LaMarr Woodley

AFC North Notes: Steelers, Bengals, Pitta

February 23rd, 2014 at 10:47pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Steelers are very excited about having extra salary cap room this season, writes Steven Ruiz of USA Today. The team looked to be strapped for cash in 2014, but with the extra relief, team president Art Rooney has more room to work with in free agency. The team has 22 players hitting free agency, but could find some cap relief by releasing veterans Ike Taylor, LaMarr Woodley, and Heath Miller. They could also consider restructuring Ben Roethlisberger‘s deal, as he holds a cap number of almost $19MM for 2014. Here are some other notes from the AFC North:

While the Bengals‘ secondary is thought to be a strength, Joe Reedy of Cincinnati.com believes the team could still target corner at some point in the first few rounds of the NFL Draft. With Leon Hall coming off his second torn achilles in 23 months, Terence Newman entering the final year of his contract, and Adam Jones approaching his 31st birthday, the team does have question marks at the position. Former first-round pick Dre Kirkpatrick has improved, and while the need for a starter is not imminent, in a passing league teams can never have enough guys who can cover.
The Ravens are still trying to work out a contract with Dennis Pitta, although the two are still not close on an agreement, writes Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. While it was thought he would either be signed long-term or designated with the franchise tag, head coach John Harbaugh leaves open the option that Pitta could hit free agency without receiving the tag. “I think every scenario is possible here,” Harbaugh said. “The franchise tag is very vague right now, so anything could happen.”
The Ravens have also begun talks with linebacker Daryl Smith, according to Garrett Downing of BaltimoreRavens.com. While Pitta and Eugene Monroe have gotten all the attention, general manager Ozzie Newsome has not forgotton about Smith. “Daryl did a great job for us,” Newsome said. “We have engaged in some conversations with his representative.” Smith was asked after the season if he would like to return to the team, replying emphatically that he would. “Most definitely [I want to return],” said Smith. “I love it here and would love to be back. We’ll see how it goes, though.”

AFC Notes: Steelers, Patriots, Browns

February 16th, 2014 at 9:03am CST by Rory Parks

There has been a great deal of speculation regarding what the Steelers will do with their talented duo of LaMarr Woodley and Jason Worilds, but Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gives the most definitive prediction to date. He writes that “it is just not conceivable” that the team will be able to retain both players for the 2014 season, and he believes Woodley will be odd-man out. By cutting Woodley now, the Steelers would suffer a $14.17MM cap hit this year, which is not significantly more than the $13.59MM hit they would take if they kept him. Plus, after 2014, he would be off the books entirely, which is a tantalizing prospect for a team that has backed itself into a difficult salary-cap situation.

Of course, as has been noted previously, Pittsburgh could designate Woodley as a post-June 1 release, which would spread out the $14.17MM hit over the 2014 and 2015 seasons and give the team an extra $8MM to spend this year. However, that $8MM would not become available until after June 1, which would limit what the Steelers could do in free agency (either with their own free agents or with those from other clubs). Whichever route the team takes, Bouchette believes Woodley has played his last game as a Steeler.

Other notes from the AFC:

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes the Steelers will not re-sign Emmanuel Sanders, and Christopher Price of WEEI.com thinks the Patriots would take another shot at Sanders if he is, in fact, still available when free agency begins in March. New England, of course, signed Sanders to an offer sheet last offseason when he was a restricted free agent, prompting Pittsburgh to match the offer to retain the speedy wideout. If New England were to re-sign Julian Edelman, then the Patriots would likely not pursue Sanders, as the two players offer similar skill-sets. But if Edelman finds greener pastures elsewhere, Sanders may become a top free-agent priority for New England.
Meanwhile, Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald thinks that, now the Larry Fitzgerald-to-New England dream is dead, the Patriots will not look outside its own roster to find the big-play outside receiver the team covets. The answer, she writes, could be second-year man Aaron Dobson, who has all the physical tools and who looked better and better as the 2013 season progressed.
In a recent Q & A with Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, new Browns GM Ray Farmer indicates that he has a favorite quarterback in this year’s draft class, but that quarterback may not be Johnny Manziel. In fact, Farmer said the QB he likes “may not be the name that everybody thinks is the latest, greatest, and the easy one to spot,” and he suggested that Cleveland’s No. 4 overall pick may be too high for this unnamed player. Farmer is already adept at “GM-speak,” as the rest of his answers consisted primarily of the vague generalities one would expect from a high-ranking executive at this time of the year, but his musings about his favorite QB are nonetheless intriguing.

