Steelers re-sign Daniel McCullers

[BlackAndGold]

976884662013497345

[GBMelBlount]

Championship.

[Shoes]

Yep, breakout year! :chuckle: Maybe he'll at least watch the games from the sideline this year instead of playing grab-ass.

[DesertSteel]

This is the kind of off-season announcement I've been waiting for!!!

[steelreserve]

Well that's just fuckin' amazing.

[SteelMember]

The bench now has some solid foundation.... :couch:

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

Thank God we paid him and didn't let him walk to the Patriots!

[86WARD]

Camp body.

[Craic]

With his size and the push he can get when he wants, it's just sad that he's relegated himself to warming benches or worse.

[Fire Goodell]

SUPERBOWL

[BlackAndGold]

Camp body.

Yep and he knows the defense. Nothing wrong bringing him back.

Let him and a late round pick battle out for the back up job.

[hawaiiansteeler]

McCullers played 13 snaps last year, recording one tackle. guess Dunbar wants to give him another chance, John Mitchell was pretty much done with him.

[Shoes]

McCullers played 13 snaps last year, recording one tackle. guess Dunbar wants to give him another chance, John Mitchell was pretty much done with him.

Thats what knowing the defense will get you.

:lol: easy money.

[steelerdude15]

Camp body.

I was surprised to see this signing, but that could be it.

[ALLD]

The Steelers have a knack for keeping obvious deadwood on the roster. They should make him dress even if he doesn't play.

[FrancoLambert]

Yep and he knows the defense. Nothing wrong bringing him back.

Let him and a late round pick battle out for the back up job.

My money is on the late round draft pick.

This guy is a waste....has contributed nothing to the team.

[DesertSteel]

McCullers played 13 snaps last year, recording one tackle. guess Dunbar wants to give him another chance, John Mitchell was pretty much done with him.
That was an expensive tackle.

[Steeldude]

Why? Surely they can find a DT/NT who can handle 13 snaps for far cheaper.

[Bluecoat96]

Why? Surely they can find a DT/NT who can handle 13 snaps for far cheaper.I'm pretty sure that he signed for the vet min. All of the recent signings only took up a little over $3 million in cap space.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[lipps83]

James Harrison could have played DT and the team cut Big Dan instead.

I went there.

[Steeldude]

I'm pretty sure that he signed for the vet min. All of the recent signings only took up a little over $3 million in cap space.

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Minimum for a 5 year veteran. 1 year vet could have saved the team $235,000 or more

[hawaiiansteeler]

Minimum for a 5 year veteran. 1 year vet could have saved the team $235,000 or more

which is exactly why McCullers will have to outperform the rookie we draft in order to make the team.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Remember the draft optimism for McCullers. then the 2nd year hope he would decide to turn things on and become the NT that was needed?

Isnt it time to move on from a 6th round pick in 2014?? As far as I am concerned, should have let him walk and bring in somebody else that hasn't proven in 4 years that he is a bust.

[Mojouw]

Well looking at this - http://www.spotrac.com/blog/nfl-minimum-salaries-for-2018/

I'm guessing he got the minimum which is $790K for 2018.

The Steelers 7th round picks will have a slotted 2018 cap hit of roughly $500K each (http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/draft/round-7/)

The Steelers 5th round picks will have a slotted 2018 cap hit of roughly $550 K apiece (same tool as above).

So for the sake of a shade under $300 K in cap space, the Steelers don't NEED to take a large DT with any of their draft picks.

Besides, McCullers will always have a job in the NFL because of the "planet theory" -- the Parcells attributed nugget of wisdom that there are only so many guys that big and that can move like that on the entire planet at any one time.

Somehow, he is still only 25.

[steelreserve]

He won't cost us much more than a rookie. The Minimum Salary Benefit rule lets you sign veterans to a league-minimum contract for their service time, but you only take the cap hit for a second-year minimum salary player. Something they put in the CBA so that veteran journeymen wouldn't be forced out of the league because of the minimum salary difference.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Well looking at this - http://www.spotrac.com/blog/nfl-minimum-salaries-for-2018/

I'm guessing he got the minimum which is $790K for 2018.

The Steelers 7th round picks will have a slotted 2018 cap hit of roughly $500K each (http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/draft/round-7/)

The Steelers 5th round picks will have a slotted 2018 cap hit of roughly $550 K apiece (same tool as above).

So for the sake of a shade under $300 K in cap space, the Steelers don't NEED to take a large DT with any of their draft picks.

Besides, McCullers will always have a job in the NFL because of the "planet theory" -- the Parcells attributed nugget of wisdom that there are only so many guys that big and that can move like that on the entire planet at any one time.

Somehow, he is still only 25.

I hear ya. Even if they release him in June to make room for an UDFA in camp, it still doesn't cost much. I just thought that after 4 years of not showing anything worth giving him reps, you start turning over other rocks for potential talent.

