Steelers/NFL category, Page 328
Steelers extend contract of GM Kevin Colbert for 1 more year
Kevin Colbert will remain with the Pittsburgh Steelers for at least one more year. The Steelers announced Monday that Colbert, 64, has signed a one-year contract extension that runs through the 2022 NFL Draft. Colbert has been employed by the Steelers since 2000, serving first as director of football operations...
Madden Monday: Steelers’ JuJu Smith-Schuster was ‘destined to leave after 4 years the minute he was drafted’
Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is likely to be with a new team by the end of the week via free agency. And if that happens, he wanted to bid a fond farewell to the City of Pittsburgh. No matter what happens this week, if I’m back or if I’m...
First Call: Are Steelers keeping Al Villanueva?; Penguins watching red-hot Islanders; scouting the Bruins
Could a certain Steelers veteran re-sign during free agency after all? That’s where we start Monday’s “First Call.” We also look at the Penguins’ next opponent after they dismissed the Buffalo Sabres. We keep an eye on the division-leading New York Islanders. And we have a mixed bag on the...
Tim Benz: List of ‘Steelers fallacies’ growing, getting more difficult to believe
This is a very delicate time of year on the calendar for Steelers fans. We’re in that period where we are barely getting over the shock of the annual January indignity endured by the team. We are just far enough away from whatever hurt we suffered, seeing the franchise eliminated...
JuJu Smith-Schuster: Pittsburgh will always be ‘part of who I am’
If receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster signs elsewhere as a free agent, he says he will still carry a part of Pittsburgh with him. The future of Smith-Schuster, who becomes an unrestricted free agent Wednesday, may be unclear, but his professed love for the city doesn’t appear to be in doubt. “No...
What you need to know about NFL free agency and the reduced salary cap
Cut, cut, hike! The NFL’s 2021 business year begins Wednesday, and the marketplace will be filled with high-profile free agents as teams have to shed costs in the wake of a bizarre season of fake crowd noise and cardboard fans. Whereas a year ago everyone was focused on where Tom...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Tom Brady’s contract shows why salary cap is a sham
Tom Brady reconfigured his contract to ignite the latest barrage of “Tom Brady makes less so his team can win more” propaganda. Like most propaganda, it’s primarily fiction. Brady’s wife is supermodel Gisele Bundchen. She has earned more than a half-billion dollars. Brady has earned $263 million playing football. When...
Steelers bring back guard/center B.J. Finney on 1-year contract
A familiar face is coming back to provide depth for the Pittsburgh Steelers on the interior of their offensive line. B.J. Finney, a 29-year-old guard/center, is returning to the organization that employed him from 2015-19. He signed a one-year contract with the Steelers on Friday. Finney is a candidate to...
After his release from Buffalo, WR John Brown thinks Steelers could be a fit
Veteran wide receiver John Brown is looking for a new home after being released by the Buffalo Bills. He thinks Pittsburgh could be a potential destination. One day after he was cut loose in a salary-cap move, Brown said the Steelers and Indianapolis Colts are two teams he wouldn’t mind...
First Call: Team that may have signed Ben Roethlisberger; team that may sign JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner
Let’s take a look at what could’ve been for Ben Roethlisberger had he not stayed in Pittsburgh. We also have a prediction on James Conner’s future, an ominous outlook for Pirates manager Derek Shelton, and another rough outing for former Penguins netminder Matt Murray. All that in Thursday’s “First Call.”...
U mad, bro?: Steelers fans bristle at negativity after Ben Roethlisberger’s new deal, NFL’s overtime idea
In this week’s “U mad, bro?,” Steelers fans clap back at my lack of faith in the team. Someone doesn’t like the NFL’s new overtime proposal. And I share the best email I have ever received. Jerry read my article about the Baltimore Ravens’ new overtime proposal. Like me, he...
NFL awards Steelers compensatory pick in 4th-round of draft
Anticipation was that the Pittsburgh Steelers might be awarded two compensatory draft picks this year based on free-agent losses in the 2020 offseason. Instead, they got just one. When the NFL released the compensatory picks list Wednesday, the Steelers were awarded a pick in the fourth round, the 35th pick...
