Forget messy divorce: James Harrison remembered as Steelers great

By Jeremy Fowler

http://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/

April 16, 2018

(www.steelers.com)

PITTSBURGH -- With James Harrison announcing his second and final retirement Monday, the 39-year-old should be known for his timely playmaking and Super Bowl pedigree with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Harrison's clunky exit out of Pittsburgh in 2017 affected his standing with the team in the short term but won't be an issue years from now. His legacy will age as well as he did.

He's the franchise's all-time sacks leader, the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 and the owner of one of the best defensive plays in Super Bowl history, a 100-yard interception return during a victory in Super Bowl XLIII.

In December, several teammates blasted Harrison for basically forcing his way out of town over lack of playing time. The Steelers had signed Harrison to a two-year deal as a positional hedge in case a draft pick didn't develop. Well, T.J. Watt developed in a hurry, leaving Harrison in street clothes for parts of the season.

Harrison expressed displeasure in part by missing practices and sleeping through meetings. Players had no problem revealing some of Harrison's issues in 2017, with center Maurkice Pouncey saying Harrison had tarnished his Steelers legacy, a statement Pouncey softened a month later at the Pro Bowl.

But Harrison has always been a different dude. Considering how he fought his way into league prominence as an undrafted free agent who played in the World League, Harrison going out on his own terms was hardly a surprise. His short stint with the New England Patriots made the Steelers salty for a time, but he needed a job and Bill Belichick offered him one.

That doesn't change the reality that inside Heinz Field, Harrison almost always produced. His 80.5 career sacks with the Steelers won't be touched for a while. The franchise's active leader, defensive end Cam Heyward, has 37 sacks.

Even in his late 30s, Harrison showcased moments of brilliance. He first retired in 2014, then returned for 23 sacks over four seasons, including the playoffs. His 7.5 sacks over an 11-game stretch in 2016 energized the Steelers during a midseason lull. Even in limited action in 2017, Harrison showed his fastball with a Week 6 sack against tackle Eric Fisher in Kansas City.

The modern Steelers defense has emphasized speedy linebackers who can cover, which isn't Harrison's game, but he could apply pressure on quarterbacks until the very end.

Steelers fans don't remember Franco Harris for his one season in Seattle, and they won't remember Harrison as a Patriot.

They'll remember him taking a Kurt Warner pass to the house, his insane workout regimen and his bull rush off the edge.

As it should be.

Rebonding of Harrison, Steelers will come, but not yet

By Tim Benz

http://triblive.com/sports/columnists/timbenz/13542477-74/tim-benz-rebonding-of-harrison-steelers-will-come-but-not-yet

April 16, 2018

(Mark Albert/Icon Sportswire)

James Harrison posted his retirement message on Instagram around 7 a.m. Monday. By mid-morning, many talk shows and the internet were filled with columns and commentary , discussing the prospect of the Steelers reconnecting with their estranged defensive hero in his retirement years.

Some were even asking for Harrison and the Steelers to pull off one of those dippy, ceremonial one-day contract stunts so he could "retire as a Steeler."

That would be phony emotional manipulation. That would come off as manufactured and forced.

If the hope of having a nice, tidy rebonding between a great player and his team is to come to fruition, let's wait until it can honestly be nice and tidy.

Because it can't be now.

The wounds have to scab over before they can properly heal. Things are still somewhat raw at present.

Jersey retirements. One-day contracts. Rings of honor. Much of that stuff is done for the fans. Yeah, it's good of the franchise to acknowledge great players and their impact. But it's basically done as a public relations move.

I'm not sure all of the fans would give the crowd pop we're visualizing so soon in this case. In fact, some might explode with anger. Many took Harrison's eventual decision to sign with the Patriots as the football equivalent of a sin.

Some of his own teammates did. The day after Harrison was released, Anthony Chickillo was asked if it was hard to see Harrison go.

"It's hard to see him go...there," is all he could manage as a response.

