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86WARD
01-05-2015, 07:05 AM
As it stands right now, most around the league expect the 2015 NFL salary cap number to come in at around $140 million, so for now we will use that as our number. The real number will be determined in a few more months.

The Steelers currently have 38 players under contract for 2015 and according to my numbers, they total out at $126,659,992. In addition, the Steelers have $9,424,243 in dead money on the books for 2015. When you factor in cap payback and cap rollover that’s due you still need to fill out the roster to 51 players in order to have a working Rule of 51 number.

Source: http://www.steelersdepot.com/2015/01/early-projected-look-steelers-2015-salary-cap-situation/

The Pittsburgh Kid
01-05-2015, 11:43 AM
I thought if we cut Mike Mitchell after June 1st our dead money charge in 2015 would be $950,000

steelreserve
01-05-2015, 01:13 PM
I thought if we cut Mike Mitchell after June 1st our dead money charge in 2015 would be $950,000


You're probably right, but we'd have to eat the difference the following year. Personally, I'd be willing to give it one more year to see if he improves when not battling a nagging injury, and hopefully with a different safety and at least one better CB playing alongside him.

Figure Troy, Kiesel and Cam Thomas to be gone from that list, and Ben to sign a cap-friendly deal to add a little more breathing room. The rest at the end of the roster would be 1-for-1 replacements cap-wise, so those are the only ones that would make much difference.

I'd like to say Landry Jones would be kicked to the curb, but looking at it now I bet he sticks around, because the fact that we'd eat dead money AND need to find a replacement player makes that option more expensive. Fuck.

Same thing for Cortez Allen. He gets to stick around another year because we'd save a little money, but are unlikely to find a decent replacement CB for the $1.5M we'd save; it'd be all we could do to re-sign McCain or Blake. Only way he goes is if we draft a corner at #1, and even then, no sure thing.

The Pittsburgh Kid
01-05-2015, 01:46 PM
You're probably right, but we'd have to eat the difference the following year. Personally, I'd be willing to give it one more year to see if he improves when not battling a nagging injury, and hopefully with a different safety and at least one better CB playing alongside him.

Figure Troy, Kiesel and Cam Thomas to be gone from that list, and Ben to sign a cap-friendly deal to add a little more breathing room. The rest at the end of the roster would be 1-for-1 replacements cap-wise, so those are the only ones that would make much difference.

I'd like to say Landry Jones would be kicked to the curb, but looking at it now I bet he sticks around, because the fact that we'd eat dead money AND need to find a replacement player makes that option more expensive. Fuck.

Same thing for Cortez Allen. He gets to stick around another year because we'd save a little money, but are unlikely to find a decent replacement CB for the $1.5M we'd save; it'd be all we could do to re-sign McCain or Blake. Only way he goes is if we draft a corner at #1, and even then, no sure thing.



Not sure the "nagging" injury caused him to take bad angles, constantly trash talk, celebrate tackles 25 yards down field, and take bad penalties. He may be the worst tackling safety in the NFL. I say we cut our losses and move on.

86WARD
01-05-2015, 02:05 PM
Again...Ryan Clark was pretty terrible in his first season in Pittsburgh.

I'd like to see him in another season...when "healthy."

Steelman
01-05-2015, 03:06 PM
Not sure the "nagging" injury caused him to take bad angles, constantly trash talk, celebrate tackles 25 yards down field, and take bad penalties. He may be the worst tackling safety in the NFL. I say we cut our losses and move on.

I'm probably as big a hater of Mitchell this season as any on this board, but to be fair to him, he did play better when Allen started at safety instead of Troy.

The groin thing to me is a coaching blunder for playing a guy who's not 100% and poor timing on Mitchell's part to reveal it after a bad playoff loss which makes it sound like a huge excuse to save his butt.

steelreserve
01-05-2015, 03:19 PM
I'm probably as big a hater of Mitchell this season as any on this board, but to be fair to him, he did play better when Allen started at safety instead of Troy.

The groin thing to me is a coaching blunder for playing a guy who's not 100% and poor timing on Mitchell's part to reveal it after a bad playoff loss which makes it sound like a huge excuse to save his butt.


It may well be just that. The timing certainly fits.