Steelers Rumors: Worilds, Woodley, Ben

February 12th, 2014 at 1:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert met with several members of the Pittsburgh media today to discuss the team’s coming offseason, and a handful of beat writers diligently tweeted out several of Colbert’s more noteworthy quotes. So let’s dive right in, and round up the highlights, via Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (all links go to Twitter)….

Asked about the chances of the Steelers re-signing Jason Worilds and retaining LaMarr Woodley, Colbert said it would be possible to bring both back, but expressed some caution about Woodley’s injury issues in recent years. Our Matt Feminis explored the Worilds/Woodley situation in Pittsburgh in a piece a couple weeks ago.
The Steelers have plenty of things on their to-do list for before March 11, according to Colbert, who said that list may include “terminations, restructurings and extensions,” and added that the team wants to re-sign some of its own free agents.
Although Colbert didn’t name any players specifically, he conceded that asking players to take pay cuts is one subject the team is currently discussing. As Bouchette notes, defensive back Ike Taylor is a candidate for a salary reduction.
Even with several older players on sizable salaries, the club doesn’t ever plan to blow things up and enter full-scale rebuilding mode, said Colbert.
The Steelers aren’t presently as deep as they’d like at either safety or cornerback, according to Colbert.
Colbert believes the 2014 draft class is perhaps the deepest he’s seen in 30 years, but has some concerns that a number of the underclassmen who declared their intent for the draft may have left school too early.
Although Ben Roethlisberger turns 32 this year, selecting a quarterback won’t be a priority for the Steelers in this year’s draft, according to Colbert. The GM also declined to discuss whether contract discussions with Big Ben are planned or ongoing, but said the team needs to “make the most” of the years it has left with its franchise quarterback.

Steelers Facing Decisions On Woodley, Worilds

January 31st, 2014 at 7:38pm CST by Matt Feminis

The Steelers seem to have a continuous supply of talented outside linebackers in defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau’s 3-4 scheme, but while depth is a good thing, the restrictions of the salary cap force difficult personnel decisions. Perhaps the most important one facing the Steelers is what to do about left outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley, who had a down season, finished on IR (calf) and carries a $13.59MM cap hit in 2014.

As it stands, the Steelers are approximately $10MM over the salary cap and facing the potential defensive losses of key UFAs Brett Keisel, Evander Hood and Jason Worilds, who is coming off a long-awaited breakout season. Stepping in for the injured Woodley, Worilds got 11 starts and registered 63 tackles and a team-high eight sacks. With young pass rushers in high demand, he is set to cash in on the open market, be it in Pittsburgh or elsewhere.

Recently, team president Art Rooney II expressed his desire to retain Worilds, who told ESPN’s Scott Brown he has no interest in returning to Pittsburgh as a backup. That seems to render Woodley’s status as tenuous for two reasons. As it stands, the team has very little wiggle room financially (approximately $10MM over the cap). Additionally, conventional wisdom suggests 2013 first-rounder Jarvis Jones, whose arrow LeBeau believes is pointing up, will start at right outside linebacker next season.

Ostensibly, the club’s decision comes down to Worilds or Woodley, but in December, SI.com’s Chris Burke wrote why the Worilds-Woodley decision isn’t so cut-and-dried, explaining that Woodley has already restructured his six-year, $61.5MM deal ($17MM guaranteed) once before, resulting in him being owed more than $25MM in base salary the next three seasons. What’s more, if Woodley is cut before June 1, the team incurs a dead-money cap hit of $14.2MM, meaning it cannot simply dump Woodley to make room for Worilds, who will be snapped up in free agency in March.

Aside from begging Woodley to accept another restructuring, the most realistic scenario might be waiting until after June 1 to release Woodley, enabling the team to spread the cap hit over two seasons. Regardless the outcome, the Steelers will have to get creative in order to create financial flexibility in 2014 and beyond, and that undoubtedly means severing ties with established veterans.