Speaker 1: This is live coverage up the twenty twenty six Steelers
Speaker 1: Training Camp or the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bud Light,
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Speaker 3: Good afternoon, Stealer Nation, and welcome to the home stretch
Speaker 3: the final days of our training camp coverage here on
Speaker 3: the campus of Saint Vincent College. Another beautiful day in Latro, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 3: West Schuler Matt Williamson, It is the drive on Steelers
Speaker 3: Nation Radio. You already know the drill and boyd, do
Speaker 3: we have a lot of ground cover today?
Speaker 4: Matt? Yeah, really, we weren't gone that long, but boom
Speaker 4: lots shaking always always covered the next couple days.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, always happens quickly this time of year. We
Speaker 3: are in the final stretch. Just two more practices left,
Speaker 3: of course, Tomorrow Sunday and then Monday, the final one
Speaker 3: here at Saint Vincent College. We've got some things to
Speaker 3: cover from this morning and all the moving and shaking
Speaker 3: over the last couple of days. We of course have
Speaker 3: a preseason game to discuss, as preseason number one is
Speaker 3: in the books. The Steelers victorious twenty eight to nine
Speaker 3: over the Green Bay Packers Thursday night at home at
Speaker 3: Akroscher Stadium. But we begin matt with some big news
Speaker 3: both here on the home front and around the league.
Speaker 3: A couple extensions that we have to discuss to get
Speaker 3: us started.
Speaker 4: Yeah, let's start there. I think that's a good move.
Speaker 3: I think so because we are obviously we'll be sinking
Speaker 3: our teeth into the preseason.
Speaker 4: Stuff and times.
Speaker 3: Exactly right, and there is as pretty positive. Yeah, there's
Speaker 3: a lot of meat on that bone to like, and
Speaker 3: I think a couple coachable things too. That's probably always
Speaker 3: the balance you're looking for if you're Mike McCarthy in company.
Speaker 3: You get out of their healthy there's plenty of good
Speaker 3: and there's still some bad that you can correct.
Speaker 4: Well, there's some of that for sure, And continue.
Speaker 3: And continue to harp on. So plenty of ground to
Speaker 3: cover from what we saw on Thursday night, But some
Speaker 3: news first before we sink our teeth into the preseason
Speaker 3: game number one from Thursday and leading us off here today,
Speaker 3: Matt is a piece of news that I think, Hey,
Speaker 3: We've discussed but was probably a little bit on the
Speaker 3: back burner with everything going on here at camp and
Speaker 3: a lot of attention in terms of the contract conversation
Speaker 3: here in Latrobe around Joey Porter Junior. But another name
Speaker 3: that we had mentioned, defensive tackle Keanu Benton Well. Him
Speaker 3: and the Steelers agreed to a four year, seventy two contract.
Speaker 3: Seventy two million dollar pardon me, contract extension about eighteen
Speaker 3: million per year, will make bent In the highest paid
Speaker 3: defensive lineman in Steelers history.
Speaker 4: Yes, now, I think that's a really good contract. It
Speaker 4: rubs me a little wrong that people keep announcing it
Speaker 4: as the greatest and Steelers history. It's almost like they're
Speaker 4: like Pitt Well. I've heard that from a thousand people,
Speaker 4: because it feels like they're just like poking a fork
Speaker 4: in Cam Heyward's side. Like, I mean, times were different,
Speaker 4: but back in the day, no safety could ask for
Speaker 4: more than Troy, you know what I mean, or you know,
Speaker 4: like there is a pecking order in these rooms, but
Speaker 4: the league is changing so rapidly and the age difference
Speaker 4: and the value. It doesn't mean that he's better than
Speaker 4: cam et cetera, et cetera. But I very much believe
Speaker 4: if he had a season similar to what he's had
Speaker 4: to this point, hits the open market, he's probably at
Speaker 4: twenty three a year. I mean this, there's so many
Speaker 4: teams with so much money and D tackles rightfully, so
Speaker 4: first off, I'm gonna go on a tangent with that.
Speaker 3: We're seeing that price is going up.
Speaker 4: That price is going up, and rightfully so, because we're
Speaker 4: seeing way more too high safeties. We're seeing lighter boxes.
Speaker 4: And the only way what every defense wants to do
Speaker 4: is take away explosives, rush the passer with four, stop
Speaker 4: the run with seven, basically, and D tackles is where
Speaker 4: a lot of that starts. If you can get pass
Speaker 4: rush and I can be very competitive against the run
Speaker 4: while taking away explosives with extra guys over the top,
Speaker 4: you got to invest in defensive tackles. And look at
Speaker 4: the top teams in the league. The Eagles just signed
Speaker 4: two dudes. You know, the guys that were in the
Speaker 4: Super Bowl last year were driven by defensive tackle play. Now,
Speaker 4: I'm not saying Benton's quite to the level of some
Speaker 4: of those guys, but his abilities on par with most
Speaker 4: defensive tackles in the league. And I think we all
Speaker 4: can admit that he's been miscast as a nose for
Speaker 4: much of his career and still been very successful in
Speaker 4: the passing game, so so successful in the run game. Frankly,
Speaker 4: not very successful in the run game with that being
Speaker 4: his calling card, but as a three technique outside shoulder
Speaker 4: of the guard or a four eye that Cam runs
Speaker 4: a lot the inside shoulder of a tackle or moving
Speaker 4: around and you know, getting a little further from the ball.
Speaker 4: I think we're ratching the surface of what he can become.
Speaker 4: And frankly, if he improves, this deal's a bargain. If
Speaker 4: he kind of stays the same, Okay, you're like, that's
Speaker 4: a decent deal, you know, for today's market. But the
Speaker 4: beauty of it, and I said this a lot with
Speaker 4: Herbig and I haven't heard enough people talking about it.
Speaker 4: With the her Big deal. It's a four year deal.
Speaker 4: Do you know what a bargain eighteen million is gonna
Speaker 4: be in three years from now or four years from.
Speaker 3: Now, especially if he's inn above the line. Yeah, even
Speaker 3: gets a little better, even if he's not a superstar,
Speaker 3: even if he's not a pro bowler. If he gets
Speaker 3: a little better, You're two years from now, he's gonna
Speaker 3: be the thirtieth highest paid defensive lineman in the rog right.
