Gerry Dulac's Steelers chat: 10.07.26
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Gerry Dulac
9:50
OK kids, we're going to start our chat in just a few minutes so get ready....
9:52
All right, here we go....
Bill In LA
9:52
The Steelers are now officially the Triple A team of the Dallas Cowboys! How come the Dallas Cowboys can accommodate great young Steelers players and the Steelers can't? Gerry, don't tell me Joey Porter did it to himself, like Kenny Picket and George Pickens! The problem is clearly the Steelers front office, they threw Kenny Pickett under the bus, couldn’t handle Pickens being annoying, and didn't budget for Porter. New general manager please!
Gerry Dulac
9:53
OK, then I won't tell you Bill. Can you get by with $27+ million annually?
Bill In LA
9:53
I liked your idea last week to write a book. Why not make it all about your weekly chats? If you call it, “Bill In LA and Me”, I'll make it into a movie!
Gerry Dulac
9:53
Hahaha. Well, I know you have the Hollywood connections
Marty
9:53
Did Porter stop by Lourdes on his way to Dallas?
Gerry Dulac
9:53
They had massage chairs on the flight to Dallas
RJ
9:53
Gerry, the play in the Cleveland game that went over Everette’s head for a long gainer has been described as a blunder by the PGH media. It was more a blunder by the safety, who has to rotate to the deepest receiver in a given area. In that, God awful single high they were in on that play that is the Safeties responsibility. It’s obvious the communication aspect in the secondary leaves ALOT to be desired. Your take.
Gerry Dulac
9:55
It wasn't Everette's fault, it was the fault of another young player. But that's going to happen early in the season, especially with young players, especially with a new system that, obviously, isn't sitting well with some veteran players
greg in lewisville, texas
9:55
Gerry,  So JPJ said he was "disrespected" as a Steeler.  Say what???  By his 52 teammates or by Coach Mc and his staff.  Then this "guaranteed money" situation.  What ever happened to the American work ethic "A days pay for a days work".  And in real working world there is pay for performance. Nothing guaranteed for anyone.  Every raise and bonus money is tied to your results.  Gerry, could you explain in depth what exactly how this works in the sports world.  Thank you.
Gerry Dulac
9:57
Greg, sorry I can't explain in depth because I don't have the time or space here. Yeah, he was disrespected alright. Shame on the Steelers for offering him $27+ million annually. Such disrespect for a player who's never been to the Pro Bowl, is highly penalized and has just three interceptions in three years. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Bill In LA
9:57
Gerry, the best thing about George Pickens and Joey Porter, besides being world class NFL players, was they gave the Steelers a PERSONALITY! All we hear on gameday from the announcers is what a great time McCarthy and Rogers had about 20 years ago. Snoozer! Play Drew Allar now!
Gerry Dulac
9:58
Personality? And world-class? I'm pretty certain I asked you this a couple weeks ago, but I'll adapt it a little -- what color are the clouds in your world??
Martian
9:58
GM Gerry. Looking towards the future, draft needs now seem to include QB, DL, OL, DB, ILB, and probably WR.... so almost every position group. How do they prioritize going forward since theres needs all over the place?
Gerry Dulac
9:59
My man, it hurts my head to think that far ahead. But I've had enough of the OL and QB is always a possibility, but only if they can get high enough. The others? Flip a coin between CB and DL. Or anything else
Ted Lasso
9:59
Gerry, how can the Steelers really improve their blocking and tackling when practices are glorified walk throughs?
Gerry Dulac
9:59
That's exactly right.
Stairway to seventh seed
10:00
Gerry: the Steelers are taking a lot of criticism from fans and media for not signing Porter.  Are these critics missing the fundamental irony?  How can a team give a lot of guaranteed money to a player whose character is such that he will fake an injury?  The fake injury loophole is one of the biggest risks a franchise takes when it guarantees money.  Now maybe Porter will win and some desperate owner will overlook this irony and give him what he wants, but AJR II didn't and Jerry Jones isn't rushing to do it.
Gerry Dulac
10:00
Pay the man!
Let’s go Mountaineers
10:00
Gerry.. why would JPJ pass up 28 million per year with 42 million guaranteed cash in hand today to play out his rookie deal and potentially get franchised tagged? Even if after all that he gets a big deal, he won’t make up all the money he lost playing 2026 on a rookie contract? Please make it make sense
Gerry Dulac
10:00
Am I allowed to pay two guys in a row??