Maurkice Pouncey flatly stated "he erased his own legacy here." Bud Dupree insisted Harrison "spit" on the whole team by going to New England.

When players widely criticize a legendary teammate just a few days after he got released, chances are they aren't going to be excited to stand on the sideline and cheer for him as he goes out for a ceremonial coin toss.

Or, in the case of Pouncey, maybe be out at the 50-yard line next to him while the coin is in the air.

Awkward, right?

Maybe some of those players will have to be gone before a scripted return of Harrison to Heinz Field takes place. Perhaps linebackers coach Joey Porter or even Mike Tomlin may need to absent by then, too.

Given Pouncey's age, Porter's shaky ground, and the status of those other linebackers on the roster, that may not take long. But knowing how the Steelers covet keeping coaches, don't hold your breath on the Tomlin part of that equation.

Let's be clear on a few things. First of all, Harrison is going to want this at some point.

He may act distant now. But he'll want a reunion soon. He already informally made an appearance at Brett Keisel's "Shear Da Beard" fundraiser this offseason.

Harrison isn't going to be like Jack Lambert and Troy Polamalu, intentionally staying away from the franchise.

Those guys don't like the media attention and the hoopla. For real.

Harrison pretends like he doesn't. It's part of his act.

Oh, he may hate actual media members. Like, probably the guy you are reading right now.

But he loves the attention. No one basked in his own bad guy, tough-old-man-strength image more than Harrison. Remember the infamous Men's Journal cover piece? You don't post constant Instagram videos of yourself working out unless you crave attention and are looking for hugs from the internet.

As proof, Harrison was even posting Monday, two hours after his retirement announcement.

Those videos get play because he's an NFL player. He's retired now, though. And if he remains divorced from his team, he'll just be an old guy bench pressing.

Secondly, the Steelers will want a Kumbaya moment, too. It'll happen. But it'll happen on their clock.

They patched things up with guys who left on worse terms than Harrison's.

Santonio Holmes was unceremoniously traded. Mike Merriweather sat out the 1988 season. The Steelers cut Franco Harris when he asked for a raise in 1984. Mel Blount went so far as to sue Chuck Noll. The Steelers even trumpeted a return of Terry Bradshaw in 2002 despite his self-created drama with the team over a stretch of decades.

The Steelers even took baby steps Monday by sending out a "thank you" post on social media to Harrison.

View image on Twitter

Pittsburgh Steelers

✔@steelers

A message from #Steelers President Art Rooney II to @jharrison9292:

7:09 PM - Apr 16, 2018

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It took 12 hours. But they did it. And a full blown a Harrison-Steelers reunion will take time as well. It should take time.

Everyone loves a redemption. Everyone likes the prodigal son story. But let's actually let him stay away from home for a bit until this fully cools off.

Let Harrison sleep on it for a while. You know, like he used to do in all of those defensive meetings when he was trying to get himself cut.

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Steelers set forth plan to replace the irreplaceable Ryan Shazier

By Jeremy Fowler

http://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/

March 23, 2018

Ryan Shazier

PITTSBURGH -- Short of drafting an exceptionally fast linebacker who will become a franchise pillar, the Steelers were never going to truly replace Ryan Shazier, who will miss the 2018 season because of a severe spinal injury.

Without Shazier's rangy playmaking from sideline to sideline, the Steelers are forced to modify their identity a bit. The defense is built from the inside out, with anchor defensive ends Cam Hayward and Stephon Tuitt. Their contracts, worth up to a combined $120 million, say so. But Shazier's ability and a growing knack for creating interceptions improved the Steelers' pass coverage and streamlined their overall defensive attack in the back seven.

It's a rush-and-cover league, a style that suited Shazier perfectly.

Since finding that speed in free agency was not a possibility, the Steelers must adapt.