Speaker 4: I mean, just the way inflation's going, it might be
Speaker 4: a little high today, tomorrow, it's gonna be a real
Speaker 4: good deal. Three days from now, it's gonna be the
Speaker 4: best bargain in town. And like I'm you know, in
Speaker 4: like three years from now, is Watt and high Smith
Speaker 4: even gonna be here. You're gonna be pretty happy that
Speaker 4: Herbig's locked up for the number he is now. They
Speaker 4: could still hold out or negotiate or whatever if he's
Speaker 4: the best player in the league or whatever. But I
Speaker 4: think this is a great deal for Benton, and I
Speaker 4: think it's a bet on what we can turn him
Speaker 4: into in terms of changing his responsibilities, altering them to
Speaker 4: some degree, and we think the best football's ahead of
Speaker 4: him no matter what. And keep your own. I'm always
Speaker 4: a big fan of keeping your own absolutely.
Speaker 3: I'm with you that original you know that original number.
Speaker 3: You see it and you're like, hey, that's a pretty
Speaker 3: big number.
Speaker 4: Orbic was the same way. I mean, so I want
Speaker 4: to have a conversation with you, maybe even in the
Speaker 4: next segment. But the sticker shock of all these deals
Speaker 4: lately has really been wow. And I'm sure fans are
Speaker 4: responding the same way. You gave that much money to
Speaker 4: a backup outside linebacker. What the heck's going on? It's
Speaker 4: just the league is growing so so fast. And the
Speaker 4: conversation I want to have with you is Adam Schefter
Speaker 4: put out yesterday or the day before. Since we've talked
Speaker 4: about how much the average or how much franchises are
Speaker 4: worth now in the league, cool, they've gone up a
Speaker 4: ridiculous number. The average franchise from last year to this year.
Speaker 4: The average franchise Dallas is like number one. The Patriots
Speaker 4: are three. I think the Rams are two. I'm sure
Speaker 4: the Steelers are somewhere in the middle, maybe a little
Speaker 4: on the lower end or a smaller market. But the
Speaker 4: average NFL franchise has gone up one point five billion
Speaker 4: dollars in terms of value from one year ago.
Speaker 3: That's insane.
Speaker 4: That's insane, and buy me a little time. I gotta
Speaker 4: look something up super quick here, I'm looking for it.
Speaker 4: But you know.
Speaker 3: You know what also too, like we're seeing this across sports,
Speaker 3: but especially in the NFL. I don't know if you
Speaker 3: saw this, Matt, but like in the last week or so,
Speaker 3: the Los Angeles Lakers were sold.
Speaker 4: That's why Schefter kind of piggybacked off of that.
Speaker 3: Right, they were just sold. I think it was a
Speaker 3: little over a year ago, yes, for ten billions.
Speaker 4: And she's insane, insane.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then twelve or thirteen or fourteen months later
Speaker 3: they sold for twelve billion. So in less than a
Speaker 3: year and a half, the price went up two billion dollars.
Speaker 3: And I understand that's the Lakers, but that's an NBA
Speaker 3: frame nothing.
Speaker 4: But they didn't when they didn't go far in the playoffs,
Speaker 4: they didn't win the whole day.
Speaker 3: Haven't been very good for a few years. Then Lebron left.
Speaker 4: He's like the biggest day of the sport and he left,
Speaker 4: and you would think that would hurt the value of it,
Speaker 4: but it doesn't. People are still going and I think
Speaker 4: you exposed this to me months ago, but people are like, oh,
Speaker 4: what up one point five billion. That's okay. I mean
Speaker 4: that doesn't mean you got to throw three extra four
Speaker 4: extra million to Bent and her big, et cetera. Yes
Speaker 4: it does, because you showed me this. I mean, one
Speaker 4: million seconds is eleven points five days.
Speaker 3: This is one of my favorite just general.
Speaker 4: I know I cited all the time.
Speaker 3: I could use it for sports, you could use it
Speaker 3: for economics. It for a million things.
Speaker 4: A million is eleven and a half days. Okay, that
Speaker 4: sounds about right. A billion seconds is just under thirty
Speaker 4: two years. If you're franchise, the average NFL franchise went
Speaker 4: up one point five billion, yep, an extra five million.
Speaker 4: The cap might go up fifty million next year and
Speaker 4: I wouldn't be shocked. I mean, the inflation is not
Speaker 4: even come close to matching going up one point five billion.
Speaker 4: Matt Simon, this is nickels in the couch cushions.
Speaker 3: Someone who's worth one hundred million dollars. Yeah, is a
Speaker 3: lot closer in wealth than you and I to a billionaire.
Speaker 4: Right, Like did Joe average walk in the street, dude
Speaker 4: like us? Right? Exactly right. I mean, so if your franchise,
Speaker 4: on average went up one point five billion in a year.
Speaker 4: This is nothing. Don't even look at the numbers anymore.
Speaker 4: The league is thriving. It's not my money. I mean,
Speaker 4: if mister Rooney or whoever owner doesn't want to give
Speaker 4: players what you know, the market rate, they have every
Speaker 4: right to do it. No one can tell me what
Speaker 4: to do with my money either. But the fact that
Speaker 4: the league, in all these contracts are blowing people away,
Speaker 4: it's still not even keeping up with inflation and what
Speaker 4: the value of the league is. It's I'm closed.
Speaker 3: The Adam Scheffer stat that you reference there, The average
Speaker 3: NFL team is now worth nine point three four billion dollars.
Speaker 3: That's up thirty one percent from last year's average, the
Speaker 3: biggest biggest year to year gained since the valuations launched
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty. Yeah, that's absolutely wild.
Speaker 4: That's absolutely wild. There are now five and multi billion
Speaker 4: dollar organizations going up thirty one percent.
Speaker 3: You said, yeah, thirty one percent. They're the Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 3: now with the highest valuation of fifteen point five billion dollars.
Speaker 3: There are six different NFL teams with over a ten
Speaker 3: billion dollar valuation.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 3: And again, if you would have done a valuation for
Speaker 3: the Lakers, yeah, it would have probably been nine or
Speaker 3: ten billion. They end up selling for twelve. Right, So
Speaker 3: the Cowboys valuation is fifteen and a half. If marry
Speaker 3: Jones and the.
Speaker 4: Jones family, I'm taking offers, it would probably be close
Speaker 4: to twenty at least fifteen, you know, right, you're right?
