Star system is, poof, gone
Steelers will have to do necessary remodeling
Much of it not their choice, the Steelers find themselves in a restoration, transitioning to an unknown era, but not necessarily an unsuccessful one.
They really did not want this. They wanted to sign Le’Veon Bell to a longterm contract and tried for two years to do so. They wanted to keep feeding Antonio Brown the ball over the next three years through the end of his contract. They wanted Mike Munchak to coach their offensive line forever. They would love more than anything for Ryan Shazier to return to full ambulatory health. They tried to keep and help Martavis Bryant.
Instead, they have none of that and the star system that served as their locomotive for many years is ending.
All teams evolve annually, but the Steelers ran straight into a wall even President Donald Trump could not envision, and now they see the future and it will not resemble the recent past.
They must continue to draft players to bolster a defense that failed to advance in part because of the loss of Shazier at inside linebacker and the ineffectiveness of two recent first-round draft picks, cornerback Artie Burns and outside linebacker Bud Dupree. Now they also must replace two of their Killer Bs, Brown and Bell.
Soon they will negotiate a new contract for Ben Roethlisberger, who turns 37 March 2, the brightest star remaining. Will they pay him the kind of money other elite quarterbacks received recently? Aaron Rodgers earns $33.5 million annually with $78.7 million guaranteed. Matt Ryan earns $30 million annually with $94 million guaranteed. Kirk Cousins earns $28 million with $84 million guaranteed. Roethlisberger is not in the class with Ryan and Cousins — he rests way above them. He earned an average of $21.9 million on his current deal (all contract numbers provided by Overthecap.com).
Because of his age and his goal to play several more seasons, Roethlisberger might not demand those kinds of financial figures. Steelers president Art Rooney II sounded optimistic about Roethlisberger’s sustained ability and to sign him to a new contract.
“I feel good about where Ben is physically, mentally, his ability to be a productive player for multiple years,’’ Rooney said. “So, I think we feel good about trying to extend his contract.”
It would help them if they can agree on a new contract with Roethlisberger before his $5 million roster bonus is due in March, so they could add that to a signing bonus that can be spread over the length of the contract for salary-cap purposes.
Their other order of business will be to trade Brown before his $2.5 million roster bonus kicks in March 17. They cannot officially trade him until March 13, but they can have a deal in place with a team long before that.
What might they reap for Brown? It should be at least a first-round draft pick. He has team-friendly salaries for a player of his stature over the next three years of $12.6 million, $11.3 million and $12.5 million. The only roster bonus due is that $2.5 million, which another team must pay if he is dealt by March 17. There are no other contract ramifications with Brown. The Steelers will absorb the rest of his pro-rated signing bonus of $21 million. He will be 31 but remains among the most productive receivers in the league. If he falls off after a year or two, his new team can release him with no cap accountability, not even his future salary.
As for Bell, they can just let him go as an unrestricted free agent and not play around with the transition tag and potentially receive a third-round compensatory draft pick in 2020 for losing him.
What that means, however, is they must replace Brown and Bell. They can use the possible first-round draft pick for Brown on another receiver or sign a free agent, which would be costly. Although Rooney said he thinks the Steelers are in pretty good shape at running back, they need another to pair with James Conner and Jaylen Samuels.
As part of this house-cleaning, they should do away with their system of deploying just one halfback and stop running them until the wheels fall off. They might find that spreading the carries around among two or three will be even more productive, as many other teams have seen. If they can add the right receiver, Roethlisberger should have enough targets in the passing game — Tom Brady continues to do well without Wes Welker and an injured Rob Gronkowski in a system in which no Patriots wide receiver ever will be mentioned for the Hall of Fame this side of Randy Moss, who spent just three seasons with them.
There will be more changes on the Steelers offensive line and some needed ones on defense at cornerback and linebacker.
The Steelers as we’ve known them are breaking up. The window has closed, not necessarily on their ability to win or compete for the playoffs and Super Bowl. It has closed on a star system that drove them for so long. A real window is about to be thrown open. Adding fresh air to the product should benefit it.