Steelers get WR, return specialist Ray-Ray McCloud under contract for 1 year
The Pittsburgh Steelers got one of their restricted free agents under contract Wednesday when they signed wide receiver/returner Ray-Ray McCloud to a one-year deal. McCloud, who spent the 2020 season with the Steelers after being signed in training camp, played in all 16 games and was credited with two starts....
Former Steelers player Ryan Switzer’s child released from hospital
After a stressful weekend in the hospital, the son of former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Ryan Switzer is home. Christian Switzer, only nine months old, was admitted to the hospital Saturday after waking up covered in his blood. Christian, who also was diagnosed with covid-19, needed fluids, medication and several transfusions....
NFL sets salary cap at $182.5M; Steelers have about $6.1M to spend
With the NFL salary cap figure being set at $182.5 million Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally know how much room they will have to spend once free agency begins next week. It’s not much. Barring any further contracts being restructured, the Steelers will enter free agency approximately $6.1 million under...
First Call: Draft expert gives us ‘almost the perfect Steeler’; Al Villanueva impacted by franchise tags
One NFL draft expert has two perfect fits for the Steelers. Franchise tag fallout. And a curious quote from Pitt basketball coach Jeff Capel. All that in Wednesday’s “First Call.” Perfect in Pittsburgh NFL Network and NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah did his annual pre-draft media conference call to look...
If Joe Haden wants Mike Hilton to stay with Steelers, he should stop being such a good agent
If Mike Hilton’s free-agent market value gets too rich for the Steelers’ blood, general manager Kevin Colbert can thank one of Hilton’s teammates. Fellow cornerback Joe Haden. The veteran Steelers defensive back called Hilton the “best nickel corner in the game” on Monday. Best nickel in the GAME!!! Joe...
Steelers re-sign linebacker/safety Marcus Allen to 1-year contract
Marcus Allen, drafted as a safety before being converted to inside linebacker last season, signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday. Allen was an exclusive rights free agent. Allen, 24, got his first significant playing time in 2020, his third NFL season. A safety at Penn State,...
Draft analyst sees Steelers taking UNC running back Javonte Williams in 1st round
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah sees the Pittsburgh Steelers taking a running back in the first round. Just not the player who is on the top of most scout’s draft boards. Alabama’s Najee Harris is considered the top runner in this year’s class, but Jeremiah recently moved another power...
As expected, Steelers don’t use franchise tag on OLB Bud Dupree, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
The deadline for NFL teams to use the franchise tag passed at 4 p.m. Tuesday, and the Pittsburgh Steelers declined to use it on outside linebacker Bud Dupree. For just the second time in the past five years, the Steelers didn’t tag any of their players. The Steelers tagged Dupree...
Former Steelers player says son moved from ICU, health improving
Former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Ryan Switzer said his 9-month-old son was moved out of the ICU Monday after he was admitted over the weekend to control bleeding. Switzer wrote on Twitter, “Christian is being moved from the ICU to the floor today! There were no more bleeding spells over night...
First Call: Rod Woodson jabs JuJu Smith-Schuster; ESPN knocks Bud Dupree; Mike Hilton on his big decision
Lots of Steelers talk dominates Tuesday’s “First Call.” Rod Woodson is critical of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. One analyst is unkind regarding linebacker Bud Dupree’s free agency projection. Cornerback Mike Hilton talks about the prospect of leaving Pittsburgh. And we mix in some hockey this weekend in Pittsburgh as well....
Tim Benz: Steelers’ same old song about fixing the run game is going over like a ‘Led Zeppelin’
I wonder if Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger likes Led Zeppelin. What about offensive coordinator Matt Canada? If they do, then they may know that Led Zeppelin’s epic hit “Stairway to Heaven” turned 50 years old last week. Note, I said “Stairway to Heaven.” Not “Stairway to Seven.” No, that mothballed...
Steelers sign center J.C. Hassenauer to 1-year contract
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed one of their three remaining exclusive rights free agents Monday when they retained center J.C. Hassenauer on a one-year contract. Hassenauer made his NFL debut with the Steelers in 2020 and played in 15 games, starting three at center and one at left guard. His deal...
Judge tosses lawsuit by former Steelers over ‘race-norming’ in NFL dementia tests
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit that challenged “race-norming” in dementia tests for retired NFL players, a practice that some say makes it harder for Black athletes to show injury and qualify for awards. A hearing had been set for Thursday. The judge instead ordered the...
