Good Wednesday to you Steelers fans.
Beehives are by nature, very busy. Bees are coming and going constantly. With free agency and the new league year starting today, the Pittsburgh Steelers suddenly look very much like a beehive. A day after seeing Cam Sutton go and Patrick Peterson arrive, the team brought in guard Nate Herbig from Philadelphia. They were able to retain the services of Damontae Kazee and Larry Ogunjobi, while Robert Spillane left for Sin City and the Raiders. Omar Khan and his staff have been ‘busy bees.’ First, Ogunjobi. The Steelers were against a wall in many ways here because their defensive line depth is so bad. Cam Heyward, a rising yet unproven Demarvin Leal and… a few other guys. When Ogunjobi was healthy, he was downright dominant. The problem is that he struggled to be healthy oftentimes practicing once a week if at all. His deal is for three years and $28.75 million. He will make $21 million of that in the first two years. Did they overpay? Probably, but what else were they going to do? It’s not like there’s a ton of guys as talented as he is available. It’s a risk for sure but Mike Tomlin clearly felt it was worth taking. The bigger surprise quite honestly is that Robert Spillane has left for Las Vegas. He gets a two-year deal for $9 million. Let me be clear; there was NO WAY the Steelers were going to pay him that so good for him! Spillane has earned himself every dime of this new deal through his football smarts and hard work but he’s a two-down LB and a Special Teams player. The Steelers find themselves incredibly thin at the position now with Myles Jack and Mark Robinson and nothing else. Herbig comes over on a two-year deal for $8 million. According to Assistant GM Andy Weidl, Herbig is expected to start at guard which means Kevin Dotson is in trouble. Kazee’ services are back on a two-year deal and one has to wonder if Terrell Edmunds will return now. He continues to be on the market. I suspect that today will be just as busy around the Steelers’ beehive.
UPDATE: The Steelers have agreed to a three-year deal with Washington LB Cole Holcomb.
The Podcast
We are recording TONIGHT! I’m on the road Thursday and Friday so episode 311 of the SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc will air this evening. We obviously have a lot to discuss!
Tweet of the Day… A lot of people are asking this question.
How we feeling about this contract? https://t.co/Y72GZEGHee
— Big Ben's Burner (@Blitzburghstil1) March 14, 2023
Reading the Draft Tea Leaves
In the last two days the Steelers have lost a linebacker who played significant minutes and a starting cornerback. They’ve retained a safety and a defensive lineman, brought in a guard and a cornerback. So where does this leave the team in terms of the approach for the Draft? I strongly believe that linebacker has to be the top priority with defensive lineman and cornerback being close seconds. It should come as little surprise that Mike Tomlin was at Clemson’s Pro Day yesterday paying special attention to Trenton Simpson and Brian Bresee, a linebacker and defensive lineman respectively. Remember, the Steelers will always take the best player available in the first round so I wouldn’t make any wagers if I were you.
Lamar Drama
A Baltimore Ravens’ blog yesterday suggested that Lamar Jackson turned down $200 million guaranteed dollars in an earlier off this year. Jackson responded on social media with a message that suggested this report was, shall we say, totally false. Today begins the first day that he can negotiate with other teams so keep an eye on those Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport twitter feeds.
Prospect Profiles
We’ve started our NFL Draft Coverage here at SCB and the first of our Position Profiles is out. We’ve made the decision that rather than make extensive profiles of each player, we are doing smaller ones and grouping them by position. This allows us to easier update information as Pro Days and the Combine provide more info.
Our Online Store
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