The Steelers Hall of Famer gave a call to the newest Steeler
The Pittsburgh Steelers acquired former All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Steelers also received tight end Jonnu Smith. In the aftermath of Ramsey becoming a Steeler, he has already been connected with one of the greatest players in franchise history.
Former Steelers’ safety Ryan Clark set up a FaceTime call between Ramsey and Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu.
“Connecting the greats,” Clark said on X. “One Steelers legend and the next.”
Clark also posted the photo on his Instagram, which Ramsey commented on.
“Man I appreciated that big bro,” Ramsey said. “Much love! I can’t wait to be a part of something special.”
Ramsey already connecting with a legend and beloved member of the Steelers’ franchise, will certainly get people excited. The Florida State product is entering his 10th NFL season and has 24 career interceptions. He is a seven-time Pro Bowler and helped the Los Angeles Rams win Super Bowl LVI
Watt is expected to become the highest-paid defender in football once again.
As the Steelers-T.J. Watt contract saga continues, NFL insiders remain confident that Pittsburgh will find a way to extend the seven-time Pro-Bowler.
However, the sticking point seems to be what most expected: guarantees and length, not the actual cash. The former Defensive Player of the Year is widely expected to become the highest-paid defender in the league once again.
“The Steelers stand willing to pay (Watt),” said NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero on The Rich Eisen Show July 3. “I would tell you, based upon my read of the situation … I believe that they will find a way — if not before training camp, then before the season — to get that done.
“It is gonna be north of Myles Garrett. It is gonna be upwards of $40 million per year, which then, in turn, is going to have an impact on some of these other pass-rushers that are looking for new deals as well.
“The question becomes … what’s the structure of that, what are the guarantees in that contract?”
Garrett, at age 30, is currently the highest-paid edge rusher (and defender in general) in the NFL following his four-year, $160 million deal with the Cleveland Browns this offseason. The Texans’ Danielle Hunter (31 years old) and the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby (28) are next on the list, making $35.6 million and $35.5 million per year on their current contracts, respectively.
Watt’s current deal, which made him the highest-paid defender in the NFL in 2021, averages $28 million per season. He’s currently on the last year of that extension.
Previous reports indicated the Steelers already have a deal on the table for Watt, even if the two sides remain apart.
Pelissero noted that Watt has a lot of leverage — it doesn’t make sense for the Steelers to trade the pass-rusher given the team’s recent investments in veteran stars. And even if the team did want to shop Watt on the trade market, they’d likely have a hard time finding appropriate compensation given Watt’s age. He’ll turn 31 in October.
“Do I anticipate that T.J. Watt gets traded? No,” said Pelissero, adding, “Never say never.
“I wouldn’t rule anything out. There’s a lot of different ways this can go, certainly. You know that T.J. Watt is frustrated at this point that things are not worked out here. What do I see being the most likely way that this sorts itself out? Sometime between now and (the Steelers opener), they end up getting a deal done with T.J. Watt.
“It is going to be big money. … Pending any other deals that get done between now and then, I believe we’re going to see a reset in the edge market again.”
The Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson, who led the league in sacks last season, as well as the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons, are also hoping for new contracts before the 2025 season.
Pelissero noted that the Steelers have some extra wiggle room given their late training camp start July 23. He also added that Watt can afford to miss some training camp work as Mike Tomlin typically doesn’t work his star veterans that hard over the offseason in the first place: “T.J. Watt doesn’t do a whole lot at training camp, anyway.”
For reference, Watt didn’t agree to his 2021 contract with the Steelers until Sept. 9. He’d go on to tie the single-season sack record and win Defensive Player of the Year that season.
On July 5, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported similar information to Pelissero, noting “guaranteed money” and “term length” are seen around the league as issues holding up the deal.
Pass rush market has exploded. By summer’s end, at least six of top-end rushers should or will have secured mega deal since March.
Fowler added there’s “not a lot of traction” regarding a trade, and Watt will “probably be the highest-paid edge rusher in the league when this is all said and done.” Like Pelissero, Fowler mentioned the Steelers’ tendency to get deals done around training camp or before Week 1 of the regular season.