Speaker 4: Eighteen twenty right, right, right, So it's one of those
Speaker 4: things you can't put a price on it. You're right,
Speaker 4: because you almost can't lose money. I say this all
Speaker 4: the time. I mean, when who is that terrible owner
Speaker 4: for Washington?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, I can see why might I not remember?
Speaker 3: No, yeah, everyone knows you're talking about, right, But.
Speaker 4: He bought the team and sold it for fifteen or
Speaker 4: twenty minutes Snyder, Danis Snyder. He bought the team and
Speaker 4: sold it fifteen or twenty years later or whatever it
Speaker 4: was for billions of dollars of profit, and couldn't have
Speaker 4: been worse at his job. He couldn't have done more
Speaker 4: to make the team worth less and stills killing it.
Speaker 3: Matt, I think you could say the same about the
Speaker 3: owner of our local baseball.
Speaker 4: Club, right, think about it, right?
Speaker 3: I mean, sports valuations across the board have gone up astronomically,
Speaker 3: especially in the National Football League. That is clearly, by far,
Speaker 3: miles and miles ahead, the biggest entertainment vehicle in this country.
Speaker 3: And you're right too to say that that doesn't mean
Speaker 3: that owners just have to start throwing out.
Speaker 4: Money they want with it. There's still a cap.
Speaker 3: But what it also means, and this is something, Arthur,
Speaker 3: this is a Motes line I'm about to drop on
Speaker 3: you on you here that yesterday's price is not today's price.
Speaker 4: Nine closed.
Speaker 3: So just because this defensive tackle last year signed for
Speaker 3: this much and oh my goodness, how can you give
Speaker 3: Benton that much? I don't think Benton's even top fifteen
Speaker 3: painted his position.
Speaker 4: No, I know he's not so right. He's making about
Speaker 4: the same as Wyatt with the Packers who recently signed,
Speaker 4: and you know they both have a lot of talent.
Speaker 3: So if you if you're if your reaction is that's
Speaker 3: a little bit of a risk. I want to see
Speaker 3: a little bit more from him. I think there is
Speaker 3: more juice to squeeze there. But that's a big commitment
Speaker 3: to make before you see that juice. I can understand that, Lodger,
Speaker 3: But if you're like panicking and oh my goodness, why
Speaker 3: are they giving this guy all this money, and what
Speaker 3: the heck is this?
Speaker 4: Yeah, what you're talking about?
Speaker 3: I I think you're missing the forest through the trees.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean because five.
Speaker 3: Years ago, four years ago, three years ago, this would
Speaker 3: have been a huge number.
Speaker 4: Oh, this would have been the same.
Speaker 3: Now it's about a normal number.
Speaker 4: It's a normal number. I mean, I'm old enough. Like
Speaker 4: in the eighties on Sports Illustrated cover first million dollar
Speaker 4: baseball players like Mike Schmid or somebody. You know, Holy cow,
Speaker 4: if someone playing a game is getting a million dollars,
Speaker 4: I'm working hard every day. I'm worth more than them.
Speaker 4: They're not. No one goes to see you play, you know,
Speaker 4: like not everyone across the entire country tunes in to
Speaker 4: see a backup offensive tackle or edge player help you win,
Speaker 4: because those guys are super valuable, and the next one's
Speaker 4: gonna get more, and the next one's gonna get more.
Speaker 4: The inflation is it's not my specially. Don't like talking economics,
Speaker 4: but I I think that if you put it into
Speaker 4: the the account of if teams are going up by
Speaker 4: forty percent, thirty percent on billions to start with an
Speaker 4: extra million here or there for defensive tackle means zero. Again,
Speaker 4: it's a dime you found. It's not even the change
Speaker 4: in my car, my suv. And this is something you
Speaker 4: walk past a penny and not your if you pick
Speaker 4: it up.
Speaker 3: And I also, I think the biggest part of this
Speaker 3: is what he can become.
Speaker 4: That's the beauty of it is.
Speaker 3: Again, if he, if he if Keanu Betton never takes off,
Speaker 3: and let's even say worst case scenario, he kind of
Speaker 3: takes a step back or plateaus, then you're not thrilled.
Speaker 3: Then you're not thrilled. You're this doesn't completely break your
Speaker 3: salary cap structure, but obviously you're not thrilled.
Speaker 4: No, it's not that bad, and it would it'd be a.
Speaker 3: Little not a major setback, but it would certainly be
Speaker 3: a little bit of a setback. But Matt if he
Speaker 3: continues to do what he does, like his first year
Speaker 3: in the league, one sack, second year in the league,
Speaker 3: one sack. Last year he had five and a half. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he went from thirty four and thirty five tackles his
Speaker 3: first two years to fifty one. Last year. He went
Speaker 3: from one TfL and two TFLs to six. Last year,
Speaker 3: he went from eight QB hits to twelve quarterback hits.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, if he just has become a very
Speaker 4: good interior pass rusher and in their gold.
Speaker 3: As we've discussed, if the movement of why a Black
Speaker 3: puts him more in a square peg square hole situation,
Speaker 3: and now he's getting.
Speaker 4: And you're gonna live in nickel. He's one of the
Speaker 4: two on there quite a bit. And Cam's up in age,
Speaker 4: you know, right.
Speaker 3: And now he's getting you seven and a half eight
Speaker 3: nine sacks a year. Like you said, all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: people would look back on this in a year or
Speaker 3: two and go, hey man, that was really good value.
Speaker 3: Good thing you locked him up when you did.
Speaker 4: I think the let alone three or four years, and
Speaker 4: it's a four year deal.
Speaker 3: The potential for this deal to be a nice bargain
Speaker 3: in a year or two I think greatly outweighs the
Speaker 3: potential for this deal to be a.
Speaker 4: Disaster right in a year two. And we can't even
Speaker 4: discuss injuries because any contract, unfortunately, anyone could blow out
Speaker 4: their d at any time, you know, I mean that's
Speaker 4: just the nature of the you know, these investments, they
Speaker 4: are risky in that regard.
Speaker 3: He's missed one game in three years though.
Speaker 4: Right, I mean, I say, he's healthy, he's young. You
Speaker 4: think there's no reason to think decline. In fact, he
Speaker 4: might be on my short list of Steelers ready to
Speaker 4: take the biggest step from last year to this year.
Speaker 4: I mean, we could go through that list. Maybe. I mean,
Speaker 4: that's just off the top of my head. But I
Speaker 4: just think they used it. Like you said, I think
Speaker 4: he's in. I think he's a better and better player.
