Steelers MMQB: NFL Offseason News
By Kim Myers
Red, White, and Blue always goes with Black & Gold. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
What We Learned This Week in the NFL Offseason:
- Joe Flacco’s agent gloats about Ravens salary cap troubles
- Brett Favre’s junk picture texting lawsuit settled in New York
- Emmanuel Sanders hoping to return Steelers faith in him
- Pittsburgh Steelers Memorial Day Message
Nothing starts the summer off quite like Memorial Day. Whether the kids are out of school yet or still have a couple of weeks, nothing gets the summer vibes flowing like a good ole Memorial Day barbeque. Always take time to remember when you’re grilling your dogs that this day isn’t just for lawn chairs and paper plates. This day is to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in order for you to be able to enjoy your paper plate bounty of grilled goodness. I am grateful to all who are serving, have served, and their families for all the sacrifices made.
One person who should probably learn a little gratitude, or at least know when to keep his mouth shut is Joe Flacco’s agent, Joe Linta. Linta has decided now’s the best time to gloat about Flacco ending up with the best free agent timing in NFL history with his contract up the year he wins the Lombardi Trophy. Unfortunately for the Ravens, his $120.6 million contract with $52 million in guaranteed money came at the cost of several key starters from that trophy-raising team. Tough noogies is what Linta says in regards to what it has ultimately cost the Ravens to keep Flacco after failing to sign him to an extension the offseason before. According to Linta, the Ravens turned down a deal that would have averaged Joe $16 million a season last summer over a disagreement on $1 million in the final year of the deal.
"“I’ve never in my life seen a dumber move. I guess people can say, ‘Well, Joe was dumb, too.’ It could have been (dumb), God forbid, if he got hurt. But $1 million to (owner) Steve Bisciotti six years from now? That’s like 100 bucks for you or me today.”"
Yeah all I got out of that statement was “Joe was dumb too” as well.
Speaking of dumb. If there’s anything dumber than a famous dude texting pictures of his junk around town, I don’t know what is. Thankfully, Brett Favre’s lawsuit filed against him by a couple of massage therapists over some racy text messages, has been settled. Naturally, the terms of the settlement haven’t been released but I’d bet there was some kind of promise to never sent a junk pic again. Word to the wise guys; your package ain’t all that photogenic. Never send a pic of it to a woman unless you’re absolutely certain she’s expecting it. Which is pretty rare. I’m talking like never send one unless you get a specific request for it. Otherwise you might end up with a lawsuit on your hands, not to mention everyone else you know never wanting a text message from you again. No thanks Brett, I’ll just call you.
Steelers WR Emmanuel Sanders is hoping to repay the Steelers faith in him when they uncharacteristically matched the RFA tender on him set by the New England Patriots. The Steelers had originally put a rather low tender on Sanders, a third round pick and a couple million dollars, signifying to many that they didn’t put much value in Sanders and wouldn’t be terribly upset if another team signed him to that tender. Low and behold, the Steelers move and match the Patriots’ offer on Sanders at the 11th hour and retain the wide receiver for at least one more season. Now Sanders is saying openly that he hopes it will be more than the one more season in Pittsburgh.
"“It felt good to be wanted. But at the end of the day, I’m still a Pittsburgh Steeler. I have one more year here, and hopefully, it can continue into a long-term deal because I want to be here.”"
That’s clearly a completely different attitude than last summer with the Mike Wallace situation. No team was willing to sign Wallace to a tender and have to risk a first round pick for him, and it’s obvious now that when he finally did report to the Steelers, he wasn’t the most “focused” player on the team. I’m hoping that Sanders does have a breakout season because the Steelers did go out on a limb to keep him. Whether or not they’re able to sign him to a long-term deal remains to be seen. We all know about the Steelers policy on contract negotiations once the season has started. If Sanders does have a breakout year and the Steelers hadn’t signed him yet, that could drive up his price right out of their range so it is a very risky and uncharacteristic situation for the Steelers to be in. I have to admit, I already like Sanders’ outlook on the situation, even if he’s just telling us what we want to hear, at least he’s making that effort now.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have put together a Memorial Day Tribute to honor our nation’s fallen heroes. You can watch the video here. Please enjoy your Memorial Day Steeler Nation!
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