Said Fowler: “Somebody with the team said, ‘Look, these are complicated deals to do, but we are working on it; we want T.J. Watt here.’”
The TL:DR? In this dead part of the summer, we’re using a random number generator to find a singular play from the Steelers’ 2024 season, then using it as an excuse to talk about last season and some general football insights.
This week, the random number generator chose the 137th play of the Steelers’ Week 3 clash against the Los Angeles Chargers. For any “One random Steelers play” superfans out there (*crickets*) this is the second straight time the generator has chosen play No. 137.
The context: Steelers ball on the Chargers’ 37-yard line. Pittsburgh is up 20-10 with 3:07 left in the fourth quarter. It’s second and six.
The random number generator gods did us a favor on this one — after talking about multi-tight end sets all week in regards to the Steelers’ trade for Jonnu Smith, here’s Pittsburgh doing exactly that last year.
You could call this 22 personnel or 13 personnel (first number is backs; second is tight ends) as Connor Heyward is listed as a TE/FB on the Steelers’ roster. He’s lined up at fullback here in an offset I-formation but motions in from receiver. I’m curious how others would define it, but for the sake of this play, I’d say it’s 22. Ultimately, it’s just semantic.
And while Jonnu Smith isn’t much of a blocker, it’s actually a preview of sorts of how the Steelers could use their bevy of tight ends in 2025: Darnell Washington in-line, Pat Freiermuth on the line of scrimmage in a condensed formation, and Smith as a motion man lining up all over the place.
As evidenced by the number of tight ends on the field, as well as the context, the Steelers are trying to run out the clock here. The Chargers counter with a 3-4 formation to crowd the box; they also blitz safety Derwin James.
The Steelers’ play-call is an Arthur Smith staple: split zone.
Here’s what I wrote about split zone in the article linked above:
Remember how outside zone is built around moving the offensive line laterally in one direction? That horizontal emphasis can mean the defensive end on the backside of the play is left unblocked; if he’s athletic enough, it results in an easy pursuit tackle of the running back if the run doesn’t develop fast enough.
That’s when split zone comes in, with an H-back or tight end moving the opposite direction of the zone run and cutting off the backside defender. It also creates some misdirection and adds a lead blocker if the ball-carrier decides to hit the cutback lane.
That last part is especially true. Although the Steelers’ play here is a zone run to the left, split zone can operate as a counter run of sorts if the runner follows the lone blocker headed right.
That’s what happens here. Steelers right guard James Daniels fails to seal off his blocking assignment’s outside shoulder and running back Cordarrelle Patterson is face to face with 310-pound nose tackle Poona Ford moments after the handoff:
At this point, Patterson has already committed to the cutback. He sees better chance running right: Broderick Jones has a dominant rep against the defensive tackle and Darnell Washington walls off the middle linebacker.
Connor Heyward does a good job here as well. His initial assignment is kicking out the edge defender on the right, Tuli Tuipulotu, but he pivots to take on the blitzing safety, Derwin James — a more immediate threat.
As much as we talk about vision being important for zone running backs, so is decisiveness. The blitz takes up Connor Heyward’s attention, and Pat Freiermuth can only do so much against Tuipulotu without getting a block in the back penalty. There isn’t a gaping lane available anywhere, but Patterson puts his head down and commits to the decision.
Patterson runs hard, bowls over Tuipulotu, and continues chugging downfield. What should’ve been a stop near the line of scrimmage turns into a 12-yard gain.
A few things I liked later in the play include Zach Frazier and Spencer Anderson hustling downfield, as well as Darnell Washington finishing his pancake of linebacker Troy Dye just for kicks 12 yards behind the play.
The Steelers would go on to win 20-10.
The moral of the play? Well, split zone can be pretty cool. And players who’ve been on the bad side of offseason roster discourse (Broderick Jones, Cordarrelle Patterson, Connor Heyward) still have some impressive plays on their 2024 tape.
What are your thoughts and takeaways on this random Steelers play? Any suggestions for the series? Join the BTSC community and let us know in the comments!