Speaker 4: Scheme team aside, but now if he continues to get
Speaker 4: better because he's very talented, I mean, and the scheme
Speaker 4: also helps him as opposed to hurting him. Maybe he
Speaker 4: doesn't play as many snaps, but I think he's going
Speaker 4: to be more effective and more valuable.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we've had some of those conversations along the lines
Speaker 3: of you know, who do you think benefits the most
Speaker 3: from the defensive coordinator change from bringing Patrick Graham in?
Speaker 3: And we've talked a lot about the linebackers, and we've
Speaker 3: talked about some maybe Jalen Ramsey type. Sure, maybe Benton
Speaker 3: should have been at the forefront of that conversation too,
Speaker 3: And hopefully we're going to see it here start in September. Yeah,
Speaker 3: there is another big extension around the league that has
Speaker 3: a direct effect to the Pittsburgh Steelers. We're going to
Speaker 3: touch on that and kind of continue this news of
Speaker 3: the day here to get us started, as well as
Speaker 3: getting into obviously plenty of thoughts from the Steelers and
Speaker 3: the Packers on Thursday night. We have a lot to
Speaker 3: cover here. On this Saturday afternoon into the evening edition
Speaker 3: of the Drive was Schueler Matt Williamson. We're here with
Speaker 3: you until six o'clock, just getting started on the campus
Speaker 3: of Saint Vincent College. It's all part of our ongoing
Speaker 3: training camp coverage Steelers Nation Radio on the Steelers Audio Network.
Speaker 1: This is live coverage of the twenty twenty six Steelers
Speaker 1: Training Camp or the Steelers Audio Network, presented by bud Light,
Speaker 1: Easy to Drink, easy.
Speaker 2: To enjoy, and brought to you in part by your.
Speaker 1: Neighborhood Ford Store Creator, Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, First National Bank,
Speaker 1: Let's Get Started Member FDIC West Shore Home Remodeling Reimagine
Speaker 1: by Leecom Digital, Donz Appliances Visit Donzappliances dot Com. Guaranteed
Speaker 1: lowest prices, free next day delivery, CGR Wholesale and by
Speaker 1: Hoss's Steak and Seahouse hass Is his hospitality.
Speaker 3: Rolling along here with a lot of ground to cover,
Speaker 3: a million different topics to hit on. Matt and I
Speaker 3: were joking during the break, some days out here at
Speaker 3: training camp are a little bit like pulling teeth.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: Weather moves the practice inside and we don't get to
Speaker 3: see anything, so we don't really have anything to talk about,
Speaker 3: you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 4: There's not a lot of topics at times.
Speaker 3: But then other times it's like manna from the heavens.
Speaker 3: It's like it's like Christmas morning as a kid. You
Speaker 3: just got stuff to unwrap everywhere. Matt, we haven't even
Speaker 3: before we move on to another big extension from one
Speaker 3: of the league's big name cornerbacks and how that affects,
Speaker 3: of course, the Steelers and Joey Porter Junior. We need
Speaker 3: to make sure to stay in chronological order here because
Speaker 3: we still haven't discussed the reunion, the addition of veteran
Speaker 3: linebacker of Landon Roberts, who reached the Steeler reaching an
Speaker 3: agreement with the Steelers on a one year deal just
Speaker 3: before that preseason game on Thursday, I think it was
Speaker 3: Wednesday evening this news broke. If if I'm remembering.
Speaker 4: Correctly, yes, and I like it quite a bit. I'm
Speaker 4: excited to see him, you know. I mean tomorrow practice
Speaker 4: is probably the best time to see what he's looking like.
Speaker 4: But I love his style of play. I mean, yes,
Speaker 4: he's a limited athlete. He's not the fastest guy. He's
Speaker 4: on a sideline. The sideline, dude. You don't love him
Speaker 4: in coverage or playing in reverse, but he's not awful
Speaker 4: in any of those aspects. He's last in this league
Speaker 4: for a reason. He's not just a big goofy stiff,
Speaker 4: but he plays so hard and blows people up and
Speaker 4: is very ravenesque. And I do think that. I mean,
Speaker 4: say what you want about Queen and especially Wilson, they're
Speaker 4: a little more finesse.
Speaker 3: There, the sideline of sideline, kind of modern linebacker.
Speaker 4: And I wish Wilson could take on blocks, would take
Speaker 4: on blocks, or would be better taking on blocks a
Speaker 4: little better, or blowing up a big guy in the
Speaker 4: hole or whatever. I don't know if I'll ever be
Speaker 4: his game. He's kind of cut high and he's kind
Speaker 4: of leaner. But Roberts is a killer. I mean he
Speaker 4: really is, and I think his plays infectious. I think
Speaker 4: the teammates love him, and I remember Dale and I
Speaker 4: went into detail. When he left, it was like a
Speaker 4: lot of people were bummed, and I kind of was too,
Speaker 4: because I like him being around for a lot of
Speaker 4: reasons that I just mentioned. But at the time, they
Speaker 4: needed Harrison's special teams value and they replaced Harrison basically
Speaker 4: or Roberts with Harrison ya to be the banger, but
Speaker 4: Harrison had more special teams qualities. And I forget what
Speaker 4: linebacker they lost the same year as Roberts, but he
Speaker 4: was also a core special teamer. So Roberts kind of
Speaker 4: killed two birds with one stone, although the on the
Speaker 4: field defensive thumper bird, I think Roberts is better at,
Speaker 4: you know. And but what Roberts do last year played
Speaker 4: for Patrick Rams, right, So not only is he familiar
Speaker 4: with Saint Vincent's and the Rooneys and the Omar and
Speaker 4: the organization from a year removed, but where he went
Speaker 4: on vacation for a year was with like your buddies,
Speaker 4: right right, all right, So I think the team must
Speaker 4: really be happy that he was available. I also think
Speaker 4: Harrison's in trouble now, in desperate trouble, and his contract
Speaker 4: doesn't help. I mean, we've talked about this for months.
Speaker 3: He's making a pretty penny.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he's a five million dollar cap savings,
Speaker 4: and I thought he might get cut right at free
Speaker 4: agency opening, but I guess they never quite needed the
Speaker 4: money and they didn't see a replacement. But that still
Speaker 4: applies now. Just because he lasted during the summer doesn't
Speaker 4: mean you can't still make make him, you know, save
Speaker 4: a little buck. And I don't know what Roberts is making,
Speaker 4: but I'm sure it's less. It's probably League miniment.
