I’ll do an updated post when the official terms are available. This gives everyone a sense for where they’re starting. His cap number spikes dramatically next year when there is no huge dead money hit from Woodley or Colon and they expect another substantial increase in the cap.

Basically it’s a 4 year extension at $21.85 Million per year.

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Updated May 12th

Based on the week 17 depth chart and the players who are under contract for 2015 as of today (January 13, 2015), this is where I believe things stand.  Think of this as a living document that will be updated as things develop and reflect a date of revision. Please feel free to offer any feedback you might have. As Copa might write, everything will be considered but not every point of view will be taken into account. That said, sometimes out of the box thinkers bring about fresh perspective.

OPEN slots on the depth chart are marked in bold. Those openings are based on the anticipated number of players that would be kept on a 53 man roster, except at TE. They’ll likely keep 3 and there wasn’t room to reflect that and the free agents at that spot.

Free Agents are italicized and underlined. UFA is unrestricted free agent. RFA is restricted free agent. ERFA is exclusive rights free agent.

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UPDATED. SEE BELOW

http://www.gq.com/sports/201502/roger-goodell-season-from-hell?currentPage=1

THE ARTICLE IS 3 PAGES. CLICK ON THE ARROW ADJACENT 1 OF 3 AT THE BOTTOM OF THE 1ST PAGE.

So large is Kraft’s sway with Goodell that one veteran NFL executive likes to call him “the assistant commissioner.”

Goodell said. “When we met with Ray Rice and his representatives, it was ambiguous about what actually happened.”

Within days, a lengthy ESPN investigation all but called him a liar. According to the report, not only did Rice tell Goodell exactly what happened inside that elevator….

…the nonstop drumbeat of bad news added up to a growing sense that Goodell and his owner bosses are tone-deaf to the issues that plague the NFL—and on the wrong side of history to a rising generation that increasingly sees football as too violent, too regressive, and too money-driven…

It’s also an open secret in league circles that some owners, especially Woody Johnson of the Jets, resent the preferential treatment Goodell is perceived to extend to his inner circle. (As the football world waits for the commissioner’s decision on whether to punish the Patriots for Deflategate, many are wondering how his relationship with Kraft will affect Goodell’s ruling.)

[The Ray Rice episode] reinforced a pattern that comes up again and again when you look at Goodell’s commissionership: When he’s reacting to PR crises and disciplining players, his judgment is poor. But when he’s negotiating on behalf of his owner bosses, Goodell almost never loses.

Tagliabue sees Goodell’s laser focus on profit and his combative stance toward players as key parts of the problem. “If they see you making decisions only in economic terms, they start to understand that and question what you’re all about,” he said. “There’s a huge intangible value in peace. There’s a huge intangible value in having allies.” As for his relationship with his protégé, Tagliabue says, “We haven’t talked much since I left. It’s been his decision. Bountygate didn’t help.”

Epilogue: The author has written an addendum to the original article.

http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2015/01/robert-kraft-roger-goodell.html

While reporting the piece, I heard many stories of Kraft receiving preferential treatment. One executive noted how Goodell seemed to jump to answer his cell whenever Kraft called. “Sure there’s special rules,” one league source said. “It’s the unwritten secret.” At a golf tournament last year, one source told me, Kraft is said to have called NFL headquarters and requested to be interviewed on the NFL Network. Within minutes, NFL producers in the broadcast truck were told to put Kraft on television. “Nobody else would have pulled that card,” the source said.

Kraft was reluctant to talk to me while I was reporting. One person close to Kraft told me that he was tired of being Goodell’s defender in public. The truth, of course, is that Goodell works for him. However Deflategate unfolds, the commissioner will need to tread carefully. His job security has always depended on the support of the 32 owners. And Kraft, a savvy billionaire who turned a $172 million investment in the Patriots into a $2.6 billion empire, appears to want to remind the commissioner that he is nobody’s assistant.

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42 Years Ago Today

Watch a nice take on the play: http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/pittsburgh-steelers-immaculate-reception-franco/njY5L/

Sure looks to me like it hit Tatum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMuUBZ_DAeM 

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Our grouchy football uncle Ed Bouchette posted this in his slog this morning.

Worilds told me after six games that he was not rushing the passer as often as he did last season, so I went to Pro Football Focus to see how they had it. They do a good job of charting the number of plays, and they break down when a defender rushes the passer or covers a receiver on passing downs. After six games, according to their count, Worilds rushed the quarterback 57.1 percent of the time. Last season, he rushed 79 percent of the time.

After six games, Worilds told me this about having to cover receivers more often in 2014 than he did in 2013, “I would hope that they know that I rush the passer, so if they put me out of position, they do it knowing that they’re taking me out of position to make plays.”

Since then, Worilds has rushed the quarterback more often and his percentage is up to 69.8 rushing and 30.2 covering for the season. That still pales to last season’s 79 percent rushing (an 11.6 percent drop), but it’s a lot more than the 57.1 he had after six games. The numbers after 14 games for Worilds, according to PFF: 372 pass rushes, 161 pass coverages.

So, armed with what I can assume is fairly accurate info on snap counts and pass rush opportunities, I decided to see how productive Worilds has been since the change in week seven.

While only using averages based upon games played and total opportunities to rush (total pass plays); Worilds was rushing the passer approximately 21.7 times per game in the first six weeks. Since then he has rushed the passer approximately 30.2 times per game and dropping approximately 7.8 times per game (or rushing the passer approximately 79% just like last year), bringing his average up to almost 70% on the season. How has his productivity changed since week six, I wondered.

Well, as the chart below illustrates, he’s not even doing as well getting to the QB as he was doing in weeks one through six. And, with an average of 9 more opportunities to get to the QB per game, he’s out of excuses.

Assuming the pass rush stats are correct and there has been a marked uptick in Worilds pass rush opportunities, he is no better after getting more opportunities than he was when he was rushing the passer less frequently.
In the first six weeks, Worilds had 2 sacks and 7 QB hits combined. That averages to 0.333 sacks per game and 1.1667 QB hits per game.
In the ensuing eight games, when he has dropped back less frequently and rushed a lot more often, he has a combined 2.5 sacks and 5 QB hits. That averages to 0.31 sacks per game and 0.625 QB hits per game.
In other words, since becoming the Steelers primary pass rush threat in week seven, Worilds is actually less productive. Oh, and he makes $10M this season.

Again, for the guys holding onto the belief that the Steelers have held Worilds back. Worilds has been given a lot more opportunities since week six and his effectiveness has actually dropped. He has had one “franchise” type game this year in 14 weeks. It was the Saints game where he recorded 5 solo tackles, 5 assists, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, no passes defensed and a QB hit.

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with a tip of the hat to some Dbag without a login for explaining Felicia.

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“You know by now who bears the most responsibility for Sunday’s Steelers loss.”

“….this weeks Brown Paper Bag of Shame, which goes to The Pox that is Justin Bieber. It’s no longer a debate IF the Biebs is a curse to sports teams. The Heat, Spain Soccer Team, The Blackhawks, Johnny Football (Fuckstain) have all previously been crushed under the weight of this 92 pound toe headed albatross. He’s the Bambino, Bartman, the Billy Goat and Jessica Simpson all rolled into one.  So, why, oh why, did Cam Heyward tweet this out the eve of the Jets game? That’s not tempting fate. That’s MOONING fate. I hope Mike Tomlin required all his players, who took pictures with the Biebs, to burn their cell phones at midfield immediately following the game.” 

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0ap3000000427045/Week-10-The-Shek-Report?campaign=Ext_Email_1st10_20141112

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