Home 2015 Off-Season Looking at the Steelers’ Internal Free Agent Priorities

Looking at the Steelers’ Internal Free Agent Priorities

by Steelbydesign

With the off-season now starting for many NFL teams, most in the NFL world are now already getting started on the 2015 NFL draft.

I’ll admit, moving it back last year I was a little burnt out by the time draft day arrived, so I plan to pace myself this year.

It’s impossible to start speculating on the draft anyway, without first figuring out what will happen with the Steelers’ internal free agents. Given the importance of a couple of them, I’ll also mention guys up for contracts extensions.

I’m listing in the order from highest priority to lowest.

 

Ben Roethlisberger
Big Ben has one year left on his current deal, which is when they typically give an extension. Currently Ben is the 15th highest paid QB in the league on a per year basis, which is pretty crazy. Sometimes you can’t take deal at face value with guys like Andy Dalton having essentially a year to year deal, but the fact is Ben is underpaid. At this point it’s not a matter of if he gets paid, it’s how much. This deal will get done.

Currently the highest paid Quarterback in the league is Aaron Rodgers who averages 22 million per year. Ben shouldn’t be paid more than Rodgers, but you could make an argument for him being #2… especially considering the current #2 is Matt Ryan.

I’m not a cap expert by any means, but I’d expect something like 5 years, 100-105 million. The big question will be how much is guaranteed, where I’d expect something like 55-60 million.

 

Cameron Heyward
When guys are getting close to free agency like Cortez Allen or Jason Worilds, you have to weigh several factors in re-signing them. There’s no decision here… lock up Cam now. Heyward is probably 1 of 2 defenders on this team that there’s really no question marks about (along with Lawrence Timmons). He’s the present and future cornerstone of this defense.

As far as dollar amounts go, it’s hard to find a great comparison. He’ll make almost 7 million this season on a 5th year option the Steelers picked up, which is a lot. In 2012 fellow 3-4 DE Calais Campbell was 25 years old and coming off a season where he amassed 51 tackles and 8 sacks. Heyward is also 25 and coming off a season with 53 tackles and 7.5 sacks. Campbell signed a 5 year, 55 million dollar deal with 31 guaranteed.

Campbell had a little more success sustained over a few years prior to that where Heyward is just starting to come into his prime… However contracts tend to only inflate as the salary cap does and that deal was signed 2 years ago. I’d guess Campbell’s contract is a good jumping off point.

 

Jason Worilds
Here’s where things start to get a little bit unknown. The two guys above I feel are more important to lock up, but Jason Worilds is the domino that will set the rest of the off-season moves in motion.The question comes down to, is Worilds willing to sign a contract that’s fair based on his production so far in the NFL? If not, I’m sure he could get more on the open market based on potential.

I think the Steelers know what they have in Worilds, and that is a talented linebacker that’s pretty good all-around, but not a superstar. I view Cleveland’s Paul Kruger as a similar type of player, and he signed a 5 year, 40 million dollar deal. I think that may even be a little too much for Worilds, but I’d imagine that’s the ballpark of an extension for him.

Ultimately I predict that Worilds will leave and sign elsewhere, and that the Steelers will take an OLB in the first round of the 2015 draft.

 

Antwon Blake (RFA)
With Ike Taylor looking a lot older this past season and Cortez Allen looking really terrible, the Steelers were forced to turn to some of the no-name guys off the steet, including Blake. Blake was a training camp standout, when someone in camp brought up that he’d worked his way up to the nickel corner spot in practice he responded saying  “My mindset is to work my way to No. 1.”

Blake has the odds stacked against him at just 5’9.” He played pretty well this year all things considered though. Blake is a standout special teams player, and at worst I think he could be a really valuable 3rd corner for the Steelers in the short term. Long term, who knows? He’s still only 26 years old.

Blake has the kind of swagger and work ethic that this team needs. I’d attempt to lock him up long term now.

 

Arthur Moats
Moats was somewhat of an afterthought free agent signing last season, coming in from Buffalo where he played inside linebacker. I questioned whether Moats would transition well to the outside, but he was pretty solid in 2014.

Personally, I’d like to have Moats back whether Worilds returns or not. I think that Moats is a great option as a #3 swing OLB… If Worilds leaves I think Moats will end up starting across from Jarvis Jones in 2015 unless the Steelers bring in an outside free agent at the position. That’s not ideal, but I think that Moats could hold down the position while a high draft pick learns behind him.

Moats appears to be a high character guy and is still young. He’d be a nice addition to the team long term.

 

Brice McCain
McCain was a similar story to Blake this season, with both men not playing outstanding, but definitely providing more than their salaries said they should. I actually thought McCain had the better season, and could probably be a #2 corner in this league.

The only reason I placed Blake higher on the list was McCain is 2 years older, and I think his ceiling isn’t as high. That being said, if the Steelers could keep both of these guys I think they’d be great as depth options, that could step in and start in a pinch.

 

James Harrison
I’ll go ahead and say there’s a line between McCain, and McCain is really the last guy I’d call a “priority.” At this point it’s a “nice to have.”

I think that James Harrison can still play in this league, and he’d be a great addition to the 2015 team. Everything you read though, it sounds like the Steelers don’t want him back unless he’s a starter. I think James is obviously slowing down, but if you keep him at backup and limit his snaps it would keep him fresh all season.

That being said, with Dick Lebeau moving on, I wouldn’t expect James to have must interest in returning.

 

Ben Tate
I’ve seen a lot of the beat writers in Pittsburgh mentioning they expect to see a draft pick spent to back up Le’Veon Bell next season. That very well could happen, but I prefer a free agent.

Running back talent is so easy and cheap to find now, the Steelers could sign veteran backs to 1-2 year deals every season if they wanted to.

Ben Tate isn’t a superstar by any means, but he could be a decent change of pace option to Bell to help with wear and tear on the young back. I’d be ok with Tate, or a number of other guys such as Frank Gore or Ahmad Bradshaw if Tate wants more playing time somewhere else.

 

The Steelers have some other guys that I’d like to see return like Will Johnson, Brad Wing, Greg Warren, etc. but none of which would be all that hard to find a replacement for.

Plenty of talk will heat up about other free agents, but these are the guys I’d like to see the Steelers re-sign first.

 

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