Steelers Preseason News: Troy Polamalu Signs Long-Term Deal

There had been reports about the Steelers continuing contract discussions with new safety Troy Polamalu, and now it appears those talks have come to fruition. According to various sources on Twitter, the Steelers have signed Polamalu to a new four-year deal. Mark Kaboly:

Troy signs contract in room at the FBO before charter to baltimore takes off

Steelers Depot:

Sources inform me the new deal is in the neighborhood of $36.5 million for Polamalu.

And, finally, the Steelers themselves have confirmed the news:

We have agreed to a contract extension with @tpolamalu signed at airport before we leave for Balt

There wasn’t much danger that Polamalu was actually going to leave – if the Steelers hadn’t reached an agreement with him, they would have made him their franchise player and kept him around on a one-year deal in 2012. But this move should still please Steelers fans.

The Steelers have signed LaMarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons and now Polamalu to long-term deals this offseason.

For more on Troy Polamalu and the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Ed Bouchette reports that a potential new Troy Polamalu deal is still a possibility, as Polamalu and the team are still negotiating.

It had previously looked unlikely that a deal would get done. The Steelers don’t negotiate contracts during the season.

The team adopted a policy in the mid-1990s not to negotiate contract extensions beyond the start of the regular season, a policy they have followed strictly. The only exceptions have come when they were close to finishing a deal before the season began and believed they could wrap it up soon thereafter.

The Steelers are not close to one with Polamalu, who has been their starting free safety since his second season (2004), and it is uncertain they can complete one soon.

The Steelers have the ability to use the franchise tag on Polamalu for 2012 if they cannot sign him to a long-term deal, so the risk of losing him isn’t serious. However, it sounds like the 2012 salary cap could be an issue for the Steelers, regardless of the route they take with Polamalu – the Post-Gazette notes that they’ve also recently signed guys Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley to long-term deals, and they’ll have to worry about Mike Wallace, who is eligible be a restricted free agent after the season.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Steelers Depot reports that fromer Pitt tight end Dorin Dickerson will try to show his stuff to the Steelers in a workout on Monday.

Dickerson was taken in the seventh round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans, who ended up making him a wide receiver – Dickerson had played tight end as a junior and senior at Pitt, but had previously played wideout.

Steelers Depot speculates that the Steelers could be thinking of moving Dickerson back to tight end, given the amount of talent they already have at wide receiver. Behind The Steel Curtain, meanwhile, thinks he could be great on special teams. What’s clear is that he’s an outstanding athlete.

The Steelers often show interest in local players, but that doesn’t mean they always end up signing them. We’ll see what, if anything, they have in store for Dickerson.

For more on Pitt football, check out Cardiac Hill.

Ed Bouchette tweets that the Steelers have cut their roster down to 53 players by releasing tight end John Gilmore, tackle Tony Hills, cornerback Crezdon Butler, defensive end Jarrett Crittenton, and punter Jeremy Kapinos.

Gilmore, Crittenton and Kapinos come as no surprise. The release of Gilmore means that undrafted free agent tight end Weslye Saunders has made the team. It was surprising that Crittenton made it this far. And either Kapinos or Daniel Sepulveda had to go.

Hills and Butler come as mild surprises. Butler, in particular, played pretty well in the preseason, and he’s young enough that it looked prudent for the Steelers to give him a bit more time. I thought the Steelers would go with five wide receivers and that Arnaz Battle would be cut, but Battle has made the team.

That ends the Steelers’ roster cuts. For more analysis, head over to Behind The Steel Curtain.

The Steelers released 21 players and moved quarterback Byron Leftwich to injured reserve, cutting their roster down to 58 players. They still need to remove five more players to get their roster down to 53.

RB John Clay
RB James Johnson
WR Wes Lyons
WR Tyler Grisham
WR Armand Robinson
TE Jamie McCoy
G Colin Miller
G Keith Williams
C John Malecki
T Trevis Turner
T Kyle Jolly
CB Donovan Warren
CB Macho Harris
S Da’Mon Cromartie-Smith
S Brett Greenwood
DE Corbin Bryant
LB Mario Harvey
LB Mortty Ivy
LB Baraka Atkins
LB Chris McCoy
K Swayze Waters

Williams was the Steelers’ 2011 sixth-round draft pick. All the Steelers' other picks remain with the team.

Donovan Warren had become a bit of a fan favorite in the preseason, and looked like he might win a spot given all the uncertainty at that position.

In general, though, none of these moves are incredibly surprising. One of the remaining cuts will be at punter, where the Steelers still have Daniel Sepulveda and Jeremy Kapinos. Other players who could be in trouble include wide receiver Arnaz Battle, offensive lineman Chris Scott, defensive end Jarrett Crittenton, and tight end John Gilmore – it’s looking increasingly likely that undrafted free agent tight end Weslye Saunders will make the team.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

A recent report suggests that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has made his choice at right guard, and it’ll be Doug Legursky, rather than Tony Hills.

Legursky will start tomorrow night vs. Carolina and reportedly will start Week One vs. the Baltimore Ravens.

The last couple of weeks it looked as though Tony Hills was going to be Tomlin’s choice but he struggled Saturday night vs. Atlanta.

Legursky played well while filling in last year. He doesn’t have much of a pedigree, having joined the Steelers a few years back as an undrafted free agent out of Marshall, but he got the job done in 2010.

CBS Local points out that the offensive line at the start of the regular season should feature Jonathan Scott at left tackle, Chris Kemoeatu at left guard, Maurkice Pouncey at center, and Willie Colon at right tackle along with Legursky. Scott and Pouncey have had injury issues, however.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

After making four more cuts Tuesday (including the mildly surprising release of defensive tackle Anthony Gray), the Steelers have trimmed their roster to 80, which means they’re at the roster limit the NFL requires by 4:00 PM Tuesday.

Besides Gray, the other three Tuesday cuts are wide receiver Terrence McCrae, cornerback Niles Brinkley and outside linebacker Chris Ellis. None were highly-regarded, and all were undrafted free agents, so these cuts aren’t surprising. McCrae is from Connellsville, and his uncle, Sam Davis, played for the Steelers in the 1970s, so his release has to be especially disappointing for him. He had one catch for 10 yards this preseason. Brinkley had three tackles, and Ellis had four.

These cuts mean the Steelers are probably done making roster moves on Tuesday. These cuts, along with a few others made earlier this week, dropped the team’s roster size from 90 to 80.

For more on the Steelers’ roster moves, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

The Steelers have reportedly released defensive tackle Anthony Gray as they whittle their way down to 80 players. They must get to 80 by 4:00 PM Tuesday, and their roster currently stands at 83. 

Gray himself tweeted that the Steelers had let him go. No news source has reported the move as of 8:30 on Tuesday morning, so the move might not be official.

Gray's release may come as a mild surprise to some fans. Gray was an undrafted free agent out of Southern Mississippi and was supposed to be one of the more interesting players in the Steelers' UFA class.