[hawaiiansteeler]

Asked and Answered: March 27

Bob Labriola
Steelers.com

BILL SAMPEY FROM MT ELGIN, ONTARIO, CANADA:
Thank you for this great segment. You do a sterling job of answering some ridiculous questions. So here's another: Why did management see a need to re-sign nose tackle Dan McCullers? Normally I side with their judgment, they're good at it, but can you explain what they see in him? Inactive for 10 games last year.

ANSWER: I believe in this instance it has more to do with Karl Dunbar than Dan McCullers. Since being the team’s second pick in the sixth round pick of the 2014 NFL Draft, McCullers has been involved in 27 tackles and been inactive for 21 games. John Mitchell tried to get through to him. Joe Greene tried to get through to him. Neither was successful.

McCullers became an unrestricted free agent on March 14, and it was last week that the Steelers re-signed him to a one-year contract. While neither the team nor the McCullers camp has revealed the financial terms, my guess is that it was one of those deals that pays the player the veteran minimum while charging the team less than that against its salary cap. At 6-foot-7, 352 pounds and not sloppy, McCullers is an intriguing physical specimen, but based on the way he has gone about his business in the NFL there have to be questions about whether it’s at all important to him.

It’s likely that Dunbar either asked for a chance to try to get something out of McCullers, or Dunbar was asked if he thought he could get something out of McCullers. Based on the decision to re-sign him, the answer to one of those questions must have been “yes.” But make no mistake, McCullers is going to have to make the team this summer.

http://www.steelers.com/news/asked-and-answered/article-4/Asked-and-Answered-March-27/e8d13926-2637-4341-929f-96bd10575212

[Born2Steel]

Question, with Hargrave as our NT don't we know McCullers is just a camp body? Hargrave saw very limited time on the field as it was last season and I think I read or heard McCullers had somewhere around 20 snaps all season. Do we even need to carry a backup NT on the 53 anymore with the defense we scheme now? Chances are that if an extended injury happens with Hargrave, Walton or Alualu can back up while he's out. It would not surprise me if we started this season with only 5 DL instead of our usual 6. Thoughts?

[86WARD]

It would be nice to get another guy in that rotation...a competent guy.

[SteelerFanInStl]

Question, with Hargrave as our NT don't we know McCullers is just a camp body? Hargrave saw very limited time on the field as it was last season and I think I read or heard McCullers had somewhere around 20 snaps all season. Do we even need to carry a backup NT on the 53 anymore with the defense we scheme now? Chances are that if an extended injury happens with Hargrave, Walton or Alualu can back up while he's out. It would not surprise me if we started this season with only 5 DL instead of our usual 6. Thoughts?

This is my thought process also. I don't think that we necessarily need to use another roster spot for a backup NT. Alualu (or Walton) can easily fill that spot. He's big enough and I'd actually like to see him on the field more. He played very well last year.

[hawaiiansteeler]

Hargrave saw very limited time on the field as it was last season

Javon Hargrave was on the field for 454 of his team's snaps on defense in 2017, which equates to 46.38% of them.

[Born2Steel]

Javon Hargrave was on the field for 454 of his team's snaps on defense in 2017, which equates to 46.38% of them.

I guess "limited time" is subjective. If you really want to take that part to task, I was looking at it from the point that Heyward and Tuitt have been playing 80%+ on the DL. So less than 50% would seem more limited to me. Alualu was brought in to give us quality depth at DE so we could give those guys a break every once in a while. In fact, last offseason we talked about DE snap counts a lot. The point of the post is that if a NT is on the field for less than half the defensive snaps already, why do we need to worry much about position depth. Especially when Alualu and Walton have played well in depth. I think we can use that roster spot for an additional LB. Just my opinion.
And I don't think McCullers will make the final 53, nor does he deserve to based on past effort.

[hawaiiansteeler]

The point of the post is that if a NT is on the field for less than half the defensive snaps already, why do we need to worry much about position depth.

we were susceptible to runs up the middle last season, just look at how the Jaguars out-physicalled our defensive line. I think that's why we may be looking for a run stuffing two-down NT/DT in this year's draft.

[Born2Steel]

we were susceptible to runs up the middle last season, just look at how the Jaguars out-physicalled our defensive line. I think that's why we may be looking for a run stuffing two-down NT/DT in this year's draft.

And we may be. I wouldn't rule that out at all. I've even seen Payne from Bama mocked to us in several mock drafts. I think what I'm trying to get to is this, if our current starter at NT is not playing half the snaps, what value does a rookie backup bring to that position? Did McCullers only play his few snaps due to him alone, or because the NT is not much used in this defense and when it is used, Hargrave is the player we use? Plus if Hargrave has to miss time, Alualu and/or Walton can easily fill that role right now.

The Jags OL whooped our DL. Our LBs could not play chase on their outside runs, nor could we set an edge. I really think those 2 games came down more to LB play than DL play. One of the reasons I am actually excited we added Bostic and Burnett. Team tackling just got a lot better, on paper anyway.

I see the 28th pick coming down to Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmunds, Rashaan Evans, Leighton Vander Esch, Jerome Baker or Darius Leonard. And I could be fine with any of these guys. The exceptions would be a future franchise QB, or if an edge like Bradley Chubb/Harold Landry somehow fall. We will get more dynamic on defense this draft.