STEELERS 101

Steelers 101 started to dissect the dire salary cap situation the day after the Pittsburgh Steelers disappointing 2012 campaign came to an end. Tuesday, fans finally got a glimpse into the mindset of the franchise and the start of dealing with the situation.

Multiple sources across twitter and the internet have learned that the first order of business to come into compliance with the league-mandated cap is to restructure the contracts of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and linebacker Lawrence Timmons. These moves, while not enough to get the team out of the $14 million hole, will be a nice start; trimming roughly $9 million from the cap.

If that estimate is correct, the Steelers still have a ways to go to be able to do anything this offseason. That would leave them $5 million over the cap and they must be below the cap threshold by March 12 when the new league year begins. With six restricted free agents requiring tenders and their courting of free agent wide receiver Steve Breaston, they will likely be making multiple moves on top of these in the coming days. Breaston, whose agent reportedly met with the Steelers during the NFL Combine, met with the Cleveland Browns today and is scheduled to be at the teams’ headquarters later in the week.

Reports today also had the team meeting with linebacker James Harrison, although the extent of that meeting was not readily available.  Harrison has been part of much speculation all offseason as the 34-year old linebacker is carrying a large salary cap number and suffered through a sub par 2012 campaign. While his agent has repeatedly stated Harrison would not take a pay cut, it would be hard to believe the Steelers would entertain extending his contract for any time, or restructuring the deal with such a short period remaining.

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Tags: Ben Roethlisberger, Football, James Harrison, Lawrence Timmons, NFL, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Steelers, salary cap, Steve Breaston

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