What Now?

#Shalieve #PrayFor50

This is, as you can assume, difficult for me to write. 

Yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers dropped the ball today against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Literally. Ben Roethlisberger fumbled late in the second quarter. That does seem costly considering it was ran back for six, but Big Ben also ended up throwing for 469 yards and five touchdowns. Quite opposite of his performance during their first meeting. Even though Roethlisberger willingly places the blame on his shoulders as the leader of this entire team, can we not point fingers? Pittsburgh's defense let Blake Bortles throw for 214 yards and Leonard Fournette rush for three touchdowns. Jacksonville had zero turnovers and Bortles was sacked zero times. Pittsburgh led the league in sacks this season with 56. Oh, 12 forced fumbles and 16 interceptions. On average they allowed 25.4 points per game. Jacksonville threw up 45.
I said let's not point fingers so I am not pointing my finger at the defense. Nobody likes a hypocrite. 
My point in all of that was to take some of the unnecessary heat off of Big Ben. No matter how many take advantage of him saying he's fine with taking the blame. Hey, that's Ben. One of the many reasons for my admiration. 

"Baby please don't gooooo"

If you remember, there were talks about retirement before the season started for the 14-year veteran. Roethlisberger was not up for months of retirement questions. The soon-to-be 36-year old let the world know that he plans on giving it another go. 

"I know the guys up front are (on contract). That makes it good for me so I look forward to next year with those guys." Come on. The bromance between a quarterback and his lineman is like no other. '@ me on that' 

Let's thank Aditi Kinkhabwala, reporter for NFL Network and NFL.com, for asking the question that we ALL wanted to. It was clearly the elephant in the room. Although not for me. I was certain Ben would be lacing up for at least another run. 

Let's hope Todd Haley decides not to. (Did I just say that?) Well, you are welcome for addressing the other elephant in the room. It is no secret that there is tension between #7 and his Offensive Coordinator... the fans also have a bone to pick. Questionable play-calling by Haley and Tomlin created quite the uproar after the loss to the Jags. Mostly Haley. We could sit here and dissect each of those questionable calls all night, why they were the wrong choice, and why we all could have done a better job, but I would rather just look forward and get locked in to the 2018 season. Am I right, Steeler Nation? Forget about the Patriots, nobody wants to watch that matchup anyway. (Calm down, I will be tuned in. I love football. Football rocks.)

Although I am serious about being locked in to next season already. Decisions have to be made in the Steel City. Nobody in the football world wants to see a player like Le'Veon Bell retire at such a young age. Pay that man. Pay him WELL. 
Bell had 1,291 rushing yards on the season with nine touchdowns. He can catch and run, too. On the year, 85 receptions for 655 yards and two touchdowns. In a league with Tom Brady, Bell was also in the MVP conversation. 

You two, how's business?

He held out of training camp at the beginning of the season, but ended up signing the franchise tag to earn $12.1 million in 2017. Not getting a long term deal worked out with a running back of that caliber would be detrimental. He does want to get paid, as he should. He also wants job security in Pittsburgh. Make that a done-deal. The juice cannot get loose. (Hopefully all of you get the reference.)

There is obviously a reason why Pittsburgh did not get the deal done before the 2017 season started. That is up for debate. Maybe it was to make sure Bell stayed out of trouble off the field. Maybe it was to make sure he could continue to perform at a high level. He proved himself. Maybe Pittsburgh ran out of time in trying to free up some cap space. 
Now they have the time to make this right. 

Killer. Bees.

Let's talk contracts. The nitty-gritty of it all. 

The grand daddy of them all - Roethlisberger's cap hit for 2018 is $23.2 million. This includes his base salary, signing bonus, and roster bonus. 
Whatever it includes, that is a whole lot of cash. I am not really sure the logistics of it all, but can we negotiate a pay-cut if willing? Hm. 

Antonio Brown is due... it doesn't matter. This is non-negotiable. Brown shows us exactly how to 'Call God' because his business is always boomin'. He isn't human. You can ask the corners and safeties of the league. (He will be racking in around $17.6 million in 2018.)

Now James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster (#LitLikeJuJu) are on their rookie contracts. Those will probably not be touched this offseason. 
As for fullback Roosevelt Nix and running backs Fitz Toussaint and Stevan Ridley, they will become free agents. That leaves James Conner. 

Just one more time...

Eli Rogers will become a free agent as well. Don't get too excited. He showed his skill this season, but was not taking up too much cap space. 
Oddly enough, neither was Martavis Bryant. Many believe that Bryant is a sure vacancy. He would only be earning $705,000 in 2018. 
Darrius Heyward-Bey's cap hit is $1.3 million this upcoming season. He had a nice run, but it is believed that his time may be over in Pittsburgh. 

We all know how the city and the fans feel about Landry Jones. If you let Jones go, let him go freely, that will give the front office $2.2 million to play with. 

Joe Haden is getting paid a load of money (3-yr/$27 mil), as well as tight end Vance McDonald. A number of defensive players are getting their cut. It is the harsh reality of sports, and the not-so fun part. When you have the team that Pittsburgh has you want to bring the same guys back, make sure everyone is happy, and give this Super Bowl thing another try. 

We need to continue seeing these celebrations.

That's enough money talk. 
One thing is certain, the sports hangover will be alive and prevalent in Steeler Nation for the next few days... or weeks. 
Ben mentioned that the team gave the fans so much to cheer about this season (they really did) and that he "felt bad" for the end result. 

Have no fear, Steeler fans. He also said, "I definitely have a desire to play football. I love this game. I love these guys." 

He will be back to reign in that 'Stairway to Seven.' He will be back with his go-to guy Antonio Brown. We can only Shalieve that he will be back with that other killer bee. 

Here's to the offseason. The way-sooner-than-thought offseason. 

MOOD.