Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

The Steelers arrived at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA yesterday.  That means that training camp is officially underway.  It also means that it’s time for me to end my annual summer hiatus from blogging.

This first installment of the blog for the new season will be dedicated to catching up on all of the things that have happened since the draft.

All draft picks sign contracts

First round pick David DeCastro was the last of the Steelers’ draft picks to sign his contract.  But sign he did.  So now all of the Steelers’ picks are in training camp, and ready to compete for playing time on their new team.

Mike Wallace doesn’t sign

While it’s great to know that all of the rookies will be in camp, it’s discouraging that Mike Wallace still hasn’t signed his $2.7 million tender offer, and is holding out for a long-term deal.  The Steelers have said that they will cease negotiations with Wallace until he reports to training camp.

Unfortunately, Wallace has said that he won’t report to camp until he has a long-term contract.  So it looks like Wallace and the Steelers are at an impasse.  We’ll all be watching closely to see which side will blink first.

Reports say that Wallace has been working out, and is in good physical condition.  However, the team is implementing a new offense, and Wallace needs to be in camp learning the new offense.  This is likely to be the biggest drama during training camp.

Steelers sign Max Starks

Last year Max Starks missed training camp and the first 4 weeks of the season due to injury.  The Steelers finally brought him back when it became obvious that Jonathan Scott was woefully inadequate as a left tackle.

Starks is injured again, but this time the Steelers signed him prior to training camp.  Starks will start training camp on the physically unable to perform (P.U.P.) list.

Steelers release Jonathan Scott

One day after signing Max Starks, the Steelers released Jonathan Scott.  Yay!!!!!!!!

For those who are Jonathan Scott fans (all 3 of you), Scott signed a contract with the Detroit Lions.  So no need to worry about his future.

Mike Tomlin gets contract extension

The Steelers announced that head coach Mike Tomlin has received a contract extension that will take him through the 2016 season.

Most fans understand that head coaches for the Steelers usually have very long tenures, so nobody should have been surprised by this move.  After all, Tomlin has led his team to 2 Super Bowl appearances in his first 5 years with the Steelers.  That’s the same number of Super Bowls as Bill Cowher led the team to in his 15 years as Steelers’ head coach.

Offensive line changes

Marcus Gilbert was announced as the new starting left tackle for the Steelers.  Then he wasn’t.  Rookie Mike Adams would instead be the starter.  Then the team signed Max Starks.  Now nobody knows who will start at left tackle this season.

Willie Colon was going to return to his position at right tackle.  Then he wasn’t.  The Steelers announced that Colon would be moving to left guard (I’ve been saying that Colon should be playing guard for years now, so I’m glad the Steelers finally listened to me).

David DeCastro was going to be the next Alan Faneca and line up at left guard.  Then he wasn’t.  The Steelers announced that they’d keep DeCastro at the position that he played in college; right guard.

It’s obvious that the Steelers offensive line is a work in progress.  Nobody will know who the starting line-up will be until the Steelers break training camp.  And even though his name isn’t being mentioned very much right now, don’t be surprised if Ramon Foster is a starter before the season ends.  The team always counts him out during training camp, and he always seems to win a starting job by mid-season.