Move to Canada: What may change
Steelers willing to find players that fit a certain scheme, role for Canada
New offense could have ripple effect
More than anyone, general manager Kevin Colbert is curious about the type of offense new coordinator Matt Canada plans to implement in 2021.
That’s because Colbert will be the person responsible for finding the right types of players to fit Canada’s scheme, particularly if it is drastically different from what the Steelers used under Randy Fichtner. Colbert said he has already had discussions with coach Mike Tomlin about the possibility.
“I’ve asked coach Tomlin with Matt [Canada] taking over, will we be looking at different players differently — what they do to what we currently have?” Colbert said.
Colbert said that could include how they evaluate quarterbacks if the system is different from what they have effectively used with Ben Roethlisberger.
“Maybe as we move into the future down the road and we are deciding on a wide receiver-type or a running back-type or a quarterback-type or an offensive lineman-type, we may shift as we evolve and learn what coach Canada’s offense is about,” Colbert said. “We have seen it work in the college ranks and we saw the types of players he used in different roles. So can we adjust to that as we go on?”
That may not seem to be such a big deal because the Steelers have different types of receivers — from Chase Claypool to Diontae Johnson — along with different styles of running backs (Benny Snell and Anthony McFarland Jr.). Over the years, that has always been the case, whether it was Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress or Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker.
But here’s a small example of how it might happen:
Alabama’s Najee Harris looks like a perfect fit for the Steelers, a 6-foot-2, 230pound running back who has the power, speed and production they and others seek in the draft. But, if Canada’s offense is predicated on motion, pre-snap shifts and misdirection, or incorporates more outside zone blocking schemes, then a back such as Clemson’s Travis Etienne, who is smaller but quicker, might be more of a fit for his offense.
That type of change in evaluation might not fully occur this year, if it occurs at all. First, Colbert has to see how the team’s personnel meshes with Canada’s scheme.
“Will we adjust immediately? No,” Colbert said. “I know coach Tomlin will do what our players can do the best under coach Canada’s offense and the schematics that he puts together. And over time, I think we can adjust. But right out the gate, I think it is hard to make those types of adjustments.”
Tag, not it
The Steelers have used the franchise tag on players in three of the previous four seasons and 11 times since the franchise and transition tags came into existence with free agency in 1993.
But, according to Colbert, don’t expect the Steelers to use it again this year, not with a reduced salary cap.
Tuesday is the first day teams can begin placing the franchise or transition tag on their own players who will be unrestricted free agents. They have two weeks, or until March 9, to do so. Players have until July 15 to sign a multiyear contract with the team or play the 2021 season under the amount of the tag.
If a player refuses to sign the franchise tag, his only recourse is to sit out the season, as Le’Veon Bell did in 2018.
“I would say it’s doubtful that we will be able to use a tag,” Colbert said the other day.
Bud Dupree might have been a candidate for the franchise tag for the second year in a row, but the projected tender for an outside linebacker in 2021 is $15.65 million, according to overthecap.com. With a reduced cap of $180 million, that is too much money for a player coming off ACL surgery and a team that is already tight against the cap.
There are only two other unrestricted free agents who, conceptually, could have received even the slightest consideration to be tagged in 2021. But even those would be cost prohibitive.
Receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who earned $1,048,000 in 2020, would have to receive the projected tender for wide receivers of $16.4 million. And tackle/guard Matt Feiler, who played on a one-year deal for $3,259,000 in 2020, would receive the projected tender of $14.5 million for an offensive lineman. In any other year, they might be a possibility. Not this year.
It would make more financial sense to sign those players to multi-year deals because their cap hit would be much smaller in 2021. Feiler has a chance to be resigned. It is not as certain with Smith-Schuster, who could seek a multi-year deal in free agency for more than the Steelers can afford.
The Steelers have 19 players who are unrestricted free agents, in addition to losing center Maurkice Pouncey and tight end Vance McDonald to retirement. Of those, 11 are either starters or major contributors, including Dupree, Smith-Schuster, Feiler, running back James Conner, tackles Alejandro Villanueva and Zach Banner, inside linebacker Avery Williamson and cornerbacks Mike Hilton and Cam Sutton.
Couple that with a reduced salary cap and a looming mega-contract for outside linebacker T.J. Watt, and there will likely be a lot of new faces on the roster in 2021.
“We will play different scenarios and put together different scenarios in the event that [$180 million salary cap] is what we are dealing with,” Colbert said. “And we will try to guestimate what a certain player may cost us, be it our own player or be it someone else. And we will always weigh that and measure that against what might be available to us in the draft.
“If a position in the draft is very strong and you feel good about being able to get a player in the draft, that might take you away from signing a free agent or extending your own free agent. I hate to keep saying that, but it’s the truth. We have to continually monitor this and work at it every day because it does change actually daily.”
How about Rudolph?
Speaking of decisions, the Steelers will have to make a big one — either this year or next — on quarterback Mason Rudolph, who enters the final year of his four-year rookie deal at a very affordable $1,247,867.
Rudolph comes cheap for a No. 2 quarterback who could possibly be in line to be the starter in 2021, depending what happens with Roethlisberger.
But, even if Roethlisberger returns for another season, have the Steelers seen enough of their third-round choice in 2018 to offer him the type of extension commensurate for a starting NFL quarterback? Right now, 66 quarterbacks have an annual average salary higher than Rudolph.
The Steelers have maintained repeatedly that they are comfortable with Rudolph and the progress he has shown when given the chance. Colbert cited his 53 record as a starter in 2019 and his performance in the season finale in Cleveland when he threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns.
“It was probably the best game he has played for us,” Colbert said. “Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short, but it was very encouraging to see Mason play like he did in a tough situation. Cleveland was desperate to win. It was at their home field and we came within two points of beating them. So, I think that was encouraging for us.
“Hopefully we get to see Mason take some more steps in whatever role he has or whatever playing time he gets (in 2021), be it preseason or regular season or whatever. But it was encouraging to see him in that Cleveland game.”