Lack of Money for a Team Wearing Gold

The Steelers have a salary cap of $198.2 million in 2020 (I know to us that sounds like a lot) after getting a $10 million increase from 2019, but they are projected to have only be over the cap by $3 million as of right now and have a lot of housekeeping issues to handle in order to free up some money.

Why is this a big issue this year? 1) The salary cap is almost $2 million below what it was projected to be. 2) The Steelers have several players in the top 51 salaries receiving a pay increase with the new CBA.

As of this week with the franchise tag on Bud Dupree after his breakout season (11.5 sacks, 68 tackles, four forced fumbles, and three passes defended), to prevent him from entering free agency his salary will raise from $9.2 million in 2019 to $15.829 million in 2020.

With this change, the Steelers have begun to attempt to free up money with roster cuts. The release of Anthony Chickillo will free up $5 million, Mark Barron $5.25 million, and Johnny Holton $825,000. On top of all that came the retirement of Ramon Foster saving them $4 million.

All these cuts, but we are still looking to make a long-term extension with T.J. Watt (and we signed Derek Watt for the family reunion). The big picture is we need to continue to cut players to free up more cap space.

Other players are entering free agency like Hargrave and B.J. Finney. Hargrave just signed with the Eagles (which was figured because we could only keep him or Dupree).

Players that I think need to go: Jordan Berry, he had multiple 20-30 yard punts (Bye). Duck Hodges, let’s agree he was a one hit wonder and needs to go. B.J. Finny, he is probably going to want more money this upcoming year and is in my opinion not worth it. Sean Davis, we upgraded to Minkah so he can leave too.

Players we can’t let go: Alejandro Villanueva, unless we find another young franchise left tackle, Villanueva is our best option right now. Vince Williams, same situation as Villanueva, it is going to take a young franchise player to fill his role. Terrell Edmund, yes he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations yet, but he’s only played two seasons and has a lot of potential ahead of him. Tyson Alualu, he showed his worth this season when Tuitt got hurt and earned his money.

I agree with behindthesteelcurtain.com with the fact that the next few days will involve a lot of roster changes in Pittsburgh. Who are we going to release to free up more money? Ladies, what roster change do you think will happen in the next?

#workspace #hacks #creative