The last week has provided a glimpse into the team's plans:

Safety versatility: The signing of Morgan Burnett at three years for $14.5 million shows the Steelers are serious about improving a back end that had too many missed tackles and communication breakdowns late in the season. The team didn't enter free agency expecting to spend big but saw a sagging safety market and smartly attacked it.

Burnett is best suited as a strong safety but can play both spots, giving the team flexibility to move Sean Davis to free safety if that's the best route. The Burnett signing could affect J.J. Wilcox ($3.8 million cap hit), but the Steelers told Wilcox this offseason that he'd be in the mix to compete for a job.

With these three, the team can draft a safety but won't be forced to reach for one. Burnett was forced into helping out at corner for the Packers' depleted secondary in 2018, but he can play at slot corner in a bind or as a run-stopper.

The Steelers covet hybrid players.

“The more you can do, the longer you can stay around," Burnett told reporters after his signing Tuesday. "I have things in my toolbox that I'm capable to move around and play different positions if need be."

The succession plan: After signing a two-year, $4 million deal in the second wave of free agency, inside linebacker Jon Bostic is likely a stopgap option for the Steelers in the middle of the defense. But the Steelers were woefully thin at the spot opposite Vince Williams, and Bostic's signing represents progress. Even if he has lost a step, Bostic was a second-round pick in 2013 with a 4.61-second time in the 40. He should be able to help stop passes in the flat and in tight end coverage until a rookie linebacker is ready, which might be soon.

Cost-conscious improvement: The Steelers are seemingly always in need of more cap space, but they found a way to navigate the second wave of free agency by not overpaying based on the talent. Burnett at roughly $4.83 million per year is good business. He's a 29-year-old who started 102 games for a contender. According to a few scouts, Burnett has plenty of game left as a crafty veteran and opportunistic tackler.

Much was made of the Steelers' ability to replenish the defense while carrying Le'Veon Bell's $14.5-million franchise tag. Oh no, they have no cap space! Well, they just got two starters for less than $7 million per year -- likely less than that in 2018, depending on how signing bonuses and salaries are structured.

Still about the draft: The Steelers have spent their last five first-round picks on defense, and all five started significant games in their first seasons. The Steelers are unafraid to throw a young player into the mix. T.J. Watt was last year's unquestioned starter in training camp. That's why if an inside linebacker the Steelers like falls to late in the first round, the team will give him the chance to fill Shazier's void in earnest.

Enough needs are filled, so the Steelers can take the best-player-available approach. But even though they say that's their formula, all their recent top picks have filled positions of need.

The Steelers have a challenge to duplicate Shazier's athleticism in the first round, but a playmaker somewhere in the back seven might just help put them over the top.

Patience brings Steelers steal at Safety

By Tim Benz

http://triblive.com/sports/

March 20, 2018

That worked out nicely, didn't it?

I admit it. I was disappointed that the Steelers didn't sign Tyrann Mathieu when he hit free agency.

A lot of that disappointment, though, was rooted in the perception that the Steelers had also already decided against signing any one of the other top-flight free agent safeties who had been sitting idle on the open market for a week.

After all, they had just interviewed Miami's Michael Thomas, who appears to be more worthy of replacing Rob Golden as a backup than Mike Mitchell as a starter.

Plus some high-end projections at the start of free agency had the likes of Morgan Burnett and Eric Reid getting upwards of $8 million against the cap annually in a new contract.

So, with Mathieu heading to Houston, we were staring at the prospect of the Steelers having to convert Cam Sutton to safety or rely on the bargain basement of the free agent market or just pray that a first- or second-round draft pick at safety could start from Day 1 out of training camp.

Then Tuesday morning rolls around, and Burnett is a Steeler.

How did that happen?

The answer is: patience.

General manager Kevin Colbert may have just gotten the Steelers into a better spot than if they had signed Mathieu in the first place.

If you are someone who wanted to pay a higher cap hit for the younger, more splashy, perhaps bigger-play — but often injured — safety for just one year, then you wanted Mathieu.