Speaker 3: I was going to say, I haven't seen that number. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it was a one year, three million dollar contract last
Speaker 3: year with the Raiders. You can't I was going to say,
Speaker 3: I can't imagine that that's been drastically reduced or that
Speaker 3: he's gotten much more than that. I would imagine it's
Speaker 3: around that same kind of neighborhood. Yeah, yeah, and yeah,
Speaker 3: that's a little less than Malik Harrison. You could save
Speaker 3: some money there. I think Cole Holcomb right is probably
Speaker 3: firmly entrenched. I think as as as you're you know,
Speaker 3: kind of three four wherever you want to put him,
Speaker 3: And then Carson Brunner is your fifth guy who's really
Speaker 3: the special court.
Speaker 4: He played a lot on defense this week, but I'm
Speaker 4: not sure you should do in real life.
Speaker 3: Right and during the preseason that's where you get those
Speaker 3: get those reps in and get him out there. But yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm like I think for Malik Harrison, it is it
Speaker 3: is uh time to be on high a art because
Speaker 3: Alan and Roberts, like you said, especially if you view
Speaker 3: Malik Harrison, that you don't need that special team's prowess
Speaker 3: that he offers because you're gonna get it from Carson
Speaker 3: Brunner and Travis Homer and Ben Scronick.
Speaker 4: And there's some new names, but there's still plenty of contributors.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, we've lost some of those names and the
Speaker 3: Miles kill a Bruise and the Conner and the Connor Heywards, but.
Speaker 4: You've brought you drafted a couple, and you drafted.
Speaker 3: A couple two. Very very good point by you there.
Speaker 3: So yeah, this one made a lot of sense. And
Speaker 3: I just I like the cut of his jib compared
Speaker 3: to what you have. You need the you need thunder
Speaker 3: and you need lightning in modern linebacker rooms, and maybe
Speaker 3: they had a little too much lightning. Now they bring
Speaker 3: in some big thunder that they're familiar with and as
Speaker 3: you mentioned, familiar with Patrick Graham. Maybe even that's great
Speaker 3: to have a guy in the room who spent a
Speaker 3: whole year with him and speaks his language and knows
Speaker 3: his system and all that stuff to kind of, you know,
Speaker 3: be that.
Speaker 4: I'm already exactly yeah right, yeah, exactly right, and he
Speaker 4: knows everything around the organization and he knows the defense,
Speaker 4: which is great. Kind of shocked you was still out there.
Speaker 4: I didn't know. Maybe there was an injury looming or something,
Speaker 4: or maybe the stewer has been talking to him for
Speaker 4: a while and he didn't want to go through all
Speaker 4: the dog days of camp and his career, and a
Speaker 4: lot of those guys do that. Right in the locker
Speaker 4: room is on just before us, and you know, they
Speaker 4: the door open. I was listening to Max and Rob
Speaker 4: chat a little bit about this, and Max's analogy was, Hey,
Speaker 4: when I go down to my U my work bench,
Speaker 4: I need a variety of tools. And he was pretty
Speaker 4: much implying what you just said that I okay, And
Speaker 4: he's used screwdriver as example. He's like, I got a
Speaker 4: couple of Phillips heads, a couple of Yeah, I had
Speaker 4: a couple of flatheads and I got ones. You don't
Speaker 4: have many of that. That one that you can you
Speaker 4: pull it out and you flip it around and it
Speaker 4: fits everything. That's Fred Warner, you know. That's that's our lacker.
Speaker 4: You know, like there's just not many of those in
Speaker 4: the linebacker position. There's gonna be situations goal line, you know,
Speaker 4: Tush push stuff, Raven's week, or you know someone is
Speaker 4: playing a lot of heavy personnel that maybe that's not
Speaker 4: a Wilson week. I mean, I don't think he's a
Speaker 4: you know, just assured himself that you can never take
Speaker 4: him off the field type of guy. Se Injuries are
Speaker 4: gonna settle in. There's gonna be times you're gonna call
Speaker 4: on Robert's skill set to be the hammer, you know,
Speaker 4: and I think he's a good one.
Speaker 3: Especially those two games against Baltimore that you mentioned at
Speaker 3: Philadelphia around Thanksgiving as a potential Roberts game. Maybe those
Speaker 3: Browns matchups too, with how they're gonna try and run
Speaker 3: the football and protect their quarterbacks this year.
Speaker 4: I mean even Atlanta, you might want to beg them
Speaker 4: to throw and just try everything possible to bang on Beijon,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 3: It makes sense. It's a guy who's familiar with the team,
Speaker 3: a guy who's familiar with the defensive coordinator and brings
Speaker 3: a little something different than what you have in that
Speaker 3: linebacker room.
Speaker 4: If you think he's better than Harrison and cheaper than Harrison,
Speaker 4: well then it's a no brainer.
Speaker 3: It's a no brainer. And I think we're probably on
Speaker 3: that page. And yeah, I think I am as long
Speaker 3: as as long as he's got a clean bill of
Speaker 3: health and ready to rock and roll, We'll await to
Speaker 3: see the return of Alanta Roberts in the return of
Speaker 3: some physicality of that linebacker room for sure, Matt real quick.
Speaker 3: Before we move on to the Witherspoon contract here, we
Speaker 3: do have the return of the green line painting robot
Speaker 3: on the far side of the field. First time we've
Speaker 3: seen first time we've seen the line painting robots since
Speaker 3: what the acclamation period.
Speaker 4: That has been a while. He's been on the pup lists.
Speaker 4: He looked. I think he was in a little trouble
Speaker 4: that first go round.
Speaker 3: I think so too. I think he was in the
Speaker 3: doghouse for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 4: He's knocked out five or six lines though, And yeah,
Speaker 4: in midfield.
Speaker 3: There's one there that's a little lighter than the others,
Speaker 3: but across the board pretty solid.
Speaker 4: They just made a little adjustment to him. Yeah, give
Speaker 4: him a little coaching out. He's doing all right.
Speaker 3: He's doing all right. We'll keep we'll keep an eye
Speaker 3: on the look.
Speaker 4: Hopes for him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, he's young, he's trying to cut his
Speaker 3: short out here at say, I mean first round pick.
Speaker 3: He might not make the fifty three, but you know,
Speaker 3: he's going to be around practice squad and we'd certainly
Speaker 3: like to see him back here next year.
