The Steelers got to work on the salary cap on Tuesday, as they cleared $6.56 million of salary cap space by renegotiating the contract of linebacker LaMarr Woodley.

Franchised by the Steelers prior to last year’s lockout, Woodley signed a five-year extension worth $52.5 million on August. Woodley received a $13 million signing bonus, $4 million option bonus and a $1.1 million base salary which resulted in a 2011 cap number of $7.7 million. In 2012, Woodley was due a $3.4 million base salary and had a $5.5 million roster bonus due on the 5th day of the 2012 league year for a cap number of $11.5 million.

On Monday, Woodley agreed to a restructure that lowered his base salary to $700,000. The remaining $2.7 million in base salary was combined with his $5.5 million roster bonus and converted into an $8.2 million signing bonus, which will be prorated over the remaining five seasons of Woodley’s contract.

Woodley’s cap number in 2012 is now $4.94 million.

Woodley’s base salaries in 2013-16 were unchanged, but $1.64 million was added to each year’s cap number.

Even with the Woodley restructure, the Steelers are still well over a 2012 salary cap that is not expected to increase much, if at all. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, safety Troy Polamalu and linebackers James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons each have cap numbers in excess of $9 million and are potential restructure candidates.

On the bright side, Haley was fantastic at pushing wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to be great. He challenged him on the physical aspect of his game and the work ethic, Fitzgerald loved his style, and football fans everywhere loved the results. Fitzgerald has since started holding summer workout camps. He got a 1000-yard season out of Steve Breaston in 2008, too.

On the other hand, you can look at the Cardinals‘ offensive numbers and wonder how they didn’t score more in 2008 and 2009, particularly when they ran the ball so well in 2009. Kurt Warner called many of the plays in Arizona.

Essentially, what makes this a decent hire is that Haley does have a lot of experience attacking defenses, and working under a great head coach in Bill Parcells back in Dallas. He’s also worked with inconsistent line play for Big Red and the Chiefs, and with two of the least mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, Kurt Warner and Matt Cassel. To truly assess the job he did in Kansas City, you need to evaluate all the injuries – Charles, Cassel, Baldwin – and what Herm Edwards left him with. This is probably the best hire the Steelers could make, looking at who was available.

Follow me at: http://twitter.com/Chris_M_Bach

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Jerome Bettis Does Not Belong in the Hall of Fame

Now that the 2011 season is officially over following last night’s Super Bowl, now we can all look ahead to free agency.

The Steelers have a number of players that will be unrestricted come March 13th when they can sign with other teams. You can see the complete list below, and give your thoughts about what players the team should keep, and what ones they could let go.

Exclusive Rights Free Agents (3)

RB Isaac Redman
DT Steve McLendon
P Jeremy Kapinos

Restricted Free Agents (7)

WR Mike Wallace
TE David Johnson
OT Jamon Meredith
OL Ramon Foster
OL Doug Legursky
CB Keenan Lewis
S Ryan Mundy

Unrestricted Free Agents (11)

QB Charlie Batch
QB Dennis Dixon
QB Byron Leftwich
RB Mewelde Moore
WR Jerricho Cotchery
OT Max Starks
OL Trai Essex
NT Chris Hoke
CB William Gay
CB Anthony Madison
P Daniel Sepulveda

A couple of the Steelers were piling it on the Patriots after they lost on Sunday to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI by a score of 21-17.

Both James Harrison and Ryan Clark laid it on the team that was involved in the “Spygate” scandal that directly involved the Steelers in the 2004 AFC Title Game.

Harrison posted on Twitter after the Pats lost: “Told you, cheaters never win!!!!!!!!!”

Safety Ryan Clark added on Twitter: “0-2 [in Super Bowls] post spy gate! Just saying!!”

Harrison came back a little later with a comment for those that were upset with the Tweet: “Lol, I’m sorry I couldn’t help it!!!” He finished up the night with this: “Come on people love or hate me more!”