If you wanted the more versatile, steady, veteran — but often injured — safety for multiple years at a lower rate, then you are happy the Steelers passed on Mathieu and wound up with Burnett.

The perfect world probably would've been getting Mathieu on Burnett's contract. Which was reported by NFL Network to be $14.5 million over three years, with $10 million guaranteed over the first two seasons.

That wasn't going to happen, though.

In fact, Mathieu coming on the market and signing the contract he did probably helped deflate Burnett's payout for the Steelers. Because whether he was worthy of it or not, if Mathieu had approached free agency traditionally like Burnett and the other safeties coming off expiring deals did, his reputation would've made him the most sought-after player on the board at the position.

So when Mathieu inked a one-year, $7 million “prove-it” deal, dreams of four- and five-year contracts exceeding $30 million went out the window for the likes of Burnett and Reid.

“I didn't get too wrapped up in it,” Burnett told reporters Tuesday after his signing was officially announced. “I'm confident in my skill sets, knowing that one day I would get a call.”

Colbert's patience paid off. If he had jumped to upgrade at safety during the legal tampering period to simply get a better player than Mitchell — such as Burnett — he would've had to pay more to get him.

He may have been bidding against himself, as it turns out.

Now, not only are the Steelers getting potentially a better player with less verbal baggage than Mitchell, but they are doing so at roughly the same cost of the savings of ditching him.

And, as opposed to Mathieu, you don't have to worry about filling the void next year or competing for Burnett's services on the open market if you want to keep him.

Well played. Especially because you got a guy who was perceived to be out of the Steelers' price range in February.

Now the Steelers just have to figure out what do with him. He played strong safety most recently and even got forced into slot corner. He played free safety earlier in his career and is believed to be capable of playing a hybrid linebacker role , too.

“In Green Bay, our defense was interchangeable,” Burnett said. “In the program it says ‘free' or ‘strong.' But technically if you are a safety, you've got to play both.”

Does Burnett bring the panache of the Honey Badger? No.

If, on March 12, you had told me the Steelers would've signed him to replace Mitchell, would I have been thrilled? Yes.

And if you told me it would've been at this price, I would've told you that you were insanely optimistic.

Then again, for months I've been telling tons of doubters that the Steelers wouldn't be barred from addressing inside linebacker and safety in free agency just because Le'Veon Bell was on the franchise tag.

They did both in the last two days.

So maybe seeing is believing for all of us.

Tim Benz hosts the Steelers pregame show on WDVE and ESPN Pittsburgh. He is a regular host/contributor on KDKA-TV and 105.9 FM.

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Pittsburgh Steelers' 2018 free agency: Jon Bostic a much-needed starting option at ILB

By Jeremy Fowler

http://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/

March 18, 2018

A breakdown of the Pittsburgh Steelers' 2018 free-agent signings.

Jon Bostic, LB

The Steelers signed Jon Bostic, who played last season for the Indianapolis Colts. Here's a closer look at the signing:

Grade: B. The Steelers stayed away from the expensive linebackers in the $5 million- to $9 million-per year range and opted for a journeyman who capitalized on a starting chance in Indianapolis with 97 tackles and a sack. Bostic, who agreed to a two-year contract, will be viewed as a good stopgap to replaceRyan Shazier until a draft pick develops.

What it means: The Steelers' inside linebacker position opposite Vince Williams is wide open, and Bostic signed with the expectation that he'll compete for a starting job. The team was not planning to re-sign Sean Spence. Tyler Matakevich is primarily Williams' backup, though he can play both spots. Bostic is a former second-round pick who ran a 4.61 in the 40 at the combine. He's on his fourth team since 2015, so this is hardly a long-term option unless Bostic majorly builds off his 2017 campaign.

What’s the risk: Limited risk for a player who will probably command about $2 million per year. The Steelers entered the weekend with about $6.5 million in cap space, just enough to add linebacker depth and maybe special-teams help. This is a smart signing for a team that wasn't going to spend wildly. Shazier isn't playing in 2018, and the team couldn't sit idle after the run defense struggled late in the year, giving up at least 150 yards in three of the final six games.