Speaker 4: He's definitely on of those guys. I sure hope he's
Speaker 4: here next year.
Speaker 3: Matt that I sure hope next year Joey Porter Junior
Speaker 3: is still here. And even if he doesn't sign on
Speaker 3: tract extension, I guess there's still an avenue. You know,
Speaker 3: there's franchise tag and things like that that could be used.
Speaker 3: But we are starting to get up close to the
Speaker 3: eleven hour and more of these deals done for corners
Speaker 3: around the NFL.
Speaker 4: We haven't talked Porter that much, you know, he's just
Speaker 4: kind of he's been on pop. He's not out here.
Speaker 4: I'm sure he could play if he had to, If
Speaker 4: this was week one. Blah blah blah, Witherspoon. I did
Speaker 4: not see the numbers, but I'm sure they're large. You know,
Speaker 4: the headlines are bringing up Gonzalez more of a you know,
Speaker 4: piggyback off the Witherspoon contract than Porter, and I do
Speaker 4: think Gonzalez is worth more than Porter, and probably worth
Speaker 4: more than just about every Corner League other than three
Speaker 4: or four of them. Maybe Witherspoon's weird though, I mean,
Speaker 4: he's not like Gonzales in Porter though. I mean he's
Speaker 4: closer to Ramsey and as a slot and do it
Speaker 4: all and a really really important player on one of
Speaker 4: the best defenses and Super Bowl champions in the league.
Speaker 4: So I'm not saying he's not worth the money. He's
Speaker 4: worth a ton, And those slot guys are worth more
Speaker 4: and more and more and more too, and people are
Speaker 4: using higher picks and more resources on him. But I
Speaker 4: don't know how this influences the Porter talks. I think
Speaker 4: the Gonzalez contract would influence it more so. I've been
Speaker 4: given to some thought they're so rich at Corner what
Speaker 4: if a deal doesn't get done. I'm not saying you
Speaker 4: field offers Reporter. I think you keep the corner position
Speaker 4: of strength, and I am a big fan of his work.
Speaker 4: But if it got ugly, and contracts have over the
Speaker 4: years in the NFL, I demand a trade. I think
Speaker 4: you could weather that and still be pretty good at corner,
Speaker 4: and you'd get a lot for the player. I don't
Speaker 4: think that's what anybody wants to do, and it would
Speaker 4: not be I mean my last resort avenue, don't get
Speaker 4: me wrong. But you also have him under contract this year.
Speaker 4: I think he's certainly good enough to be in the
Speaker 4: franchise conversation after the year. So maybe there's not as
Speaker 4: big a rush from the organization. There probably is more
Speaker 4: of rush, reporter. I'd like that big signing bonus. You know,
Speaker 4: I've seen all these guys sign for twenty plus million.
Speaker 4: I want to do that now as opposed to play
Speaker 4: out this year. Maybe I blow out of knee or something.
Speaker 4: And I do think the Steelers clearly are stressing big
Speaker 4: pressman corners, yes, and they're going to do more of that.
Speaker 4: They're also going to play more too high and cover
Speaker 4: four and cover six, which turns into a version of
Speaker 4: man as well from those outside guys, but league wide,
Speaker 4: the league's playing more zone than ever, and it's not
Speaker 4: really his specialty. I'm not saying he's bad at it,
Speaker 4: but he's more of a pressman corner. And I think
Speaker 4: that's why the Steelers want to play more pressman, because
Speaker 4: then preparing for the Steelers is harder than Joe average team.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's just like the Patrick Ricard stuff with
Speaker 4: the Darknet Washington stuff I talk about all the time. Yeah,
Speaker 4: if you're different, people think you got a whole week
Speaker 4: to prepare, you do, but it's that week goes fast.
Speaker 3: You've only got so much time that you're allowed to
Speaker 3: get those situation.
Speaker 4: If it's like, man, we're gonna see twenty percent more
Speaker 4: man coverage than we usually do, we gotta change our
Speaker 4: practice habits, you know. So I think that's what the
Speaker 4: Steelers are looking for. But there's still probably gonna be
Speaker 4: like a sixty percent zone team. And I think he's
Speaker 4: a very good man cover corner. I think he's an
Speaker 4: above average zone corner. So what's that worth to you though?
Speaker 4: You know what I mean? Like, you can see why
Speaker 4: contracts could get sticky with him right now. Yes, because
Speaker 4: he probably wants top five money. They're probably saying we're
Speaker 4: going to give you top fifteen money and to probably
Speaker 4: settle somewhere in between, or maybe yeah, and it's contentious.
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 3: As you've mentioned, there's that thirty million dollar class that
Speaker 3: now includes Witherspoon and Ward and McDuffie's Witherspoon saw us
Speaker 3: he is thirty three million a year. He's now the
Speaker 3: highest paid in the National Football League. Four years, one
Speaker 3: hundred and thirty two million, over one hundred and one
Speaker 3: of that guaranteed now the highest paid corner in NFL history.
Speaker 3: I certainly think your Gonzales common is spot on. We
Speaker 3: heard from Robert Kraft, I mean, I say we like
Speaker 3: he spoke to you, and I upper Craft, the owner
Speaker 3: of the Patriots, stated publicly.
Speaker 4: Like two weeks ago it was a while ago.
Speaker 3: That they had made Gonzales an offer that would make
Speaker 3: him the highest paid corner in NFL history. Maybe he's
Speaker 3: sitting there now and he's going, I'll just wait, yesterday's
Speaker 3: price is not today's price.
Speaker 4: Exactly right, rewind half an hour in our conversation, the
Speaker 4: million billion conversation, et cetera. And one other note about
Speaker 4: corner before I've slipped my mind though too. It is
Speaker 4: a volatile position.
Speaker 3: No doubt, real roller coaster a lot.
Speaker 4: I think investing in like her Big Benton, you pretty
Speaker 4: much know what they are year to year. But I
Speaker 4: think the further you get away from the ball, especially
Speaker 4: at Corner, unless you're certain or some total superstar, it
Speaker 4: can be a little more volatile.
Speaker 3: I do agree with that. I will say though, that
Speaker 3: Joey Porter Junior just turned twenty six, and I think
Speaker 3: he's really valuable. I think he's very valuable. And this
Speaker 3: is easy for me to say, but when you look
Speaker 3: at kind of that cornerback pecking order, now there's those
Speaker 3: what is it, there's those five guys that are in
Speaker 3: the thirty million plus club.