Look, I am under no illusion that Mitchell played well enough this season to earn the job for next year. HOWEVER, I think the relatively small difference between keeping and cutting him ($1.1M) makes it worth seeing if he can turn it around under slightly different circumstances. Both his and Allen's contracts are set up so that the end of the second season is where it would make sense to release them.

All signs seem to indicate that next season, two parts of the secondary will change, or they will if management doesn't have rocks for brains (jury is still out on that one). Spending the resources to change three parts seems less likely. I do think the decline of Ike and Troy was a huge problem; this season they made everyone around them worse. If we can get some stable, just average to above-average play at CB and SS, I'm willing to keep my fingers crossed that Mitchell will give us better results.

Texasteel
01-05-2015, 04:19 PM
I thought I read that he was scheduled for surgery. If so that is going to extremes to back up an excuse.

steelreserve
01-05-2015, 04:48 PM
I thought I read that he was scheduled for surgery. If so that is going to extremes to back up an excuse.


For $25 million, would you be willing to do it? I sure would.

(I am not suggesting that faking surgery is the most likely scenario here; more likely he actually was injured in some form ... but on the other hand, when that much money is on the line, people never cease to surprise me with some of the things they'll do.)

Texasteel
01-05-2015, 05:06 PM
I really don't think that there was much of a chance he was going to get cut, even without the injury.

steelreserve
01-05-2015, 05:26 PM
No, it doesn't make much sense financially for them to cut him now. Next season is shape up or ship out time for him, injuries or no.

stillers4me
01-05-2015, 06:00 PM
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6n-enKCAAAEapN.jpg

steelreserve
01-05-2015, 06:27 PM
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6n-enKCAAAEapN.jpg


Funny thing, all seven of those guys signed new deals before the start of this season. That would be the ultimate in buyer's remorse.

I still don't think we cut most of them, because the amount of dead money relative to what we got out of them is just too much to make sense. The "cap savings" column of that graphic is misleading, because it ignores a shitload of money that we would then have to absorb in 2016. Mitchell and Allen are probably safe one more year because of that; Gilbert improved this year, so I don't think we cut him; Moore is probably worth what we're paying him; Kiesel and Troy probably solve the problem for us by retiring, leaving Thomas as the lone candidate .. and yes, get rid of that guy and his dirty dick, because he's god-awful.

Steeldude
01-05-2015, 10:30 PM
IMO, Mitchell seems to be more pre-occupied with making a big hit or acting tough. How about making consistent plays and staying focused? That being said, I am fine if he stays another season and I am also fine if he is cut.

TMC
01-06-2015, 07:31 AM
Dave Bryan at Steelers Depot does a nice job going through the potential moves. The NFL estimated that the 2015 salary cap will fall between $138.6 and $141.8 million. That is why everyone is using $140 million as the ballpark figure. The NFLPA sent out this memo after the NFL estimate came out:
"As you may have read, recent media reports from the NFL owners meetings in Dallas projected the 2015 NFL Salary Cap to be between $138.6 and $141.8 million. Last year, these same "projections" called for a flat cap that was ultimately a $10 million increase from the previous year. The salary cap is inextricably tied to League revenues and as we saw last year, substantial increases in revenue will lead to substantial increases in the salary cap."

There was more to the memo, but this is the pertinent part when it comes to projecting the cap. I would also state that everyone should remember, way back when the CBA negotiations were ongoing, the NFL attempted to get the players to take a lesser percentage, IIRC, it was 45%. The NFL stated that they would guarantee a salary cap of $160 million in 2016 if the players accepted that number. Well, the players ended up settling on a number closer to 48%, actually moves to 48.5% this year. So, they get an extra $1.3 million per team (rough estimate) just on the percentage increase alone.

Now, the NFL projected last years cap to move up only $3 million. Then, later, they projected it to move to $128 million, which was a $5 million dollar increase. When it was all said and done, the cap was $133 million, a $10 million dollar increase. Most assumed that this was because of the new TV deals, but the NFL does not really work that way. The NFL tallies AR at the end of the season. Then, the NFL and NFLPA sit down and look at the numbers to determine an estimate of the salary cap for the upcoming season. Once the season ends, if there is a difference between the estimate and the actual AR, there is an adjustment made in the following season called a "true up". It is in the best interest of the NFL to keep that number down while the NFLPA would want the number up. Money today is always better than money in one year.