Think you can figure out which Steelers player we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out in our new guessing game!
Hey Steelers fans! We’re back for another day of the Behind the Steel Curtain in-5 daily trivia game. Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game! Feel free to share your results in the comments and feedback in this Google Form.
The goal of the game is to guess the correct Steelers player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it.
After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will help us improve this game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form.
View of the American flag on the field prior to the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Divisional playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Come and join this merry band of Steelers’ faithful for some lively debate about our Steelers, good food, music, and the merits of the odd cold beverage.
Live from Delaware, it’s Saturday Night! I, NAS204PSU, am here to bring you this Saturday Night Open Thread (aka SNOT).
Holy Blue, what a crazy week to be a Steeler fan. Ramsey and Smith are in, Minka is out. I did not see that coming, the fireworks continue this offseason.
This 6 pack of questions is here to get the conversation going is below, also let us know what you’re eating/drinking!
Give me a stat for 2025 that would make the Jalen Ramsey trade “worth it.”
Jonnu Smith had a breakout year last year. Who do you think gets more TE TDs in 2025: Muuuuuuuuuuth or Jonnuuuuuuu?
3. Now that Minka has returned to Miami, do you think the 2019 trade was a good one? (Steelers gave a 1st, 5th,6th and received Minka, a 4th(Kevin Dotson), 7th (Tre Norwood)
4.Omar Khan signed a 3-year extension. What does he/steelers have do over the next 3 years for Khan to earn another extension?
5. What’s your favorite national park and why?
6. There a lot of pro fireworks displays, but also many amateurs having their own show. What’s your favorite firework to set off yourself?
The NFL’s 2025 HC carousel brought five new sideline leaders; this year’s GM market eventually featured four new hires. Two teams made quick-trigger decisions involving front office bosses this offseason.
Not long after the Raiders fired Antonio Pierce, they booted Tom Telesco — brought in to give the inexperienced HC a seasoned GM — after just one season. New minority ownerTom Brady, who certainly appears to have downplayed his Raiders role in a recent interview, wanted a fresh start. That meant firing Telesco despite the GM’s Brock Bowers draft choice last year. John Spytek, an ex-Brady Michigan teammate who was with the Buccaneers when the team signed the QB icon, replaced him. Formerly the Chargers’ front office boss, Telesco had entered every season in a GM chair since 2013.
Ran Carthon received two years in charge in Tennessee, but owner Amy Adams Strunk — a year after the surprise Mike Vrabel firing — moved on and arranged an interesting power structure this offseason. The Titans installed Chad Brinker, who had been one of Carthon’s two assistant GMs, as president of football operations. The ex-Carthon lieutenant holds final say over new hire Mike Borgonzi, who did run the Titans’ draft this year. Borgonzi, who interviewed for the Jets’ GM job as well, comes over after a lengthy Chiefs tenure.
The in-season Joe Douglas firing brought a Jets GM change for the first time in six years. As Woody Johnson overreach became a regular talking point in New York, the Jets started over with Darren Mougey. Johnson changed up his workflow upon hiring Mougey, however. Rather than the GM directly reporting to the owner (as Douglas had), both Mougey and Aaron Glennwill do so. Mougey, though, does control the roster.
Telesco’s January firing left Trent Baalke as the NFL’s lone second-chance GM. The Jaguars had kept Baalke despite firing Doug Pederson, but as the team’s coaching search brought significant concerns from candidates about the presence of the resilient GM, Shad Khan eventually made a change. This move came after top HC candidate Liam Coeninitially turned down a second interview, doing so after Ben Johnsonconcerns about the situation circulated. Gladstone is now in place as the NFL’s youngest GM, at 34, coming over from the Rams.
This offseason also brought three GM extensions — for Jason Licht, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Omar Khan. Licht is heading into his 12th season at the helm. Adofo-Mensah joined Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell in being extended this offseason. Also a 2022 GM hire/promotion, Khan signed a Steelers extension this week.