Speaker 4: Three of them are new. I mean there was only
Speaker 4: two whenever we started convers.
Speaker 3: Exactly right, and there'll be a sixth guy that's going
Speaker 3: to enter that thirty million zales. But then there's that
Speaker 3: gap where the next group doesn't start till twenty five million.
Speaker 4: It's a big gap.
Speaker 3: It's easy for Matt, I will be the I'm gonna
Speaker 3: state this big bold all caps letters. This is very
Speaker 3: easy for me to say, but I would think that
Speaker 3: bang that's where Joey Porter Junior slots in, is right
Speaker 3: right in between that upper tier and the next group.
Speaker 3: But again, that's that's easy for me to say. I'm
Speaker 3: not the one in the negotiations knowing what he's demanding,
Speaker 3: knowing what the Steelers want to pay, and how you
Speaker 3: find that middle ground.
Speaker 4: I would think if it's twenty six twenty seven, I
Speaker 4: think that's where you're shooting. Yes both team, both team
Speaker 4: and players should say yes to that. I'm not a
Speaker 4: contract expert by any stretch, and I've never been a
Speaker 4: part of negotiations in any way, but I do know
Speaker 4: when the contract, when there's not a comp contract in
Speaker 4: the league and there isn't that they're they're that they're
Speaker 4: that player does not exist right now, it gets sticky
Speaker 4: because everyone works off of comps, you know, and that
Speaker 4: that player just doesn't exist right now.
Speaker 3: The one thing that I wanted to make sure to
Speaker 3: mention too is you kind of you outlined a minute
Speaker 3: ago about potential scenarios where if this gets ugly, or
Speaker 3: even if it doesn't, they're just, you know, from a
Speaker 3: business perspective, they they're they are not they're not on
Speaker 3: the same page. I don't think that that would be
Speaker 3: the worst thing ever, but man, it like we have
Speaker 3: just been this cornerback room, it'd be like this.
Speaker 4: I know, like four steps forward, three back.
Speaker 3: It would be like this. It'd be kind of similar
Speaker 3: to the wide receiver room. If all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: and I know that this doesn't this isn't a this
Speaker 3: isn't an apples to apples comparison, because you just added Pittman.
Speaker 3: But it'd be like if all of a sudden you
Speaker 3: wanted to get rid of Pittman or get rid of
Speaker 3: DK Metcalf. When it finally seems like you've been turning stones.
Speaker 4: Which in a bit it kind of felt like last year.
Speaker 4: It's like when you got Metcalf and Pickings, It's like, oh,
Speaker 4: now we're talking, and then oh I could picture these
Speaker 4: guys together. And then you get into the sea.
Speaker 3: Yes, but and then you get into but you never
Speaker 3: really replaced them. And then you get into the season
Speaker 3: and all of a sudden you're one at that position
Speaker 3: group and.
Speaker 4: It's like this feels like last year in the year
Speaker 4: before and the year before and year before, like it
Speaker 4: was fixed. Why did you turn away from it?
Speaker 3: I'm stoked about Jamel Dean, but as you've pointed out,
Speaker 3: he's got a history of leaving games early and not
Speaker 3: being the most durable guy. I'm stoked on Dyalen Everett.
Speaker 3: He's still a third round rookie who hasn't played an
Speaker 3: NFL regular season game. I really like what we've seen
Speaker 3: from Assante Samuel Junior.
Speaker 4: He's been tremendous.
Speaker 3: Tremendous.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he also must get on the field in some way,
Speaker 4: and I'm not sure how does that do it.
Speaker 3: He also, though, is not Joey Porter junior six to
Speaker 3: two hundred pounds.
Speaker 4: No, And he also had a major neck injury just
Speaker 4: a year ago. Round.
Speaker 3: So I just I find and then you add in
Speaker 3: all the backdrop stuff, and I know that this some
Speaker 3: people pooh pooh or blow their nose at this, but
Speaker 3: I think for the Steelers organization, this stuff has always
Speaker 3: mattered a guy who grew up twenty minutes north of
Speaker 3: the stadium, it does, played high school football in your backyard,
Speaker 3: played college football at Penn State. His dad's in the
Speaker 3: Ring of Honor and is a Super Bowl champion and
Speaker 3: is one of the more legendary not the most, but
Speaker 3: his dad is certainly one of the more iconic in
Speaker 3: the regard iconic members of the of the organization. He
Speaker 3: was the leader of that Super Bowl fifty team, all
Speaker 3: those Hall of famers. Joey Porter was the leader of
Speaker 3: that Super Bowl sorry, super Bowl forty team, not super
Speaker 3: Bowl fifty part of me, the one for the Thumt
Speaker 3: Jerome Bettist team. I just find a, I find a.
Speaker 3: I would find it very hard to turn my back
Speaker 3: on all that. And as you always say, like, go
Speaker 3: fish at what you could get for Joey Porter. Could
Speaker 3: he could he fall off a cliff for all these
Speaker 3: different things. I just I would be hard pressed to
Speaker 3: find a scenario where I'm not trying to get this
Speaker 3: dude locked up, and I'm not trying to get it done,
Speaker 3: you know, before September, or at least the first week
Speaker 3: in September, before you get to the regular.
Speaker 4: And it would be a different story if you know,
Speaker 4: he goes into the year, they can't get a deal done.
Speaker 4: He has a good season and they're still far apart,
Speaker 4: and you're like, well, I'm gonna trade Porter in my
Speaker 4: first to get the eight to get my quarterback, all
Speaker 4: right now, Sorry, but that doesn't happen in August.
Speaker 3: You know, as we sit here now, I don't seek
Speaker 3: comfort in any in any outcome that ends up with
Speaker 3: Joey Porter Junior not being a Pittsburgh Steel No.
Speaker 4: And the more I watch this team, I think they
Speaker 4: can contend this year. I don't want to get I
Speaker 4: mean like the Bucks don't want to trade Vdavea. They
Speaker 4: want to win the division.
Speaker 3: Yes, and so obviously we'll continue to monitor that. You're
Speaker 3: right though, and it's been quiet in that rule that one.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and now with Benton signed, I feel like laser
Speaker 4: focus over there now because there's no one else looming
Speaker 4: that I know of. I mean maybe Anderson or Cooker,
Speaker 4: but they wouldn't be hard hard to deal with.
