Colbert deals with unknowns

Salary-cap issues hit Heyward talks

General manager Kevin Colbert indicated the uncertain nature of the salary cap after the 2020 season is the reason the Steelers haven’t signed any of their players to contract extensions, most notably All-Pro defensive end Cam Heyward. Colbert wouldn’t comment directly about Heyward, citing team policy concerning contract negotiations. But when asked if the team intended to sign their defensive captain and team leader, Colbert said Wednesday:

“We’re always looking at where we are and where we want to be. We have to keep in mind what the future holds for us in 2021 and beyond, and, quite honestly, that’s a big unknown. We don’t know what we’re dealing with, with future caps. We have to be aware of that, but also we have to be aware where we are in 2020.”

Heyward, 31, is the Steelers’ top priority for a new contract, and they have talked to him about the reasons for the delay. But Colbert also indicated the Steelers are not likely to change their longheld stance on not negotiating once the regular season starts, even with limitations tied to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That’s an organization policy that’s been in place for a lot of years,” Colbert said. “I don’t anticipate that changing under the current conditions.”

Colbert said all NFL teams are in the same boat as the Steelers. The salary cap in 2021 has a minimum floor of $175 million — a decrease of 8.6% from the 2020 cap of $198.2 million — but that could increase depending on team revenues from 2020. Those revenues are expected to be heavily reduced if fans are not allowed to attend games, or even with restricted attendance.

“We know that’s the lowest it can go, so where it goes from there no one knows because nobody can predict their revenues,” Colbert said. “We have

to operate with what we know. We have to remind ourselves this affects 32 teams, it just doesn’t affect one. How it reflects what’s doable or not doable nobody knows. This is a great unknown that, over time, will resolve itself, and we’ll act accordingly.”

Colbert said the ability to scout college players will be affected because the NFL will not allow league personnel to visit college campuses. Teams can attend games, but the uncertain nature of college could impact postseason activities such as the Senior Bowl and the NFL scouting combine.

As such, the NFL draft could be even more impacted than it was in April. Because of the pandemic, teams were quickly shut down from attending pro days, and draft prospects were not allowed to visit NFL teams for interviews. But at least teams got a lot of work done in the fall and at the combine in late February.

“Everything is so unknown,” Colbert said. “Teams that aren’t playing in fall, they’re hoping to play in the spring, and how does that affect possible allstar games or a combine situation? Nobody knows.

“Until we get our dates, we have to work under the assumption things haven’t changed yet. We have to cover schools that are playing and evaluate schools that aren’t playing on their film from 2019. If they play in the spring of 2021, we can add that to our evaluations. Right now, we’re dealing with the known, and the known is there’s three Power 5 conferences and there’s a few outside that are playing. We’ll wait for direction from the league, as to maybe creating the ability for us to attend more than just games.”

Meanwhile, Colbert and the Steelers are trying to deal with the more immediate task — trying to get their players ready for a regular season that is less than three weeks away. In particular, they want to find out which young players, especially their draft choices, might be able to make a contribution this season.

There would appear to be no questions about wide receiver Chase Claypool, their top draft choice, who stands out almost on a daily basis.

“A few of these guys are taking that step and doing some positive things,” Colbert said. “Without a preseason game, how do we know, because somebody on offense is doing good, that maybe we are just deficient on defense and vice versa? We are going to learn a lot in that first regular-season game against the Giants because we haven’t got to see ourselves against other competition.