The Steelers dropped several players earlier this week: wide receivers Eric Greenwood and Kenneth Moore, cornerback Kevin Dockery, and tight end Vaughn Charlton. They also waived/injured tight end Miguel Chavis and placed running back Baron Batch on injured reserve.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Scott Brown and Mark Kaboly write that Ben Roethlisberger played sparingly in practice on Monday, because the Steelers wanted to get more looks at Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon, one of whom will serve as the team's backup quarterback in the wake of Byron Leftwich's injury. The Steelers will decide which of the two will be the backup after the team is finished with its preseason schedule.

Brown and Kaboly also write about the possibility that Doug Legursky has taken over for Tony Hills as the Steelers' No. 1 option at right guard.

Doug Legursky is listed as No. 1 at right guard on the Steelers' updated depth chart, a week after Tony Hills held the spot.

A change to the depth chart is not uncommon, but the one at right guard came after Hills had said he thought the coaches have already decided on a starter at the position.

"You'll have to wait and see," he said before practice yesterday.

We'll see what happens. but I wouldn't mind seeing Legursky starting somewhere. He quietly was very competent filling in after Maurkice Pouncey went down last year.

For more on the Steelers, be sure to check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

The Steelers have begun to make roster moves in order to cut their roster down to 80 players. Tight end Vaughn Charlton, cornerback Kevin Dockery, and wideouts Eric Greenwood and Kenneth Moore have been cut. They also waived/injured tight end Miguel Chavis and put running back Baron Batch on injured reserve.

None of these moves come as huge shocks. Charlton, Dockery, Greenwood and Moore had no real chance of making the team. Greenwood is a tall receiver who caught passes in each of the Steelers' first two preseason games, but he didn't have a clear shot at a job. Greenwood, Charlton and Chavis were all undrafted free agents. Dockery was signed fairly recently due to the spate of injuries in the Steelers' secondary (as Steelers Depot points out), but despite that, he didn't have much of a chance of making the team. 

Expect the Steelers to cut their roster down further early this week. They'll have to trim at least four more players.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

The Pittsburgh Steelers could not be a more gratifying team to cheer for. I don’t really need to explain why. But in terms of fantasy football purposes, the six-time Super Bowl champions typically sport few, if any, players that excel. This is especially true when the Steelers are winning. In 2009, when the Steelers missed the playoffs, Ben Roethlisberger had a monster season with over 4,300 passing yards and 26 touchdowns. His primary playmakers - Hines Ward, Heath Miller and Santonio Holmes - all had solid seasons, but not one had more than six receiving touchdowns.

Last season, Rashard Mendenhall and Mike Wallace were the team’s most productive fantasy options. Mendenhall found the end zone 13 times in ’10 while amassing 1,273 yards on 324 carries. Wallace, meanwhile, nearly led the league in yards per reception for the second time in as many NFL seasons. Despite catching just 60 passes, Wallace finished with near 1,300 yards and found pay dirt 10 times. 

Common logic would suggest that those two would again be the best fantasy-wise in ‘11. Both will likely post solid seasons, but after such productive years, I imagine their productivity might taper off a bit as defenses spend even more capital on slowing them down. That’s not to say that they’re not worthy of high draft picks, but even if it pains you to do so, let someone else use too high of a pick on two of Steeler Nation’s favorite young stars. At the same time, take a look at these options as good value picks later on in your drafts. 

2011 Fantasy Football Sleepers: 

• Heath Miller - The Steelers’ reliable tight end is beloved throughout Steeler Nation, but typically doesn’t get much love from fantasy owners. For understandable reasons, I suppose. Miller has never ranked higher than seventh among TEs in fantasy points (2007). He’s coming off a mediocre statistical season in 2010, having caught just 42 passes for 512 yards and 2 touchdowns, good for only the 25th-most fantasy points by a TE. So why should he be considered a sleeper in ‘11? Well, Ben Roethlisberger won’t be suspended for the first quarter of the season like he was last year. Miller hauled in a mere 10 receptions for an even 100 yards and no scores while Big Ben was out. More importantly, though, defenses keyed in on Miller last season, daring Roethlisberger to look to his young wide receivers rather than his trusted, sure-handed tight end. Consequently, guys like Emmanuel Sanders, Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace faced single-coverage for most of the year. Now that all three of the Young Money Crew has established themselves as threats in the passing game, expect defenses to start paying more attention to them, which in turn should make life easier on the former 2005 first-rounder. Look for Miller to finish with somewhere around 65-75 passes for somewhere around 700 yards. Fantasy owners will have to cross their fingers that he gets ample opportunities in the red zone. You’ll almost assuredly be able to get Miller somewhere after Round 12, which in my mind, would be a solid steal. 
• Ben Roethlisberger - I was really impressed by Roethlisberger’s play in ‘10. Knowing he had to win back the trust of his coaches, teammates and fans, Big Ben was hard at work in the film room last year, something he hadn’t done enough of during the early years of his career. As a reward for his efforts, Roethlisberger managed to cut down on his costly mental miscues substantially. His five interceptions were the lowest total of his career, and his interception rate of 1.3 percent was significantly lower than any rate posted in his previous six seasons. Roethlisberger’s 13.3 yards per completion led the NFL, an impressive feat for a guy who completed more than 61 percent of his throws. Finally, don’t sleep on the fact that Rashard Mendenhall assumed a huge workload last season, and that Bruce Arians might be inclined to scale down his rushing attempts a bit this season. I’m expecting Big Ben to come close to or surpass the 4,000 yard plateau and flirt with 30 touchdowns. If Roethlisberger slips to the fifth or sixth round of your draft, you’d be wise to scoop him. 
• Isaac Redman - You know in those final rounds of your draft where you don’t really even think more than a second or two about who you should pick up? Well, use one of those final picks on Isaac Redman and stash him away on your bench. There’s a strong possibility his workload increases substantially this year. This may be conjecture, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Steelers give goal line opportunities to Redman rather than Mendenhall in ‘11 in order to keep Mendenhall’s market value a smidge lower than it might otherwise be when the Steelers begin negotiations with Mendu’s agent on a contract extension. 
• Hines Ward - Everybody is expecting Mike Wallace to blow up in 2011, but I’m not so sure that’s going to happen. He’ll face double teams each week and be the center of defensive coordinators’ game plans most weeks. Like Miller, Ward’s stats were hurt in ‘10 by the absence of Big Ben for the first four games. He had zero 100-plus yard games while Roethlisberger was sidelined; three after his return. I hate to cite dancing in a football article, but Ward definitely benefited from the intense training schedule required of his participation in Dancing With The Stars. He’s been an afterthought for most of training camp and the preseason because of the finger injury that kept him out of action in early August, but his touchdown catch against the Eagles last week convinced me he’s in great shape and ready to have another 75-plus catch season and surpass the 1,000 yard plateau for the seventh time in his Hall of Fame career. 

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain, and for more on fantasy sports, check out Fake Teams.

