers will not release veteran safety Troy Polamalu, league sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Wednesday morning.

One source said the Rooney family simply is too loyal and Polamalu has been two valuable.



http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/steelerstroy-polamalu-rework-deal/story?id=22779925

[salamander]

Being loyal doesn't help the team long-term. I hope they don't let loyalty get in the way of improving the team overall.

[SteelMember]

"He has been two valuable"... wow.

Funny how it's correct about 5 words prior.

[st33lersguy]

Hopefully this involves a cut in salary. At the rate he is declining, given his salary cap situation, I don't think he should be given $8.75 million over two years, and I don't think he would be worth keeping in 3 years or have anything left in the tank in 2016, plus if we draft a safety early this year, I would hate to think that safety would rot the bench for 3 years

[steelreserve]

You can probably count me in the minority for this, but I hope this isn't in the form of a straight pay cut, but an extension that will ease things over the next couple of years. He showed us last year that he's not "done," and I don't even think this coming season is necessarily his last. Will he be an All-Pro at age 36 - probably not; but could he still be a starting caliber safety? I do think he's that good.

It's also pretty clear that neither he nor the team is under any illusion that he ought to be making $8M or $10M a year in the future, but it would also be kind of an insult to say "play two years for the same rate you're currently under contract to play one year." Hopefully they can settle on something that goes like $6M-$5M-$3M with a small signing bonus; that way we save some cap space, it's not a dick move, and is more or less a fair representation of both his current deal and his likely future contribution level.

[zulater]

Just heard on 970 ESPN Pittsburgh that the Steelers have signed Troy to a 3 year contract, and have signed Heath Miller.

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Steelers-sign-Polamalu-and-Miller-through-2016/a89d6d03-91cb-4d00-b29f-9de0b5b5a48e

[st33lersguy]

Three years is too long to keep him. He showed signs of age last year, by 2016 all his skills will have decayed. I'm afraid now that this will prevent the Steelers from getting a really good safety in the draft, and if they do draft a safety that he'll rot the bench for 3 years, including in 2016 when Polamalu's skills have eroded just because the coaching staff lives too much in the past

[salamander]

Everyone loves Troy but I'm not sure he deserves a 3-year contract at this point in his career.

[vader29]

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[steelreserve]

Everyone loves Troy but I'm not sure he deserves a 3-year contract at this point in his career.

To both of the above ... it depends on the $ amount. If they step it down intelligently to spread this year's cap hit out, it'll be something like $5M or $6M a year over three seasons, which is probably above market value but better than eating $11M this year. It was a cap move plain and simple, which is how it has to be looked at. If he gives us some good production in the meantime, that's a bonus. I think he still might surprise some folks.

Also re: drafting a safety and having him rot on the bench for three years - why would we do that? We're not completely stupid. This just means we wait until next year or the year after to draft one, duh. Unless we get an opportunity too good to be true, which in this draft there isn't. Clinton-Dix is good, but I wouldn't put him in that category.


edit: $20M ... that's a little more than I expected. I don't think $7M a year is a very good deal for us, all things considered. I guess we had to eat a bit more than I'd hoped on the back end to get some short-term savings.

This also looks very similar to what they did with Hampton's contract at the end of his career. I would suspect that if Troy goes through the quick decline, they'll probably approach him about a reduction.

[salamander]

To both of the above ... it depends on the $ amount. If they step it down intelligently to spread this year's cap hit out, it'll be something like $5M or $6M a year over three seasons, which is probably above market value but better than eating $11M this year. It was a cap move plain and simple, which is how it has to be looked at. If he gives us some good production in the meantime, that's a bonus. I think he still might surprise some folks.

Also re: drafting a safety and having him rot on the bench for three years - why would we do that? We're not completely stupid. This just means we wait until next year or the year after to draft one, duh. Unless we get an opportunity too good to be true, which in this draft there isn't. Clinton-Dix is good, but I wouldn't put him in that category.

Good point. I forgot to keep in mind the cap.

[Mojouw]

3 years (counting the upcoming season) is not a bad idea at all. As others have mentioned it spreads the cap hit out. As to a replacement via the draft, this extension changes nothing. Despite the fact that it angers and frustrates me, rookies do not play a ton or very well in this defense. Combine that with Shark guy getting the most likely shot at running as the other starter, they were never going to start a rookie in 2014 anyways. So even if you draft a safety this year, he wasn't going to impact that much anyway. In 2015 said safety likely gets a run of play as the 5th DB. Not like this team has the cover corners that will keep a high end safety off the field. Then in 2016 said safety can take over and Troy P can play a reduced role.

Don't see the disaster to a replacement at safety that this causes.

[Steelman]

3-year $20M deal that saves 4.5M against salary cap this year.

[Bluecoat96]

With the expected release of Levi Brown and the pay cut/release of Ike Taylor, that should put us under the salary cap.

[Psycho Ward 86]

441291468192632832

ehhh more than i would have wanted, but ok ill take it. at least we didnt pull a woodley and restructure the shit out of that contract. Stay healthy this time around troy!

[stillers4me]

ehhh more than i would have wanted, but ok ill take it. at least we didnt pull a woodley and restructure the shit out of that contract. Stay healthy this time around troy!

Troy was healthy last year.
They just had him in a different position than we are used to seeing him in.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Troy was healthy last year.
They just had him in a different position than we are used to seeing him in.

i know, but troy's body has typically been a ticking time bomb.


UPDATE: some details on the deal: http://www.steelersdepot.com/2014/03/steelers-give-s-troy-polamalu-a-two-year-contract-extension/

assuming no new monies were given out as a bonus, troy's new cap charge for 2014 is $6,220,833.33, which would clear $4,666,666.67 in cap space for us

[GBMelBlount]

To both of the above ... it depends on the $ amount.

Agreed! He would look great in black and gold another 5 years for vet minimum!

[86WARD]

It's hard to make those comments not knowing how the deal is structured. It quite possibly could be a deal that costs them very little if they released him in two years.

[stillers4me]

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[Dwinsgames]

Troy Polamalu ‏@tpolamalu (https://twitter.com/tpolamalu) 4m (https://twitter.com/tpolamalu/status/441334452858650624) I am thankful and blessed to be in a position to play my entire career in Pittsburgh