Although Jerry Jones and Mike Brown have been in place longer, the Cowboys and Bengals’ owners hold de facto GM titles. Mickey Loomis is not only the longest-tenured pure GM in the NFL; the Saints boss trails only Hall of Famer Tex Schramm as the longest-tenured pure GM in NFL history. Hired four years before Sean Payton in New Orleans, Loomis heads into his 24th season at the controls. Loomis hired his third HC as a GM (Kellen Moore) in February.
Here is how long every GM has been in place across the NFL:
Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989[1]
Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991[2]
Monti Ossenfort (Arizona Cardinals): January 16, 2023
Adam Peters (Washington Commanders): January 12, 2024
Dan Morgan (Carolina Panthers): January 22, 2024
Joe Hortiz (Los Angeles Chargers): January 29, 2024
Eliot Wolf (New England Patriots): May 11, 2024
Mike Borgonzi (Tennessee Titans): January 17, 2025
John Spytek (Las Vegas Raiders): January 22, 2025
Darren Mougey (New York Jets): January 24, 2025
James Gladstone (Jacksonville Jaguars): February 21, 2025
Footnotes:
Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
The Eagles bumped Roseman from the top decision-making post in 2015, giving Chip Kelly personnel power. Roseman was reinstated upon Kelly’s December 2015 firing.
Although Grier was hired in 2016, he became the Dolphins’ top football exec on Dec. 31, 2018
The former second-round pick revealed what ended his 2024 season.
Former Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool announced he’s prepared for an NFL comeback after missing the 2024 season with a torn ligament and tendon in his toe.
Claypool announced the comeback bid in a July 1 Instagram post. He last signed with the Buffalo Bills in May 2024 but was released with an injury settlement in mid-August. Claypool’s post was the first mention of the injury being season-ending.
“It’s been a year since I’ve posted on Instagram, and almost nobody knows what actually happened to me,” wrote Claypool. “Signing with Buffalo was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me. I was the strongest, fastest, and most prepared I had ever been. I was playing my best football — working my way up from LAST (14th) string to taking first-team reps by camp.”
The Steelers drafted Chase Claypool in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. The 6’4, 238-pound receiver ran a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. His career got off to a hot start with an 873-yard, nine-touchdown rookie season, followed up by a 860-yard, two-touchdown sophomore campaign.
Pittsburgh traded Claypool to the Chicago Bears in 2022, receiving the second-round pick the team would use to draft cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
However, Claypool’s production drastically slowed with the Bears, with the receiver logging just 77 yards in 2023. That season, he was traded to the Miami Dolphins in a Day 3 pick swap. The next year, he signed with the Bills on a one-year deal.
Still just 26 years old, Claypool is looking to get another chance in the NFL.
He wrote on Instagram: “I am back to being the strongest and fastest I’ve ever been and couldn’t be more excited to step back out on the field and let my actions speak for themselves.”
Think you can figure out which Steelers player we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out in our new guessing game!
Hey Steelers fans! We’re back for another day of the Behind the Steel Curtain in-5 daily trivia game. Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game! Feel free to share your results in the comments and feedback in this Google Form.
The goal of the game is to guess the correct Steelers player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it.
After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will help us improve this game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form.
Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images
Happy birthday, America.
Welcome back to BTSC’s Friday night open thread:
Thanks for stopping by, to each of you taking the time to check in tonight. I hope everyone’s pets are handling the fireworks well tonight. Thankfully, my Nona doesn’t mind the noise too much as long as she’s inside the house. Speaking of fireworks, let’s have let’s make a game out of all the different types of fireworks. Which fireworks would represent players on the current roster? Ie: Roman Wilson, is a Roman Candle. Make puns or go as in-depth as you like.
Share with us some of your favorite 4th of July traditions or memories.
Do you have any favorite 4th of July-related media? My parents always watch the movie The Patriot. I was always partial to Independence Day.
Song of the Night:This week I’m going with a song from one of my favorite summer movies growing up: The Sandlot. In the movie, this song plays during a scene where the kids go to the eponymous sandlot at night to play during the 4th of July celebrations in their neighborhood. It’s a scene that’s always stuck with me, in no small part due to the legendary Ray Charles. Enjoy and have a safe holiday, everyone!
