This could have been Silver Back’s last walk out of the tunnel at Heinz Field as a Steeler.
Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

We are only a short time away before NFL teams start slashing and burning their rosters in order to make room for the salary cap restrictions in 2013.  Some teams are far better off than others – like the Ravens who have $15.1 million in cap space or the Bengals who have a whopping $55.1 million to spare… and oh yeah, the Browns have around $48 million to spare.  The Steelers are reported to be $10.8 million in the whole.  That leaves almost zero room to negotiate for free agent contracts – which the Steelers aren’t really keen in doing anyways.

With a cap that is deep in the red, the team will need to dump a ton of dead weight and restructure contracts.  What complicates matters even more is that the team needs to try and sign over 24 free agents…. that is if they choose to sign certain ones.  Offense or defense, the Steelers are hard pressed with some critical decisions for some positional players.  For the purpose of this post, I’m including free agents the Steelers could just choose to walk away from without making realistic offers.

James Harrison:  With the recent news that Harrison will not take less money (but will restructure the length) to help the team out, the team could say thanks for the years of service but don’t let the door hit your Silver Back on the way out. With the knee, the slow recovery, and the fact that your franchise player (Big Ben) will more than likely restructure and take a little pay cut you don’t have very much leverage in negotiations.  Harrison is owed $10 million in 2013 (6.5 salary and bonuses).  Harrison knows he can go elsewhere and still get good money.  Will he get the $10 million he’s owed?  I’m not convinced, but he’s smart enough (as is his agent) to not back away from an opportunity to get the most value he can out of  a contract.  The Steelers will more than likely say goodbye in a move that was unexpected at the beginning of the season.

Willie Colon: Colon is owed quite a bit of cash next season, and his knack for getting injured and being one of the slower linemen will hurt his chances in the supposed new zone blocking scheme the offense may try out in 2013.  There are a few linemen waiting in the wings to get their shot full time, and the team has the roster to make some moves to make the ‘perfect fit.’  Kelvin Beachum played really well near the end of the season and shook up the potential of making a permanent spot for himself.  Will the Steelers get rid of him first, or hang on as long as the can?

Rashard Mendenhall:  Mendenhall is a FA this offseason who is probably hoping the Steelers panic and jump the gun on offering a beefy contract early.  I doubt this will happen.  The question is will the Steelers offer the slumping and predictable running back a realistic deal?  The Steelers certainly could roll the dice with Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman and hope for a solid draft pick this year in hopes that one of them will strike pay dirt for the offense and the running game.

Casey Hampton: The other FA that I think the Steelers will have no problems in parting ways with is Casey Hampton.  No hard feelings here – football is a business after all.  Hampton had a superb year in 2012, but he wants that final big paycheck before he rides off into that big lunch buffet sunset.  The Steelers are in no position to offer a realistic large contract that Hampton can ummm…. sink his teeth into.  With the emergence of Cameron Heyward and Steve McLendon, the Steelers have them as options – as long as Brett Keisel stays healthy in his final year or two.  Hampton’s a gonner – it’s just a matter of when.

ZiggyHood: Hood’s release is not that far from reality.  A poor 2012 season and the emergence of the younger guys could put him in jeopardy. He’s owed $2 million in 2013, which would help open the coffers to maintain players like Keenan Lewis, Will Allen, or Emmanuel Sanders.  Some may see this as a long shot, but I see it more as a matter of when the Steelers let go of a younger player who’s stalled heavily in development and production.

The day is approaching soon, so who are the Steelers going to dump first?

Toldja they read our blog.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, having evidently read John’s post on the city’s Roller Derby scene, were not to be outdone by the Wrecking Dolls having a player with the WWE-esque nickname of “Snot Rocket Science” so they went out and one-upped them by signing former Tampa Bay Buccaneer defensive end Anthony “Booger” McFarland.

I’d love to give you a scouting report on good ‘ol Booger but alas, he tore his patella tendon and missed the entire 2007 season. However, McFarland should still be somewhat familiar to football fans as he was a starter on two Super Bowl championship teams. He was highly regarded enough for the Indianapolis Colts to give up a second round draft pick for his services a couple years ago when it finally occurred to them that occasionally stopping the other team from scoring might be a better idea than simply hoping to score 55 points a game. Unfortunately, their high regard immediately plummeted to callous disinterest when he failed a recent physical.

Still, I like this signing for two reasons and since they are pretty insightful, I will share them with you.

1) McFarland probably still has some gas left in the tank. I know the temptation is to lump this in with the other Steeler Reclaimation Projects (see Barlow, Kevan) as doomed for failure but I’m not totally sure about that. McFarland played in Tampa Bay for defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. Who was Kiffin’s defensive backs coach? Mike Tomlin.

This could very well be a case where McFarland took a bargain basement contract from an old friend with the hope that he can prove he can still play and thus earn a better deal from the Steelers or another team somewhere down the line. The NFL is a cruel, harsh place where dreams go to die. Kinda like Vegas. They don’t suffer cripples or invalids and if you can’t play, you’re thrown in the garbage heap with the rest of the trash. But every once in awhile, all you need is a little spackle, a little bondo, and a little TLC to transform that broken old lamp into an awesome bedpost/door knocker. Damn you, Ty Pennington!!

2) The Steelers need the depth. Last year, we pulled off the rarely done Defensive Hat Trick of leading the league in pass defense, run defense, and total defense. Then DE Aaron Smith went down. What happened? Well, that’s why I have his name listed in the Steelers MVP voting over on the right. We immediately surrendered 150 yards to the Jets’ Thomas Jones. Then we got gashed by some third string rookie making his first start for Cincinnatti whose name I can’t even be bothered to remember. Then, worst of all, came the 200+ yard wrecking that Jacksonville dumped on us.

It’s almost like the Steelers sometimes forget football is a contact sport. People get hurt. The 11 guys who start the season aren’t likely to be the exact same 11 who finish it. Some soldier inevitably falls along the way. It’s a game of attrition.

Now, I understand you can’t have 11 starters and then also have 5 back-ups as good as the starters. You simply can’t pay everybody. But the drop-off between starter and back-up doesn’t need to be quite that severe. With most teams, if the starter is an honors student, the back-up is in college prep. With the Steelers, our back-ups ride the short bus.

Last season, the law firm of Kirschke & Eason was an utter disaster. One player, albeit a great one, went down and our entire run defense collapsed. If McFarland can play at anywhere near his previous level, he gives us a very solid run-stopper to plug in whenever need be. Will be beat out any of our starters? Highly unlikely. But if injuries occur, and we all know they will, we won’t have to worry about our entire defense going down with them.

All in all, a very nice pick up by the Steelers. I know it gets frustrating that while other teams are in luxurious showrooms checking out the latest Audi or BMWs, we’re in the used car lot kicking the tires and hoping to make lemonade out of a lemon but you can’t argue with success. And there really aren’t many teams in the NFL better at managing, maneuvering, and surviving life in the salary cap era than your Pittsburgh Steelers.