If you have followed the Pittsburgh Steelers closely this past three seasons and have read Ed Bouchette’s work in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, you’ve probably encountered the veteran columnist bemoan the Steelers decision to use a fourth round draft pick in 2008 on a punter. Daniel Sepulveda, a Baylor grad who’s endeared himself to fans with his willingness to sign autographs and propensity to seek out contact on punt coverage, has been unable to stay healthy in his three seasons in Pittsburgh. Twice he’s been lost for the year with ACL tears in his battered and bruised right knee knees, validating Bouchette’s critique of expending such a high draft pick on a punter.

Fully healthy once again, Sepuvlveda is not guaranteed to win the starting punting duties for the Steelers in 2011. He doesn’t mind having to work for the job though:

Daniel Sepulveda was minding his own business, chowing down on his pregame meal before the Pittsburgh Steelers played at Washington two weeks when he looked up at the television screen.

“They’re saying Coach (Mike) Tomlin has 22 returning starters and the only competition battle is at punter and I’m saying, ‘Alright, sounds good,’” Sepulveda said with a laugh.

His competition? Jeremy Kapinos, who filled in adequately when Sepulveda went down late last season. So far through two preseason games, both punters have mirrored each other’s performance. Both have five punts heading into the third preseason game, with Kapinos (48.6) just barely besting Sepulveda (46.6) in yards per punt.

Drawing clear for either player has been difficult, which puts the two punters in an unusual situation. They may be the only players on the team who don’t want the Steelers to score on every possession. At least in the preseason anyway.

“In the regular season when you don’t punt, that’s great,” Sepulveda said. “In the preseason when you don’t punt, it’s no fun.”

Sepulveda’s booming 62 yard punt in the preseason opener against Washington is probably the type of punt that will ultimately win him the job. His ceiling is higher than Kapinos. The former Green Bay Packers punter was one of the league’s worst rated punters prior to joining Pittsburgh, but as Sepulveda noted, Kapinos’ solid play has forced him to focus on improving every day just to fight for his job. That’s not been the case for Sepulveda prior to this year.

The two will next have their opportunity to state their case for the job when the Steelers host the Atlanta Falcons at Heinz Field on Saturday night.

For more Steelers coverage and fan discussion, head on over to Behind the Steel Curtain.

Dale Lolley reports on why the Steelers could cut cornerback Bryant McFadden:

But would the defense be any worse off with, say, Keenan Lewis in the starting lineup opposite Ike Taylor?

At least there is the opportunity that Lewis could still get better.

And with a number of young corners on the roster who the Steelers don’t want to give up on, it may not make sense to keep McFadden and his higher salary hit and take the chance on somebody signing Crezdon Butler or Cortez Allen if they are released.

That’s logical. The idea of getting rid of McFadden entirely scares me a bit, given that the Steelers don’t really have any proven options after him and Ike Taylor. But McFadden definitely isn’t any great shakes and isn’t getting any younger, and Lewis had a nice performance in the Steelers’ last preseason game against the Eagles. If the Steelers think he’s their best option, they’re probably right.

Via Steelers Depot.

The big news in Steeler Country on Tuesday was the announcement that Lawrence Timmons had agreed to a new six-year, $50 million contract that will keep him in black and gold through 2016. The stud linebacker had one year left on the five-year rookie contract he signed in 2007. To the best of my knowledge, the financial terms of the deal beyond the year and total dollar amount have yet to be disclosed. Consequently, it’s hard to assess whether the Steelers saved salary cap space with the transaction.

In the immediate wake of the news, Ed Bouchette wrote that the Steelers were likely done negotiating contract extensions this offseason. The Steelers have historically put aside anything contract related once the regular season starts, so it’s assumed that once September 11 rolls around, Polamalu will be forced to play the ’11 season without a new deal in his back pocket, and that the two sides will resume negotiations once the season ends (hopefully in February).

After practice on Tuesday, Polamalu was mobbed by reporters seeking comment about his situation and whether or not he’d be upset if he hadn’t signed a new deal prior to the start of the ’11 season.

“These contract talks should stay between me and my agent. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

It’s not the end of the world if a new contract is not agreed upon before September 11, but one can understand why Polamalu might be a bit irked were he not to lock down one final chunk of guaranteed money before suiting up again in ‘11. But Polamalu is hardly struggling financially. He was paid handsomely with his second contract and he’s done just fine for himself in the endorsement world.

It’s hard to imagine a fan-favorite like Polamalu not being taken care of eventually, even if it might be somewhat of a financial gamble for the Rooneys to open their wallet too liberally with the oft-injured Polamalu. But given how the Steelers have navigated retaining veterans in recent years, I think it’s just a matter of when Polamalu will sign one final contract to retire a Pittsburgh Steeler.

When Max Starks and Flozell Adams were released early on in the free agency period, there was speculation that one of the two might be re-signed after the Steelers got under the salary cap. That hasn’t happened yet, and Monday’s news might signal that neither Starks nor Adams will in fact be back in the black and gold. That news would be the signing of veteran reserve Trai Essex to a one-year deal on Monday. The financials of the deal have yet to be disclosed, but it’s safe to assume that the contract will be for the veteran minimum.

Neal Coolong of Behind the Steel Curtain had this to say about what the move might mean for the Steelers:

The timing of Essex’s re-joining the roster will fire up speculation on the health of projected starter Jonathan Scott, who has suffered multiple injuries this preseason.

He went down early in the Steelers’ 24-14 win over Philadelphia in preseason Week 2, but MRI results were negative. Rookie T Marcus Gilbert replaced Scott against Philadelphia, but he went down with an injury as well. His MRI results were also negative.

Essex has spent all six of his professional seasons with the Steelers dating back to 2005. The former third-round draft pick out of Northwestern is not a very intriguing starting option, but his versatility might prove valuable to a Steelers offensive line that is very much still in flux at the moment. Essex has played at both tackle spots, as well as at right guard, where he’s started 21 games the past two seasons.

For more Steelers news, analysis and fan discussion, stay tuned here and at Behind the Steel Curtain.

The Steelers have waived wide receiver Limas Sweed, the Post-Gazette reports. Sweed was a second-round draft pick and possessed the kind of size that people love in a wide receiver, but he didn’t do much of anything with it, catching only seven balls in his career and frustrating fans with drops. There were a handful of fans who still held out hope for his potential, but I don’t think anyone is going to be too upset to see him gone.

In related moves, the Steelers have dropped tight end Eugene Bright and added two defensive backs – cornerback Kevin Dockery (who played in 10 games for the St. Louis Rams last year and four seasons for the New York Giants before that) and safety Macho Harris (who played for the Washington Redskins last year and the Philadelphia Eagles before that). The Steelers have recently lost several defensive backs, including top corner Ike Taylor, to injury.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

The two stalwarts of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense — James Harrison and Troy Polamalu — will see their first action of the preseason on Thursday night when the Steelers take on the Philadelphia Eagles in both teams’ second preseason game.

Polamalu has been slowly but surely rehabbing a slight tear in his Achilles tendon that he sustained last December. Harrison, meanwhile, is recovering from back surgery this spring, the second time he’s had his back operated on. It will be fun for fans to get to see the 2008 and 2010 Defensive Players of the Year suit up even for limited action, but obviously Steeler Nation is more interested in both being ready to go for the regular season opener on September 11th.

