The Steelers have not hammered out a restructuring of center Maurkice Pouncey‘s deal just yet, but an agreement is close and is expected to be finalized by next week, according to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Pouncey’s current deal takes him through the 2019 season with a $8.1MM cap number in 2015. A full restructure of his deal would save the Steelers $3.8MM in cap space in 2015. Here’s more from the AFC North..
- The Steelers have no plans of using a transition tag on Jason Worilds and will let him hit free agency on March 10th, a league source told Scott Brown of ESPN.com. The Steelers paid the outside linebacker $9.754MM in 2014 after they used a transition tag on him. Right now, Jarvis Jones is the only outside linebacker on the roster who is signed for 2015 and has NFL experience. Worilds, 27, has recorded 122 tackles and 15.5 sacks in the last two seasons for Pittsburgh.
- Ed Werder of ESPN.com (on Twitter) gets the sense that Haloti Ngata believes he can play at a high level for three more seasons. He would prefer to remain with the Ravens for that time but he’s also prepared to move on if necessary.
- Jarret Johnson probably falls short in seeing his name placed into the Ravens‘ Ring of Honor, but that doesn’t mean the gritty linebacker didn’t leave a mark on the franchise, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com writes. “In 38 years of coaching, he may be the most physical, toughest football player that I’ve ever been around,” former Ravens defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said. Johnson, who was with the Chargers from 2012 through 2014, announced his retirement on Tuesday.