Heath Miller
Jersey , the Steelers have gotten no compensatory draft picks. That should
change in 2020.The Steelers will lose running back Le'Veon Bell to free agency.
As long as they end up with net losses in unrestricted free agency, Bell¡¯s
departure could give Pittsburgh as much as a third-round compensatory pick.The
Steelers could have gotten a compensatory pick for Bell in 2019, if they had
rescinded the franchise tender from Bell during the 2018 season. However,
because they had signed a pair of UFAs (linebacker Jon Bostic and safety Morgan
Burnett) and lost only one (tackle Chris
Hubbard)
John
Stallworth Jersey , they would have had to cut Bostic or Burnett by Week
10 to have net losses in unrestricted free agency.Some teams have mastered the
compensatory draft process, with the Ravens racking up 50 over the years by: (1)
fully understanding the formula; and (2) planning all moves with an eye toward
maximizing their extra draft picks. Those extra picks essentially become free
tickets to the Great Player Lottery.The Steelers get no extra tickets this year.
But with a great player walking away in free agency soon, they can do that next
year ¡ª as long as they don¡¯t get too aggressive in buying up other team¡¯s
unrestricted free agents. With,
however
Jack Butler
Jersey , plenty of pending UFAs (they recently re-signed defensive end
Tyson Alualu), the losses should outweigh the gains. If you are a former
Pittsburgh Steelers player who is looking for some air time this week, there are
few places better to be than radio row at the Super Bowl in Atlanta. If you have
comments you would like to share about the state of your former team, it would
appear there are hundreds of radio outlets all under one roof who would love to
hear from you.Hines Ward was the latest guest of the day along radio row on
Thursday
Joe Greene
Jersey , popping up on several sports talk shows to discuss his thoughts
about the current drama in Pittsburgh. Echoing many of the sentiments that all
the other voices associated with the team have shared in the past few days,
perhaps the only way in which Ward distinguished himself from the others was how
little how blamed Antonio Brown for the situation by comparison to Mike Tomlin
or Ben Roethlisberger. Speaking on The Cook and Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan,
Tomlin¡¯s name was the first one out of his mouth when asked about the issues
plaguing the Steelers.While Ward still believes the Steelers can reconcile with
Brown, it would seem he feels something needs to be done with the quarterback as
well.Ward must be forgetting that time he called out Big Ben in the media for
not playing in a game against the Baltimore Ravens because he was suffering from
a concussion. He is also appears to be forgetting his 15-day holdout in 2005
during which he did not communicate with anyone on the team either. Although the
rest of his interviews throughout the day were essentially more of the same with
Stephen A. Smith of ESPN and with SiriusXM
Radio
Ernie Stautner
Jersey , it was disappointing to see him appear in an interview with
Patriots Fan TV, otherwise known as Barstool Sports. Feeding them the sort of
soundbites their fanbase would love to hear, Ward confessed his embarrassment
over the state of the Steelers and his admiration for the Patriots. He would
even back down from his previous public statements suggesting New England had
cheated in the past in their games against Pittsburgh.Changing his tune from the
man who often criticized New England for the the lack of integrity they have
shown over the years, Ward was quick to acknowledge he did not feel that way
anymore. Considered Ward was hoping to have been named the Steelers new wide
receiver coach back in 2018 after Richard Mann
retired
L.C. Greenwood
Jersey , it is hard to imagine how he would have handled working under a
head coach whose methods he questions so openly. And while Tomlin is never
likely to address Ward¡¯s remarks publicly, it is hard to believe they will have
endeared him towards the former Steelers receiver for the future should a job
opening arise again.