Seven players have been ruled out for the game against Philly, including three starters – cornerbacks Ike Taylor (thumb) and Bryant McFadden (hamstring/quad) and guard Chris Kemoeatu (knee). The non-starters who will sit this one out include: Crezdon Butler (quad) and Cortez Allen (hamstring), wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (foot) and inside linebacker Mario Harvey (leg).

Kickoff at Heinz Field is at 8:00 pm EST on Thursday. The game will be televised nationally on FOX. For more Steelers news, analysis and fan discussion, check out Behind the Steel Curtain.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac  reports today that Steelers' corner Ike Taylor will likely miss the next three weeks following surgery to repair his injured left thumb. Taylor injured himself in the Steelers' preseason loss to the Redskins on Friday.

Dulac says the team hopes to have Taylor to be back for the Steelers' season opener against Baltimore on Sept. 11 against the Ravens.

This is obviously a tough blow to a squad already hit by the injury bug early in the preseason. Taylor is a big piece of the Steelers' defense as a starting corner, and if his recovery time does drag out into the regular season, this injury will be a real concern. The Ravens will throw Pro Bowl caliber receiver Anquan Boldin at the Steelers in week one, and the Seahawks will deploy Mike Williams and Sidney Rice in week two. If Pittsburgh is to shut them down, it will want Taylor in the fray helping out. Fortunately, Taylor is a veteran and should be able to bounce back quickly once he's cleared to return.

Steelers wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders hopes to return from his foot injury in time for the Steelers’ last preseason game, which is against the Carolina Panthers. Sanders had surgery on both feet in the offseason.

This is an unfortunate time for Sanders to be hurt. The Steelers have Mike Wallace and Hines Ward as their top two wide receivers, and Sanders’ fellow second-year wideout Antonio Brown has looked good in camp and played well in the Steelers’ first preseason game against the Washington Redskins. In addition, the Steelers recently signed veteran wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery to provide depth.

This would have been a great time for Sanders to step up and show he deserves increased playing time, but right now, it’s not even clear how much he’ll be able to contribute when he gets back – I’m no doctor, but a foot injury at a position where speed is paramount doesn’t sound good. He’ll get more opportunities later in the season, and he still has a bunch of upside, but this injury has to frustrate him.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Adam Schefter tweets that the Steelers will sign former Jets wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery.

Cotchery recently visited camp. My guess initially would have been that he wouldn’t sign with the Steelers, simply because the Steelers had a fair amount of depth at wide receiver, and he would have had to wrangle with Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown for playing time behind Mike Wallace and Hines Ward. There had to have been better opportunities for him elsewhere. But with Sanders’ recent injury, that has changed a little bit, and the Steelers had more need for depth at wideout. Also, it sounds like the Ravens, who had been his other main suitor, opted not to sign him.

Cotchery had 433 yards receiving and had back surgery in the offseason, but he had four productive years before that. As third/fourth/fifth options go, he looks like a pretty darn good one.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Steelers rookie running back Baron Batch was injured in Wednesday's practice, and has torn his ACL, meaning he'll be out for the season.

A popping sound could be heard as Batch pulled up at the end of a run, and he immediately waved over the Steelers' trainers.

Team officials were not sure how severely Batch was injured. Rookie tight end Weslye Saunders posted on Twitter last night that Batch tore his ACL.

That's a terrible shame for Batch. Despite being a seventh-round pick, he was already becoming a fan favorite, and he had a clear shot at a roster spot, given the strong camp he was having and the Steelers' lack of depth at running back.

On his own website (and it's not a Twitter account, it's a website, which is good, because this kid writes really well), Batch confirms that he did tear his ACL, and offers his reaction: 

I’ve never been so close to something and then have it pulled away. I felt like my NFL career was within grasp, I could feel it on my fingertips only to have it pulled away and postponed.

ACL tears tend not to be career-ending, so he'll probably be back, but it's a shame that he'll have to wait a year after getting so close to playing in the NFL.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Unfortunate news from Latrobe on Wednesday afternoon as rookie running back Baron Batch was carted off the field with an apparent knee injury. The good news is that Batch was not hit. Instead, he went down in pain after making a cut during a running drill. The Steelers have no official prognosis or report on the specific nature or severity of the injury. The hope, of course, is that Batch merely sprained his knee. But considering how much pain he appeared to be in as well as the fact that he was making a sharp cut, the fear is that Batch might have suffered some sort of ligament damage.

Just terribly unfortunate news. You never want to see anybody get hurt, but Batch had already established himself as a fan favorite with his impressive first two weeks of camp and his interesting background and personal story that he’s been willing to share on his blog, Twitter and during radio interviews.

Stay tuned for more news on Batch’s injury, as well as other Steelers camp news and notes both here and at Behind the Steel Curtain.

In the days after the 2011 NFL Draft, fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers read numerous reports about their first round draft pick Cameron Heyward. All mentioned the remarkably high character and impressive work ethic of the Ohio State product. Two weeks into training camp, Heyward has validated those reports with his humble attitude. But it’s not just reporters and draft niks singing his praises now that the pads have gone on at Latrobe. It’s Heyward’s teammates that are impressed. Here’s a sampling of quotes about Heyward from the veteran mainstays along the defensive line, all of which reflect the healthy amount of respect Heyward is commanding from his teammates early on.

"He’s a rookie, and he acts like a rookie," said defensive tackle Casey Hampton. "That’s a major thing. You kind of probably wouldn’t think that from his background but obviously his father and his mama did a great job of keeping him grounded."

"He came in here, has put his hand in the dirt and was ready to work," said defensive end Brett Keisel.

"He’s not believing his own hype, that’s the main thing," Hood said. "He’s a first rounder. He knows it. Everybody knows it but he’s not into that. He’s a young guy coming here trying to learn. He’s hanging around us older guys, we’re trying to show him correct ways on how to do things."

You’ve got to give defensive line coach John Mitchell a lot of credit as well. There’s a clear hierarchy along the defensive line, yet there’s a willingness to help one another out provided everyone’s on the same page attitude-wise. Sounds like that’s exactly the case with the newest addition to the DL depth chart.

The Post-Gazette reports that Steelers first-round draft pick Cameron Heyward is working on adjusting to the NFL in his first training camp.

"He's a hard worker," [defensive line coach John] Mitchell said of Heyward, drafted with the 31st overall pick. "What he's realizing now is, he might have been in shape to play at Ohio State, but he's not in shape to play in the NFL. There's a big difference. That slowed him down for the first couple days, but he's getting in better shape. You can see some of the quickness he has. And he's learning how to play with strength."

It's not entirely clear what "shape" means here, or why it would only take a couple days to improve it dramatically, but it sounds like he's trying to adjust to the increased speed and physicality of the game, which is tough for most rookies. That's probably especially true given that the lockout just ended a couple weeks ago. 

Mitchell also notes that Heyward's fellow defensive end Ziggy Hood is "going to play quite a bit," which is no surprise, since Hood played a lot, and played well, while filling in last year. Even if Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel stay healthy this year, it's hard to imagine Hood sitting on the sidelines for too long.