Steelers' Le'Veon Bell has absurd demands

By Mark Madden

http://triblive.com/sports/

March 6, 2018

Le'Veon Bell isn't going to get $14.5 million per year on a long-term contract from the Steelers and likely wouldn't from any NFL team.

He's also not going to win the PR battle that accompanies his quest.

Bell's crusade is a flawed one. Glitches poke through freely.

Last year, Bell reportedly turned down a contract that would have paid him $13.3 million per and $42 million over the pact's first three years. That average annual value would have paid Bell more than $5 million more than Atlanta's Devonta Freeman makes. Freeman has the NFL's second-biggest paycheck among running backs.

Bell lowered the per-year demand he rapped about from $15 million to $14.5 million. That's an almost insulting piece of “negotiating.”

Antonio Brown's contract pays $17 million per. Houston's DeAndre Hopkins is the next highest-paid wide receiver at $16.2 million per. Bell's demand of $14.5 million per is the equivalent of Brown wanting $28 million per.

Bell considers himself a No. 1 running back and a No. 2 receiver and wants paid the combined salaries of both positions.

Unless Bell splits into two and literally plays both positions, that's absurd thinking. Catching passes is part of his job as a running back and why he's the highest-paid at the position.

Then there's the notion that running back is undervalued, and Bell is campaigning for his brethren at the position.

What a crock. Bell just wants his.

Running back isn't undervalued. The NFL is a passing league. Both Super Bowl teams handled the running back position via budget-conscious platoons. The six running backs who played for Philadelphia and New England in the Super Bowl earned $7.17 million between them.

No running back is worth what Bell wants.

Bell is making the predictable noise about sitting out: “I just have to decide if I'm going to play when the time comes.”

Last season, Bell finally signed his franchise tender after missing OTAs, mini-camp and most of training camp. (That's his right. Without a contract, Bell had no obligation.) Will Bell go one step further this year and sit out games?

Bell might. He's just principled/dumb enough. (Circle one.) If Bell reports by Week 10, he gets a pro-rated portion of $14.5 million and fulfills his franchise tag obligation. Then it's on to 2019 and more high jinks.

Despite kissing the posterior of Yinzer Nation via Twitter by way of trying to rally the citizens behind him, Bell is not a sympathetic figure. He comes off as a greedy jerk. That's truth in packaging, from this vantage point.

Bell is a great back. He is one of the NFL's best, perhaps the very best.

But he's got cons as well as pros.

Bell's raw numbers from 2017 speak for themselves: Third in rushing yards, fourth in receiving among running backs, second in all-purpose yards. Bell led the NFL in rushing attempts and only missed one game.

Bell's career per-game average of 128.9 yards from scrimmage is the NFL's best mark since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger.

He's a top talent. Bell is an exceptional pass blocker. He runs precise routes.

But Bell's per-carry average of 4.0 yards was second-worst of his five-year career and ranked just 23rd in the NFL. His per-catch average of 7.7 yards was also second-worst of his career and ranked only 17th among backs.

Bell had eight plays that gained 20 yards or more. Compare that to 27 by Brown and 20 by Los Angeles Rams back Todd Gurley. Bell is more of a workhorse than a game-breaker, at least this past season.

Bell is exceptional. But he's been paid exceptionally. And he's hardly perfect, especially given his me-first attitude and two pot suspensions.

Bell should tread lightly. If he doesn't sign his franchise tender, the Steelers could rescind it in the summer, leaving Bell looking for a job when big-time free-agent money has already been spent. But that won't happen unless the Steelers can quickly and effectively figure out a Plan B.

What is Bell's Plan B?

Worst-case scenario, he raps full-time. If you've heard Bell rap, you know exactly what's meant by “worst-case scenario.”

Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).

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