Herky Jerky
10:00
Is this receiver group any better than last year’s?
Gerry Dulac
10:01
I don't think I need to answer that.
chuck Mac
10:01
So let me get this straight...JPJ quit on us and faked injury not to play - then goes to Dallas without a new deal - now he feels "respected" - and everyone in the burgh is Missing? Him ???
Gerry Dulac
10:01
So many astute observations this morning! I'm glad some people are paying attention!!
HOF City
10:02
Hi Gerry, I believe both sides are at fault with the JPJ saga. We have out tens of millions to Herbig, Washington. So far, Hebig has been a big disappointment. I also believe JPJ was half way out the door when Tomlin left. Him quitting on his teammates is pathetic. As far as JPJ Sr, good riddance.
Gerry Dulac
10:03
Add another to a growing list..!
Stairway to seventh seed
10:03
Gerry: A lot of player friendly media members often say: "why should a player honor a contract when the owners don't?"  I would be almost certain that NFL contracts stipulate that a player has to make the roster to earn a future salary.  That is certainly spelled out so when a team cuts a player before his deal expires they are in fact following the contract.  When the Steelers cut Joey Porter Sr and didn't pay out the last year of his deal, like it or not, they were legally within their explicit rights to do so.  When Porter Jr was faking an injury, he was not.  Am I wrong for thinking of it this way?
Gerry Dulac
10:05
The Steelers paid JPJ for three games while he was out with his "injury." And when a player gets cut, oh well, that's what happens. You don't get paid for that year's salary, though I will point up they probably have already banked a whole bunch of money with signing bonuses and such, depending on the player
Silent Bob
10:06
Hi Gerry - Is there any way you can explain how the best draft pick by far from 2023 is gone – and 3 other picks from the same draft – backups who have made between zero and marginal contributions this year – are now under huge, multi-year contracts? I don’t like how JPJ handled this at all but seems like Kahn got this complete backwards.
Gerry Dulac
10:08
I wouldn't call Benton, Washington and Herbig marginal backups, any more than I would call Porter the "best draft pick by far" from 2023.
Eric in TX
10:08
Does the Steelers front office view the JPJ situation/result as a mistake or failure? I have a hard time seeing this being how they wanted it to play out. I would love to hear, with hindsight, how they would have done things differently and what that would be.
Gerry Dulac
10:09
They view it as terribly unfortunate, that a player they like, both personally and professionally, would resort to such tactics and not accept a deal that would've made him the seventh highest-paid CB in the league, when he's lucky if he's a top 10 CB.
Josh
10:10
Good morning Gerry! I understand not giving up a ton of information for competitive advantage, but is there a reason why McCarthy doesn’t give a rundown on injuries after a game or in his Monday press conference? If reporters don’t ask, he doesn’t divulge anything.
Gerry Dulac
10:12
He does it differently than Tomlin, like a lot of things. I don't think he's being protective or sneaky, any more than Tomlin was always vague about a player's injury and rarely gave an update we see from other coaches. If we ask, he says...to some extent
Tim
10:12
The highest honor in football that Joey Porter Sr will ever receive was when the Steelers put him in their hall of honor.  Key word honor.  He tore that apart with his usual loud mouth and antics that we remember all too well.  Act with class, Joey.  Perfect fit for the Porters to go to the look at me Cowboys.  Good luck in Jerry world.
Gerry Dulac
10:12
What he said.
Chris Frye
10:13
Final thought on JOJ’s “business decision”. He was offered $28M/year in August with $28M per year (not guaranteed year 2+) for likely 3 more years. He went to Dallas and is not getting an extension, same as here. Next year, Dallas likely cannot pay both JPJ and Pickens so they likely try to sign Pickens long term if they can, and franchise Porter at likely something less than $28M. This time next year, assuming 10% RoR for simplicity, Porter could have had approximately $30M minus approximately $5M, or $25M in hand - he sacrificed $25M in year one and may not exceed the $28M/year until year 3 of a theoretical new contract. Assuming in either scenario he plays the same, it is difficult to see how he ever makes up the lost $25M. The Steelers made a business decision, Porter made a bad financial decision.
Gerry Dulac
10:14
You have the numbers a little wrong. It was slightly more than $27 million annually and his salary this year was $3.9 million, but still he is walking away without about $23 million this year. And you never recover lost money. But your final comment was spot on.
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