Steelers quarterback Dennis Dixon denies that he asked the Steelers' front office to be traded:

"It's not that I don't want to (be traded), but I've never (asked for) a trade before," Dixon said. Dixon wants to have a shot to compete for a starting quarterback spot, but he knows that there is not an opportunity in his current situation as the Steelers' No. 3 quarterback behind Ben Roethlisberger.

At this point, a trade probably isn't going to help Dixon much. He's 26, doesn't have an outstanding pedigree (he was a fifth-round draft pick in 2008), and hasn't played much in the NFL. His best bet is to find some favorable situation where a team as an injury-prone starter and establish himself as a backup. That isn't really going to work for him in Pittsburgh, but it's not as if opportunities are teeming elsewhere either. 

Dixon was a restricted free agent heading into this season, and the Steelers offered a fifth-round tender, so another team would have had to give up a pick in the later part of the 2012 draft to get him. That didn't happen despite the low price.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

The six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers hit the ground running at training camp in Latrobe two Thursdays ago, but they did so without their most veteran leader, Hines Ward. The Dancing With The Stars champion has been with his teammates at St. Vincent College for the first week and a half of training camp, but he has yet to put the pads on for the first time this camp while he waited for his surgically repaired thumb to fully heal.

That’s set to change on Monday after Ward passed his physical. The future Hall of Famer will come off the Physically Unable to Perform list to make his ‘11 training camp debut. The Steelers begin their preseason schedule this Friday in Washington D.C. when they face the Redskins at FedEx Field. It’s not clear if Ward will be ready to play on Friday, even in very limited action, but it’s safe to say that Ward’s full participation in camp will give the Steelers and their young offensive playmakers a little more pep in their step as they prepare for the 2011 season.

Ward caught 59 passes for 755 yards and 5 TDs in 2010.

For more Steelers news, analysis and fan discussion, head on over to Behind the Steel Curtain.

The Post-Gazette reports that, with the LaMarr Woodley signing out of the way, the Steelers will wait awhile before worrying about signing Troy Polamalu or Lawrence Timmons to long-term deals.

Polamalu and Timmons are unrestricted free agents after the 2011 season and both players will be re-signed at some point, though it is not clear when. But, after restructuring six contracts and signing franchise player LaMarr Woodley to a six-year deal, the Steelers want to concentrate more on preparing their roster for the upcoming season with possible free-agent signings.

With the lack of depth at wide receiver suddenly a problem - the Steelers recently welcomed Jets wideout Jerricho Cotchery to camp as they dealt with injuries to Hines Ward, Limas Sweed and (perhaps most crucially) Emmanuel Sanders - the Steelers surely need to deal with potential problems with their 2011 roster.

However, I wouldn't count on the potential signings of role players like Cotchery keeping the Steelers from signing core players like Timmons and Polamalu before the season starts. (The Steelers don't discuss contract extensions with players during the season.) As Sam Wilmoth recently pointed out, Timmons, in particular, is a great candidate to try to sign to an extension because he's very good and his profile is still relatively low. Polamalu is perhaps a different case, in that he's older and injury-prone, but the Steelers don't have a replacement for him at the ready, and he's still a great player who's very visible both locally and nationally.

We mentioned the possibility of the Steelers adding former Jets wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery back on Saturday, but the Trib has more on the possible addition.

Jerricho Cotchery, an eighth-year NFL veteran, visited the Steelers at St. Vincent on what was an off day for the players ...

The Jets released Cotchery last Thursday at his request ...

The Steelers and Ravens are among a handful of teams interested in Cotchery.

Cotchery had back-to-back 800-yard receiving seasons in 2008 and 2009. But the main attraction right now is that the Steelers need bodies at wide receiver. Hines Ward still isn't practicing, Limas Sweed is now hurt, Antwaan Randle El was a salary cap casualty, and Emmanuel Sanders will be out for a few weeks with foot issues. If all the usual guys were healthy and available, the Steelers probably wouldn't be pursuing Cotchery, since depth at wide receiver appeared to be one of the team's strengths during the offseason.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Offensive linemen Jonathan Scott and Ramon Foster and wide receiver Limas Sweed all left Saturday’s Steelers training camp practice with injuries. Sweed’s injury is a shoulder problem, but beyond that, the nature and severity of the injuries is currently unclear.

Sweed would be the player most hurt by an extended absence. The much-maligned former second-round draft pick has missed a bunch of time due to injury, and hadn’t played well at all when healthy. This year, as Steelers Depot points out, he’s in a good spot to seize an opportunity, with Emmanuel Sanders hurt and Antwaan Randle El gone as a salary-cap casualty. If Sweed is unsuccessful, this is probably the last shot he’s going to get, since this is the last year he’s under contract.

Meanwhile, there is a report that the Steelers will host former Jets wideout Jerricho Cotchery tomorrow. It could be that the Steelers now want more depth after Sanders’ injury. Cotchery had 433 yards receiving last year, but had more than 800 in 2008 and 2009.

After signing outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley to a huge new contract, the Steelers could now turn to safety Troy Polamalu.

“My only comment is, because I know things can really get misconstrued a lot, is that everything regarding our contract talks will stay between the Rooneys and my agent,” Polamalu said. “Other than that, I would love to retire a Pittsburgh Steeler.” When asked if talks have already begun, Polamalu smirked before saying: “I’d love to retire a Pittsburgh Steeler.”

Polamalu’s current contract expires after this season. At 30, Polamalu is a bunch older than Woodley, and any new contract for Polamalu should probably be approached with some degree of caution. He plays an incredibly physical game and has already shown a tendency to get hurt, having missed several games in both of the last two seasons. It would be great if the Steelers could keep him, but they need to be careful here.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

At long last, the Steelers have signed outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley to a long-term deal. It’s for six years and $61.5 million and includes an enormous $22.5 million signing bonus.

Woodley’s contract is the second-highest in franchise history, next to only the eight-year, $102 million deal that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger signed in 2008.

Woodley had the Steelers’ franchise tag, meaning all of his $10 million 2011 deal would have counted against the salary cap. Adam Schefter tweets that, despite Woodley getting a major payday, his contract will now only count $6.5 million against the cap in 2011, so the Steelers will have a much easier time getting under the cap of roughly $123 million as a result of this deal. Also, they’re obviously keeping Woodley, which is great news.

Woodley is getting a ton of money, but the market was set in part by the five-year, $60 million deal the Kansas City Chiefs gave star pass-rusher Tamba Hali earlier in the week.

Earlier this week, this website published a news update about the possibility of Woodley signing a long-term deal, and Woodley linked to the item on his Facebook page, adding, “Would yall like this?? lol.” It therefore seemed like he and the Steelers were pretty close on the deal. He wrote another update on Friday with a picture of him signing the contract, saying he “will retire here” and calling himself a “STEELER 4 LIFE.”

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Steelers player representative Ryan Clark thinks NFL players might not approve the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that came into play when the players and owners ended the NFL Lockout. There are details that had not been negotiated when the two sides made a pact, and Clark thinks those details might be enough to put a stop to the whole process today.