Gotta love the black and gold, always making it fun even when their rivals lose.

2013 SUPER BOWL XLVII ODDS

Green Bay Packers 6/1

New England Patriots 7/1

New Orleans Saints 8/1

Philadelphia Eagles 12/1

Pittsburgh Steelers 12/1

Houston Texans 12/1

Baltimore Ravens 14/1

New York Giants 15/1

San Diego Chargers 16/1

New York Jets 16/1

San Francisco 49ers 18/1

Dallas Cowboys 18/1

Detroit Lions 18/1

Atlanta Falcons 22/1

Chicago Bears 30/1

Arizona Cardinals 30/1

Miami Dolphins 35/1

Cincinnati Bengals 40/1

Indianapolis Colts 50/1

Tennessee Titans 40/1

Oakland Raiders 50/1

Carolina Panthers 50/1

Denver Broncos 50/1

Kansas City Chiefs 50/1

Seattle Seahawks 60/1

Buffalo Bills 60/1

Washington Redskins 60/1

Minnesota Vikings 75/1

St. Louis Rams 75/1

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75/1

Cleveland Browns 100/1

Jacksonville Jaguars 100/1

Saturday the NFL announced who would be and who wouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. While the Steelers will have a presence in the ceremonies with Jack Butler and Dermontti Dawson, the team also missed out on Jerome Bettis, the teams iconic running back and possibly the most popular player in team history.

Chris Bach wrote at piece on our mothership www.nflgridirongab.com, about the Bus, and who he feels that Bettis does NOT belong in the Hall of Fame.

Here’s the first part of the piece.

I don’t put much weight into Super Bowls when considering who should get in the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is an individual award, and – while your production is often dependent on teammates -, you shouldn’t put too much weight on Super Bowls because they are often out of a players’ hands.

I view the 1990s Steelers the same way I view the 2000s Cowboys. Great franchises with plenty of good players in those eras, but probably only two worthy Hall of Famers from each group. Rod Woodson absolutely deserved to be in the Hall of Famer, – so did Dermontti Dawson – and I think Carnell Lake should be considered, and Demarcus Ware and Jason Witten are worthy, too.

Jerome Bettis’ best sell for the Hall of Fame, however, is that he is 5th all-time in rushing yards. Unfortunately, that is just not enough for me.

He was in the top 5 for rushing yards just three times in 13 seasons, never placing above 3rd. Jamal Lewis was top 5 twice (including #1 in 2003), Clinton Portis was in the top 5 four times, and Ahman Green was top 5 twice (including #2 in 2003).

Click HERE to read the rest

The 2012 Hall of Fame class has just been announced, here’s the class of six new Hall of Famers:

C Dermontti Dawson
DE/LB Chris Doleman
DT Cortez Kennedy
RB Curtis Martin
OT Willie Roaf
CB Jack Butler

“Mr. Wilson remains in serious condition in the Trauma Burn Center at UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh. His status is stable, and he has started his physical rehabilitation. The Wilson family would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support.”

Rolle the traveled to Oxford as Rhodes Scholar and did not play his senior year at Florida State. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans where he spent 2010 on the practice squad.

He was released by the Titans.

Steelers Hall of Famer Joe Greene is in an ad this year for the Super Bowl. You can see the ad above, and read about it below. Should be good to see on Super Bowl Sunday.

“Mean Joe Greene” The four-time Super Bowl champion (Pittsburgh Steelers) appears in a redux of his classic Coca-Cola commercial, in which a kid tosses “Mean” Joe his bottle of Coke to help the athlete ease his pain, and Joe responds by tossing the kid his game-worn jersey. Here, comedian Amy Sedaris plays the role of the kid, but instead of pain seeks to ease the stink of his game-worn jersey with a bottle of Downy Unstopables. Greene tosses Sedaris his jersey as a thank-you gesture, but she gives it a sniff and tosses it back.