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Brian Batko's Steelers chat: 04.06.20
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Jud
12:50
What free agents do you think the Steelers are still kicking the tires on?
Brian Batko
12:51
Sounds like they're probably done in FA, at least for a while. Now that we're into the second wave and getting ever closer to the draft, most teams are focusing more on that and allocating their cap room for rookies. That's especially true for the Steelers, who are "up against it" as Kevin Colbert put it last week.
HeathenSteeler
12:51
Brian,  Love your chats.   My question is do you think that a guy like Dobbins would be better suited to the Steelers than Taylor or Swift?  Dobbins is a hard runner and has very good hands in the passing game.  I personally think he would be the best fit for the Steelers if they had their choice of the big 3 and they were in on a #1 RB this year.
Brian Batko
12:54
Thank you, Heathen. I don't think Dobbins is any more a fit than those other two. Taylor might even be the ideal back in this draft for the Steelers given his size and breakaway speed. I think he's more capable of being a true three-down back than those other two.
Boston Yinzer
12:55
Hi Brian. What happens to players' contracts if the season is cancelled?
Brian Batko
12:56
Short answer: No one knows. Longer answer: There'd probably be a lengthy and heated legal battle of some sort between the NFLPA and the league itself. Chalk this up as one of the many reasons, maybe the biggest, as to why the NFL figures to do everything within its power to not lose this season. That'd be a huge drain on revenue all around.
ALB
12:57
To your knowledge, is Ben working out throwing to a receiver yet?
Brian Batko
12:58
Yes, Ben has said he's thrown with Steelers teammate Ryan Switzer. But last I saw of him, he was at home social distancing with his family and imploring others to do the same.
Jud
12:58
How much access do you have at this point?  Are there conference calls with the media?
Brian Batko
12:58
Not a ton, but that's fairly standard for this time of year anyway. The Steelers put together conference calls with local media for Kevin Colbert, Eric Ebron, Derek Watt and Stefen Wisniewski over the past couple weeks.
Krut
12:59
Hey Brian- Thanks for the Corona chat.  I believe we have a 2 year window to be a SB contender with Ben.  My opinion is to get him protection and weapons.  OL, WR, RB.  When he retires we are going to need and find that franchise QB again.  History says that guy isn't available in late rounds (except Brady).  Do you sense that feeling around the team too?
Brian Batko
1:00
Sure. I don't think you'll ever hear NFL owners, GMs or coaches use the cliched "window" terminology, but they've certainly been open about placing a lot of confidence in Ben Roethlisberger as their quarterback until he isn't. And talking to players last year when he went down, there was a lot of acknowledgement that you simply don't replace a franchise quarterback. You just try to do the best you can to find ways to work around it.
1:01
And just like that, another hour has flown by. Thanks for stopping by, everyone. Keep an eye out for another podcast from Ray Fittipaldo and me later this week, in addition to our usual slate of stories on post-gazette.com.
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