"We need some things to be collectively bargained in good faith in totality to get this deal done," Clark said.

... The players agreed to recertify as a union, which they did last weekend, and the owners agreed to come to terms on the final remaining points. Among those yet to be decided is the power of commissioner Roger Goodell to levy punishment under his personal conduct policy, issues regarding concussions and when players can return and who decides that, and whether players who previously had strikes against them under the drug policy start with a clean slate.

I wouldn't worry about this too much just yet, since I'm not sure Clark is the most objective source on this issue. The Steelers have pretty serious issues with anything involving Goodell's authority, due to the fact that Pittsburgh is the team Goodell fines most frequently. Clark has personally expressed concern about that. So I'm sure there's plenty of grumbling in the Steelers' locker room over these unresolved issues. That might not be the case for other teams. I wouldn't expect anything too crazy to happen between the two sides before preseason games start.

The Post-Gazette reports that the Steelers are interested in having Flozell Adams, who was released for salary reasons earlier this week. They are not, however, interested in Max Starks.

It appears the team has little interest in re-signing Starks, who had been their starting left tackle, because he is overweight and out of shape, a source told the Post-Gazette.

Ouch. Ed Bouchette wrote a few days ago that Starks currently weighs nearly 400 pounds, and it appears he wasn't kidding.

If they're able to get Adams back at a lower price, the Steelers would start him at right tackle and put Willie Colon at right guard. Ramon Foster and Doug Legursky are currently in competition at right guard. 

The news that the Steelers want Adams back comes as no surprise - they didn't release him because they dislike him, but rather because the salary cap is forcing them to move lots of money around.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Dejan Kovacevic reports that the Steelers are trying to negotiate a long-term deal with linebacker LaMarr Woodley.

Woodley declined to discuss specifics of the Steelers' approach, but, when asked if the term could be five or six years, he smiled and replied, "Hopefully, yeah. That would be nice."

Woodley currently has the Steelers' franchise tag, which means his 2011 salary is $10 million, all of which counts against the cap. If the Steelers were to sign him beyond this year, they would get a considerable amount of cap relief for 2011, which they need right now as they're dropping veterans like Max Starks, Flozell Adams and Antwaan Randle El to clear cap space. Several other Steelers, such as Ben Roethlisberger and James Harrison, have agreed to restructure their contracts. The exact details of those restructurings are not yet known, but the Steelers are probably somewhere around the cap, which is about $123 million.

Obviously, another potential benefit to re-signing Woodley is that the Steelers would have him signed for several years beyond 2011.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

A couple of notes from Steelers training camp on Tuesday. First, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders will miss a few weeks with a foot injury. With both Sanders and Hines Ward currently unavailable to practice, and with the likelihood that Sanders won’t be able to have a critical role in the offense at the start of the season, it will be interesting to see what happens with the Steelers’ wide receiving corps. This is particularly true now that Antwaan Randle El is also gone. Look for the remaining healthy receivers, and particularly Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and Limas Sweed - to get a ton of reps in camp.

Also, the Steelers signed John Gilmore, formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it looks like he’ll be the Steelers second tight end, replacing the departed Matt Spaeth as the backup to Heath Miller. David Johnson had been listed as their second tight end. The big loser here, though, is undrafted free agent Weslye Saunders, who might not make the team as a result of this signing.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Like Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers’ James Harrison and Brett Keisel have agreed to restructure his contract. It’s not yet clear what the new terms of Roethlisberger’s and Harrison’s contracts will be, but basically, these moves involve shuffling some money around so that the Steelers can get under the new salary cap, which is $120 million plus a few million dollars in exemptions. Harrison was set to cost about $7.4 million against the cap, Keisel about $4 million.

Also, the Steelers signed quarterback Dennis Dixon to a one-year deal. Dixon played in two games during Roethlisberger’s suspension last year and completed 22 of 32 passes for 254 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He supposedly is interested in going elsewhere after 2011 and looking for a starting job, but those may be tough to come by for him. In Pittsburgh this year, he will compete with Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch for a chance to play if Roethlisberger should get hurt.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will have his contract restructured so that the Steelers can avoid problems with the salary cap.

The exact parameters of the restructuring are unclear, but Steelers Depot notes that Roethlisberger’s salary would have counted about $16 million against the cap this year. One way he might restructure his contract is to have some of his base salary count as a signing bonus, and then distribute the signing bonus over the remainder of his contract.

The salary cap this year is $120 million (with a few $1 million exceptions allowed), and the Steelers have already made efforts to get under the cap by dropping Max Starks, Flozell Adams and Antwaan Randle El. But the much-needed re-signings of Ike Taylor and Willie Colon, as well as the signings of their 2011 draft picks, have ensured that they’re back over the cap again. The Roethlisberger restructuring, as well as a potential long-term contract for Lamarr Woodley, are the Steelers’ surest paths towards getting under the cap.

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Chris Hoke to a one-year contract today, ensuring that the 6-2, 305 nose tackle will return as Casey Hampton's [primary backup for at least one more season.

Hoke, a ten-year NFL veteran, has been with the team since the Steelers signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He has proven to be a valuable depth player, as Hampton, the lynch pin of Pittsburgh's 3-4 defensive front, has missed six starts in the last five seasons. 

It's possible that third-year man Ziggy Hood (6-3, 300 lbs.) could line up at nose tackle if necessary, but that's no sure thing. Reacquiring Hoke, who the Steelers know can get the job done, is a savvy move to enhance the Steelers' depth along the defensive line. With Hoke on the roster, Hood could stay in the defensive end rotation in the event of a Hampton injury, while Hoke lined up over center. (It remains to be seen, however, how exactly the rotation will work out among the injury-prone Aaron Smith, the aging Brett Keisel, and youngsters like Hood and rookie first-rounder Cameron Heyward on the outside.)

In any case, it's likely that this will be the last season in Pittsburgh for Hoke, who turned 35 in April -- if the one-year deal is any indication.

It's just business as usual for the Steelers. They're having a productive, if unflashy offseason, securing the services of their own guys as necessary. Now let's see about restructuring LaMarr Woodley's contract for the long-term, shall we?

The Steelers have re-signed running back Mewelde Moore. Moore will presumably act as a third-down back behind Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman. The Steelers didn't really have a third-down type of back, other than 2011 seventh-round pick Baron Batch, who has been impressive so far in training camp. Batch still stands a decent chance of making the final roster, but this move will affect his playing time. The Steelers appear to be set at running back now.

Moore rushed 33 times for 99 yards last year to go with 26 catches for 205 yards. His best season with the Steelers was his first, in 2008, when he had 588 yards rushing and 320 yards receiving. His yards per carry have gradually slipped since he started his career with the Minnesota Vikings, but he's still only 29 and is pretty reliable catching passes out of the backfield.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

The Steelers have re-signed cornerback William Gay, the Trib reports. Gay will provide depth at the position and will play in some passing defenses. After a long offseason that featured lots of worries about the cornerback position, the Steelers have all the important corners from last year back in the fold. That might not be saying much, since cornerback wasn’t exactly a strength last year, but they’ve also added draft picks Curtis Brown and Cortez Allen to the mix.