So, why did the salary cap jump last season? Was it because of estimates of expected revenue from the new TV deals? Was there a true up involved? Were 2013 receipts better than originally expect? Nobody really knows and the NFL/NFLPA is not talking. I just know this, the NFL has issued a number and the NFLPA thinks it is way too low. And, in 2011, the NFL felt the 2016 cap would be, at a minimum, $160 million.

If the 2015 cap is $140, do you really think they jump $20 million next season? I don't. I think the 2015 salary cap will jump more than $7 million, probably $145 million and that makes the jump of $15 million to $160 more likely. In fact, the 2015 salary cap could be north of $145 million as the first season of the NFL TV deals are hitting the books and the actual numbers may be higher than the estimates. In addition, there was some talk that there would not be an initial windfall of TV money, it would increase gradually, so those numbers may be higher off future estimates as well.

Mr. Bryan showed the Steelers as $2M over with a roster of 51 and all RFAs/URFAs tendered. That is with a cap of $140 million, so they would roughly be at $142 million.

There are moves to be made including Troy retiring and the release of Moore and Cam Thomas, both backups and both not really worth the salary. That puts them @$137 million. I think they can save some money with a Ben extension...not a lot, but some. I think they could nibble away a little with Cam Heyward as well.

Instead of releasing Mitchell, Allen, and Gilbert, watch for them to turn their roster bonuses into option bonuses. They have to be paid early in the new league year (likely in March), so if the players are released, they would have to be cut prior to the bonus money being paid (cannot carry them to June 1st). So, I expect those bonuses to be turned to option bonuses and spread over the remaining years of the contract. It would free up @$7 million IIRC.

They have options. They can create space. If the cap jumps to $145 million, they will be fine. Not enough to make a splash in free agency, but if they had $40 million in space, the might not make a splash anyway.

Craic
01-06-2015, 12:47 PM
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6n-enKCAAAEapN.jpg

Huh. Let's work our way through this . . .

1. Troy P. I think he retires. If not, he better come in and renegotiate taking a tremendous cut. That's 6 M.

2. Cortez Allen. This kid is young and had a good season a year ago. I'm reminded of Ike being benched in Cowher's last year, only to respond with six or seven years of great play. No way we should cut him. Be patient and see him through the maturity process this offseason. If he doesn't respond well next year, then we address it.

3. Gilbert. Never been impressed by him. He's come into his own, but I'm still unconvinced that he's any better than Mike Adams in pass blocking. In run blocking he isn't even close to Mike Adams. Cut him or keep him, I really don't care. 5.45 M if cut

4. Mitchell. Keep. If he's been playing with a bad groin pull, that's pretty difficult. I'd like to see what he can do without it. Also, he didn't seem so bad when he didn't have to cover for Troy P's style.

5. Thomas. Goodbye. 2 M.

6. Moore. Seems like a good guy, but there's just no place for him on this roster anymore. Brown, Bryant, and Wheaton have 1-3 sown up, or should. Spots four and five need to be reserved for specialist/WR. Use it to look for a true returner. 1.5M.

7. Keisel. Great guy. Great Teammate. Nice career. Time to retire. 1.5 m.

That gives us 9 million., 14.5 mill if cutting Gilbert.

TMC
01-06-2015, 03:28 PM
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B6n-enKCAAAEapN.jpg

I have actually seen this on a couple message boards. Let me clarify some things this graphic fails to mention. First, you can only designate ONE player for a June 1st release and cut him early in the off season and you do not see the cap savings until after June 1st, so that money won't help in the free agent race. It just won't.

Second, Mitchell, Allen, and Gilbert are due roster bonuses early in the off season, likely in March, so the savings listed likely does not account for those bonuses being paid. Once they pay the bonuses, they won't cut the player. If they cut the player, it will be a pre-June 1st release.

The only guy I can see being designated a June 1st release on that list is Troy. Cam Thomas, Lance Moore, and Keisel would just be cut outright as you do not get more money by waiting.

So, in essence, it is a true list of post-June 1st cuts that contains one possibility (Troy) and five guys that would have to be dumped in March if they were released, three carrying amortized bonus money that hits the 2015 cap if released.

Horrible graphic. Just horrible.

ALLD
01-06-2015, 05:29 PM
I would keep Moore and cut everybody else by halftime at the Super Bowl.