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Ray Fittipaldo's Steelers chat: 3.12.18
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Ray Fittipaldo
12:29
Correct. Highly unlikely.
AK
12:29
I've seen mocks that have the Steelers taking a QB, RB, CB, or a TE in the first round.  What is the likelihood of each of those possibilities?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:30
0 percent, 2 percent, 4 percent and 5 percent. Don't pay attention to mock drafts unless they are locally produced. The beat writers who knows the Steelers are the ones who are putting out quality analysis and mock drafts.
KA
12:30
Do you really think the Steelers would cut Mitchell and keep Wilcox, when Wilcox couldn't even get on the field at the end of the year?  They should both be cut, agreed?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:31
Yeah I don't really get that either. The only thing I can think of is they like Wilcox as a potential starter than Golden. Maybe Wilcox fits better at SS and they'll move Davis to FS. They don't have a lot of depth there.
12:33
I have heard the rumor. A friend asked me about it so I looked it up. The source of the rumor is crossingboard.com. I had never heard of crossingboard.com before last night. So if they're right about this, kudos to them. But usually, when I don't know the source of an NFL story I ignore it.
Brian
12:33
I saw a rumor about the Steelers are possibly interested in Tavon Austin this would be a great pick up. Fill the 4th receiver role and utilize him in special teams. Have u heard this rumor? Do u think it could happen? Thanks!
Ray Fittipaldo
12:33
Question to previous answer about Tavon Austin.
Retire#21
12:33
The Steelers get their ILB round one. Round two with a deep crop of RBs this year, one drops to them. They draft him and untag LBell?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:34
Possibly, but I don't think that's their intention right now. Maybe if they get wind that Bell is growing unhappier and might be a bigger distraction. But as of right now, with Bell saying he'll handle it professionally again, I don't think they'll do that. Things could change though.
12:35
WR, DL, maybe OL and TE.
Pete
12:35
The Steelers have 7 picks this year.  I realize that from the 5th round on, the players are viewed as projects and they could select most any position.  What positions do you think the Steelers are most likely to target besides, ILB, S, OLB?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:35
Question to previous answer.
PK
12:35
Do you think the Steelers will bring back Moats, or possibly target another FA OLB that is not as expensive?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:36
They don't have a lot of depth at OLB so Chickillo or Moats is a candidate to return for that reason.
Chuck
12:36
As unlikely as it is, if PItt signed a good vet player in the first week of FA, could that mean the chance PItt pulls back the franchise tag on LB if the draft plays out in their favor? This would be inline w Ed Bs article last week. Odds this might happen?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:36
I'll say 10 percent. Not saying it's out of the question, but I don't think that's the direction they are going.
Guest
12:37
Do you know if Bell signed his franchise tag? A friend just told me he did and I sure hope he's wrong. I'm hoping the Steelers will rescind the tag and spend the money on quality FA's for the defense. Bell says he's both a rb and wr, but the only way I'd give him 15 mil. is if he could also play safety and ilb.
Ray Fittipaldo
12:38
Bell has not signed the tag. As long as he doesn't sign the tag he doesn't have to report for any team activities this spring or summer. He can show up a few days before the season just as he did last year.
mrbig
12:38
Pederson just outcoached Belichick with a decent, drama-free roster. Do you think he's leap-frogged Tomlin in the coach rankings?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:39
The head coach rankings for 2018? Of course. He just won the Super Bowl. But let's see how he does in future years. There have been plenty of coaches who have won one Super Bowl and aren't regarded as great coaches.
Steelfan120723
12:40
If the Steelers decide somewhere down the road to rescind the the tag they put on Bell, what in your opinion will they do with the 14 million+ that they would save?. Thanks.
Ray Fittipaldo
12:40
That's easy. Sign players in areas of need -- ILB or S.
Ryno
12:40
Ray, if you had to make a guess, do you know if ownership or management would consider any of Bell's comments about the team to be disrespectful? His comments about them not seeing his value or whatever are unbelievable.
Ray Fittipaldo
12:41
I don't think they care a whole heck of a lot about what's said on social media. It might be a different story if these players acted with disrespect in the building toward management. But a lot of what you see with these guys on social media is guys blowing off steam. I think the club realizes that.
Steeltyke
12:42
Hi Ray.  I know the July date by which a long term deal with Bell needs to be signed, otherwise he plays under the tag.  However, is their a deadline by which they have to rescind the Tag if that is what they decide to do (i.e. a date after which they are stuck with the tag even if Bell doesn't sign it) or can they rescind it at any time, even into the regular season so long as Bell hasn't signed it?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:42
They can rescind the tag anytime. As soon as he signs it he is guaranteed that $14.5 million for 2018.
Ryno
12:42
Bell has already announced that if he is forced to play on the franchise tag where he will be forced to play for ONLY 14 and 1/2 million dollars, he will not show up for any of training camp or preseason. Could you see a situation where Tomlin benches him the first couple games if he is not really ready to play? We saw last season he looked pretty bad until about the fourth game.  If James Conner is looking really good, would Tomlin play him ahead of Bell until Bell gets caught up?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:44
I don't think bench him, but they'd be negligent if they didn't look at ways to improve that situation. If that means using James Conner or another RB more earlier in the season until Bell is in sync then do it. You can still get your money's worth out of Bell. But they have to come up with a plan that was better than just inserting Bell into the mix after he was away for six months. It understandably took him some time to get in sync again. Not saying it's his fault. It's on the Steelers to make that situation better in 2018.
PC
12:45
have you heard of any interest in any free agent lb`s? guys like avery williamson, zach brown, or preston brown would surely fill a hole on d!!also ide personally take safety justin reid from stanford over an lb in draft that would be there at 28 for steelers!!
Ray Fittipaldo
12:45
Avery Williamson yes, but the Steelers probably don't have the money to sign him. He's one of the more coveted ILBs on the market.
Michael
12:45
Ray - better running back in their prime; Bell, Bettis, or Harris?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:46
Great question. All different backs who were asked to do different things. All great backs in their own way. Franco always seemed to come through in big games so I'd go with Franco. Tough call though.
fredward
12:46
Ray, do you think Le'Veon Bell ends up never signing his franchise tender and the Steelers draft a back instead?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:47
I think it will be very similar to last year. No long-term deal, he signs it a week before the first game.
Matt
12:47
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't one of the reasons that Bell's franchise tag is so high last year and this is because of Adrian Peterson and his last contract? Just out of curiosity, what would the tag number be for Bell if that contract was removed from the equation? A lot less...I think?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:48
Yes you are right. There was that outlier Peterson contract for a few years that drastically changed the equation for the tag for RBs. Right now, it'd probably be more like $8 or 9 million a year.
AK
12:48
If the Steelers move Sutton to safety, as I have read may happen, the thought is that he would be SS and Davis would be FS.  Why wouldn't Sutton be the FS?
Ray Fittipaldo
12:49
The safety positions in the Steelers defense are almost interchangeable, but strong safety is the more physical position. They're asked to be run-stoppers more than free safeties.
Aaron
12:49
Do you think the Steelers will bring back Ridley?
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