Gay had been an unrestricted free agent. He played all 16 games last year and recorded 48 tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble.

Ike Taylor and Bryant McFadden are the Steelers’ starting corners. It remains to be seen how playing time will be distributed between Gay, Keenan Lewis, Crezdon Butler, Brown and Allen. Taylor isn’t able to practice this week after having just signed his contract, so Lewis is practicing with the Steelers’ first-team defense.

For more on the Pittsburgh Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Plaxico Burress has signed with the New York Jets for $3.017 million guaranteed. I’m really surprised he got that much, and I’m happy the Steelers weren’t the ones who gave it to him. Maybe he’s still good, but I don’t think anyone really knows yet, and the likelihood of a soon-to-be 34-year-old receiver who hasn’t played since 2008 actually contributing strikes me as pretty small.

I’m also selfishly happy to see him sign elsewhere, in that the whole #PlaxWatch thing, in which Pittsburgh sports fans were glued to their Twitter feeds wondering where he’d go, was so silly. He would have continued to receive more attention than he was probably worth. Anyway, Pittsburgh has now had two #Watches, one for Burress and one for Jaromir Jagr, and they both ended up going to the East Coast. Maybe all the attention is kind of creepy. Or maybe they both just really like money. Who knows?

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Ed Bouchette reports that the Steelers are “way over the salary cap,” which means that more cost-cutting moves, like the cuts of Max Starks, Flozell Adams and Antwaan Randle El, are likely. The Steelers also will likely ask some players to restructure their contracts.

The cap is effectively $123 million: $120 million plus three $1 million exemptions.

Steelers Depot has a great breakdown of the Steelers’ salaries here. Lamarr Woodley is currently making $10 million with the franchise tag; if the Steelers could sign him to a long-term deal, they might be able to pay him less than that on a yearly basis and get closer to the cap. One other possibility, as a commenter there points out, is to cut Aaron Smith – he’s expensive and is frequently injured, and Ziggy Hood appears ready to step into his role. Wide receiver Arnaz Battle, who is set to make a bit over $1 million this year, could also be cut.

Former wide receiver Plaxico Burress visited with the Steelers Saturday, but the team’s level of interest in him is unclear, although Steelers GM Kevin Colbert does say that the Steelers “are interested.”

I’m really, really sick of writing about this, since the amount of impact Burress will have for the Steelers on the field is likely to be zero, or close to it, but hey. Burress ate lunch with several veteran Steelers, including Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward.

Ed Bouchette reports that Burress isn’t likely to sign with the New York Giants, who he has also visited. Also, the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers have emerged as potential suitors.

Also visiting Steelers camp on Saturday was former Patriots tight end Daniel Graham, who could replace Matt Spaeth as the Steelers’ second tight end. Graham is 32 and had 18 catches for 148 yards for the Broncos last season.

For more on the Pittsburgh Steelers, check out SB Nation’s Steelers blog, Behind The Steel Curtain.

The Steelers have released offensive lineman Flozell Adams. Adams arrived last year as a stopgap when Willie Colon was hurt and filled in admirably. The Steelers also re-signed Colon earlier, so a healthy Colon (not intended to be a really disgusting pun) should take his place. Adams would have made $5 million this year, and the Steelers asked him to accept less, but he apparently he wouldn’t do it. So his release is not surprising.

The Steelers will depend on Colon and Jonathan Scott to man the tackle positions. There appears to be some chance the Steelers could re-sign Adams at a later date if he’s willing to play cheaply, however.

At this point, Chris Kemoeatu and Ramon Foster are the likely guards, with Maurkice Pouncey at center. Also, new tackle and 2011 second-round draft pick Marcus Gilbert agreed to a four-year deal on Thursday.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

The Steelers have reportedly re-signed offensive lineman Willie Colon to a five-year deal worth $29 million. This is the sound of the other shoe dropping after the Steelers let Max Starks know they had released him - they must have figured they could get Colon back. Colon should add considerable stability to their offensive line while allowing second-round pick Marcus Gilbert time to develop. The Steelers appear to be pretty sure he'll be ready to compete this year.

The Steelers have also lost defensive end Nick Eason, who followed new Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton to Arizona with a two-year deal. Eason played a fair amount when Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel were injured last year, but he didn't really distinguish himself. The Steelers no longer needed him - not only are Smith and Keisel still around, but Ziggy Hood is emerging, and the Steelers took defensive end Cameron Heyward in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft as well.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Behind The Steel Curtain has the latest news on the Steelers’ maneuverings in NFL Free Agency. Not only has the team cut offensive lineman Max Starks, saving the team money against the cap, but they’ve also released wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, thus ending his second stint with the team. With the emergence of rookie wideouts Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown last year, Randle El really didn’t serve much of a pupose anymore. The Steelers have also recently been connected to wideout Plaxico Burress, and if Burress were to sign, that would complicate the depth chart even further.

Randle El had 253 yards receiving in 2010. He also returned 14 punts, fumbling twice in the process.

Unsurprisingly, in the wake of the Starks release, the Steelers are pursuing free agent Willie Colon, hoping to get him to re-sign so that they can stabilize an offensive line that is neither particularly great nor particularly deep.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

The Steelers have reportedly told offensive lineman Max Starks that he will be cut.

Starks was a mainstay of the Steelers' offensive line for several years before a neck injury stopped him down the stretch in 2010. There have recently been whispers that he currently weights "in the high 300s," so it's possible the Steelers are unhappy with his conditioning or with the way he recovered from his injury.

Starks' departure would leave a thin offensive line even thinner (speaking figuratively, but I suppose also literally). This move could signal that the Steelers think they can convince Willie Colon to return. Or it might just mean that they think Starks is mostly done. The Steelers have never been slow to cut veterans and replace them with younger players. It's possible they really like second-round draft pick Marcus Gilbert and think he could have a key role on the offensive line this year. We'll have to see.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Plaxico Burress is having a meeting with Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, ESPN reports, and appears likely to head to a team he’s played for before, either the Steelers or the New York Giants.

We’ve discussed this a lot this year and it still doesn’t make any sense for Burress to come to Pittsburgh if he wants playing time. The Steelers have two established starters in Mike Wallace and Hines Ward, and even if Ward needs to be replaced at some point, the Steelers have two perfectly capable third options in Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown. Ben Roethlisberger’s whining about wanting a tall receiver aside, the Steelers have no particular need for Plaxico.

If he wants to come cheaply, and the Steelers can just cut him in training camp, then I suppose there’s no harm, but it’s hard to see where this makes sense for anyone. Burress isn’t young and has spent the past two years in jail; there’s really no reason to expect a vintage season from him.

Also, the Steelers have signed Chris Dieker, an undrafted free agent quarterback out of Southern Illinois. With Roethlisberger, Dennis Dixon, Charlie Batch and Byron Leftwich all ahead of him, Dieker is highly unlikely to see the field for the Steelers anytime soon.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

The Steelers have signed punter Aaron Bates as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State, the Post-Gazette reports. This isn’t a major move, and it’s likely that holdover Jeremy Kapinos will be the Steelers’ punter this year, but it suggests that the team is through with Daniel Sepulveda, who is a free agent. Sepulveda missed the end of the 2010 season due to injury. Bates is the Steelers’ 19th undrafted free agent so far this offseason.

Also, there’s a report out there that the Steelers have re-signed kicker Shaun Suisham, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet. Suisham came to the Steelers after Jeff Reed was dismissed last year and performed well down the stretch. It had looked like the Steelers might not stick with Suisham after this season, but it appears they will now, assuming this report can be confirmed.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Cornerback Ike Taylor has agreed to a four-year deal to return to the Steelers, Adam Schefter reports. The financial terms of the deal aren’t yet clear.

Pittsburgh reached agreement with veteran cornerback Ike Taylor on a four-year deal.

This is great news for the Steelers, who badly needed a stable presence at cornerback. It was already a weak enough position, with Bryant McFadden and several other cornerbacks being abused by opposing offenses at various points last year.

Re-signing Taylor not only helps the Steelers from the perspective of keeping their talent level high, it gives them continuity. I shudder to think what things might have been like if Taylor had departed and the Steelers had had to sign some new starting corner to put in the defense right away.

Hopefully, new draft picks Curtis Brown and Cortez Allen will make some strides this season, and one of them will be ready to step in alongside Taylor in 2012. In the meantime, though, at least the Steelers have Taylor back now, and their biggest offseason issue has been resolved.

I wouldn’t expect the Steelers to be wildly active in free agency now that this signing is done.

Due to the terms surrounding the end of the NFL Lockout, Taylor cannot report to camp until August 4, the Post-Gazette reports. The signing should be made official on Friday.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Here’s a new list of undrafted free agents the Pittsburgh Steelers have signed. Steelers Depot adds a few more.

TE/RB Vaughn Charlton, Temple
WR Armand Robinson, Miami of Ohio
OT Trevis Turner, Abilene Christian
S Brett Greenwood, Iowa
CB Niles Brinkley, Wisconsin
OLB Erik Clanton, the Citadel
LB Mario Harvey, Marshall
WR Eric Greenwood, Idaho
DE Ty Boyle, North Dakota
T Joshua Harrison, South Carolina State
LS Derek Chard, UConn

You can add these to the following names that we already knew about.

DT Anthony Gray, Southern Mississippi
TE Weslye Saunders, South Carolina
DL Miguel Chavis, Clemson
WR Terrence McCrae, Ohio
C Colin Miller, Central Michigan (now confirmed)
WR Adam Mims, Furman
RB John Clay, Wisconsin

Of the new guys, Harvey is the most important one. The Steelers were connected to him in the draft, and he probably should have been drafted by someone. He’s a bit small but is extremely fast and hard-hitting, so the Steelers could use him in special teams. Charlton played quarterback for Temple before moving to tight end, so who knows what the Steelers might do with him. The others weren’t really highly-regarded prospects.

So the big undrafted free agents so far are probably Saunders and Harvey, and perhaps Gray. Steelers Depot made a similar observation, but it was clear to me as well.

For more on the Steelers, check out Behind The Steel Curtain.

Steelers Depot is keeping track of the Steelers' undrafted free agent signings. It's crucial to note that these signings aren't official yet and could change. But here it is for now:

DT Anthony Gray, Southern Mississippi
TE Weslye Saunders, South Carolina
DL Miguel Chavis, Clemson
WR Terrence McCrae, Ohio
C Colin Miller, Central Michigan (Steelers Depot notes that this one is unconfirmed)
WR Adam Mims, Furman
RB John Clay, Wisconsin

Michael Bean already wrote about the additions of Gray and Saunders, who are probably the most highly-regarded players on this list. It was no real surprise to hear of Saunders' signing, in particular, since the Steelers had been connected to him in the draft a few months back. Saunders was once a top tight end prospect, but he missed the 2010 suspension after being suspended and recently had surgery for a broken foot. The latest addition to the list is Clay, who posted pretty good numbers for Wisconsin, but had a horrible 4.83 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

Monday afternoon was just the beginning of what promises to be as hectic a week in the National Football League as we’ve ever seen. With the four-month lockout finally over, business is back open across the league. On Tuesday morning, free agency will begin in earnest, but on Monday afternoon, clubs were allowed to begin talking to undrafted free agent rookies. The Steelers, long known for their penchant at finding talented UDFAs, wasted little time acquiring two players — TE Weslye Saunders out of South Carolina, and NT Anthony Gray from Southern Mississippi.

What to take of the signings? Well, nothing necessarily, as it’s common place for the Steelers and other teams to load up on guys that were bypassed in the draft. The lion’s share won’t make it out of camp, but there’s always a handful of young, lesser-known talents that impress in Latrobe and the preseason to make the squad.

At tight end, the Steelers may be about to lose Matt Spaeth to free agency. Spaeth, a fourth-round selection in 2007, will be an unrestricted free agent that might sign elsewhere. If so, Saunders might be able to compete for the third TE job with Eugene Bright.

As for Gray, obviously the Steelers are quite old at nose tackle. Both Casey Hampton and Chris Hoke are well into their thirties. Ra’Shon Harris and Ziggy Hood might be able to play some nose tackle, but really there’s very little depth at the position. Perhaps the Steelers feel strongly in Gray’s ability to marinate for a year or two on the practice squad under defensive line coach John Mitchell, and then be ready to hopefully contribute in a few years time.

We’ll see. These young men certainly face an uphill battle, but the Steelers are never reluctant to give opportunities to UDFAs that prove they belong when the pads go on at camp. Good luck to them, and thank goodness we have football transactions to discuss.

Stay tuned here and at Behind the Steel Curtain for all your Steelers free agency updates and analysis throughout the week.

If we've learned anything over the years, it's that the Pittsburgh Steelers don't make splash signings in free agency. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to recall the team acquiring a household name in free agency since Jerome Bettis nearly 20 years ago. Instead, they target under-appreciated players that they can sign on the cheap, talented guys who haven't enjoyed extensive opportunities to shine but fit Pittsburgh's schemes, nonetheless.

None of this should change now that the NFL Lockout appears resolved. 

A couple weeks ago, I made the case for Atlanta Falcons running back Jason Snelling, who could step in as a fullback or a pass-catcher out of the backfield. Additionally, you can expect Pittsburgh to pursue a bargain-bin cornerback like Carlos Rogers or Richard Marshall if they aren't willing to pay the price tag on Ike Taylor. (Don't even mention Nnamdi Asomugha. That's not how Pittsburgh rolls, plain and simple.) The Steelers will potentially lose a lot of personnel along the offensive line, as well, so you should expect to see them reload with cheap, versatile depth guys there, as well. Depth along the defensive line was an issue last year, too, with aging stalwarts like Aaron Smith becoming more and more injury-prone, so we could see the Steelers add some fresh legs to the rotation. Finally, Pittsburgh doesn't appear to be sold on Shaun Suisham, despite his admirable performance last year, so they'll undoubtedly acquire a veteran placekicker.