Speaker 3: And I understand again I'm not directly comparing apples to apples,
Speaker 3: but I think of some of these past negotiations, like
Speaker 3: when it was TJ's training camp to get extended, and
Speaker 3: you heard about that every single day, and I think
Speaker 3: that's a defensive player of the year and a very
Speaker 3: high pro. Again, I know that's not apples to apples,
Speaker 3: but it even felt like quiet. It even felt like
Speaker 3: with the high Smith extensions, with the Friarmoth extensions that
Speaker 3: we've seen in the last year or two, that there was.
Speaker 4: More had some issues, there.
Speaker 3: Was more kind of daily updates of oh they're getting close,
Speaker 3: and this is what one and this is what the
Speaker 3: other side wants. It's been church Mouse on Joey Porter
Speaker 3: Junior these last couple of weeks and who knows. I
Speaker 3: don't know.
Speaker 4: And I know organizations usually have a and it doesn't
Speaker 4: mean you're better or worse, but I think that they
Speaker 4: also get an order of operations of well, we'll come
Speaker 4: back to you as soon as we get Keanu done,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, Like usually they focus on one.
Speaker 4: Now I'm not daring free agency when there's a million
Speaker 4: balls in the air, but in this time of year,
Speaker 4: and it's like, let's get the agent in here, sit down,
Speaker 4: spend forty eight hours with him, or twenty four hours
Speaker 4: with them, go to dinner, knock this thing out. Then
Speaker 4: get Joey's agent in here tomorrow. Or you know, there's
Speaker 4: only so much time in the day. I mean, Omar's busy,
Speaker 4: and like people forget these things, you know.
Speaker 3: Witherspoon though now the highest paid thirty three million per year,
Speaker 3: a little bit ahead of Denzel Ward and Trent McDuffie,
Speaker 3: and then of course Sauce Garner and Derek Stanley Junior
Speaker 3: who are part of that thirty million plus club.
Speaker 4: I think he's better than Warder McDuffie, different, but more valuable, younger.
Speaker 3: And I understand those guys are a little bit more
Speaker 3: proven at that the point in their career, but yeah,
Speaker 3: I just again won that you. And then maybe that's
Speaker 3: the last piece of this, Matt And maybe like the
Speaker 3: North Allegheny and the Penn State and who his father
Speaker 3: is stuff, maybe this shouldn't matter either, But when was
Speaker 3: the last time the Steelers drafted and developed the guy
Speaker 3: like this at that position? I know, Ike Taylor's frustrated, right,
Speaker 3: And then Cam Sutton was a solid player, but he's
Speaker 3: not Joey.
Speaker 4: Porter junior some of those someone.
Speaker 3: Like It's been a long time since you've drafted and
Speaker 3: developed one of those guys on your own. You have
Speaker 3: turned over a lot of stones in that cornerback room
Speaker 3: trying to find the right mix of veterans and young players.
Speaker 4: And it looks like you did.
Speaker 3: It looks like you did. And let's not throw out
Speaker 3: the baby with the bathwater here at the eleventh hour,
Speaker 3: and it could happen tonight, maybe it will may by
Speaker 3: the time we get off there today it does. We'll
Speaker 3: continue to keep an eye on that the Gonzales contract
Speaker 3: and how all these things play out in the coming weeks.
Speaker 3: West Ruler Matt Williamson, We're gonna finally start getting to
Speaker 3: some preseason conversation when we return a lot of balls
Speaker 3: in play here on this show today, Matt, certainly, don't
Speaker 3: you dare go anywhere with you until six o'clock. All
Speaker 3: part of our training camp coverage Steelers Nation Radio on
Speaker 3: the Steelers Audio Network.
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Speaker 3: The final segment here of the first hour, of course,
Speaker 3: a three hour edition of the Drive here. We've only
Speaker 3: got a couple more of those Matt this and more
Speaker 3: this and two more Sunday show of course tomorrow. You
Speaker 3: know what they say, you remember this from last year.
Speaker 3: Never miss a Sunday show. Remember that's the old Grateful
Speaker 3: Dead thing we had this. Why do I know that,
Speaker 3: Like once a tour the Grateful Dead would play a
Speaker 3: Sunday show and it would always be like something crazy
Speaker 3: happens at the Sunday shows, like some special guest would
Speaker 3: come out, or they play some song that they haven't
Speaker 3: played in twelve years. You know, never miss a Sunday show. Folks.
Speaker 4: Are they rarer than Monday, Tuesday Wednesday shows? Yes? Okay,
Speaker 4: so they intentionally don't play a lot of Sunday show correct.
Speaker 3: Correct, It would only be like once a tour you
Speaker 3: know where they do like Buckeye Lake on like a Friday, Saturday,
Speaker 3: Sunday or something Sunday. You were there for the past
Speaker 3: some days. So yes, never miss a Sunday show tomorrow
Speaker 3: and then our final, our final train camp show here
Speaker 3: from St. Vincent College on Monday, and then it is
Speaker 3: in the books, Matt, we only have a couple of
Speaker 3: minutes to in this segment to kind of reset We
Speaker 3: had two beefy ones. Yeah, so much going on we
Speaker 3: want need to discuss. We were going to hit the
Speaker 3: preseason game heavy here in the four o'clock hour. But first, Matt,
Speaker 3: just a couple of loose ends to tie up around
Speaker 3: the conversations we've had in the first hour. According to
Speaker 3: Adam Schefter, just this afternoon, now that Witherspoon's deal is done,
Speaker 3: the market is being reset for Christian Gonzalez, who wants
Speaker 3: an upgraded deal from the Patriots. The Patriots and Gonzalez
Speaker 3: have not made much progress so far, so not just
Speaker 3: here in Pittsburgh. Are we talking about timelines for extensions
Speaker 3: for defensive backs.
Speaker 4: And a lesser one that people don't seem to be
Speaker 4: talking about either is DJ Turner with the Bank with
Speaker 4: the Bengals. Yeah. Yeah, he was also a first round
Speaker 4: pick like Gonzalez, so there's that fifty year option situation.
Speaker 4: But he's a very good player, and I would think
Speaker 4: he comes in a little less. Porter comes in a
Speaker 4: little lesson Gonzalez, but maybe just one of those three
Speaker 4: dominant need to fall.
Speaker 3: I was just maybe if Turner signs the twenty six
Speaker 3: year and then all of a sudden, the quarter can
Speaker 3: slot in a little bit, give me twenty seven. And
Speaker 3: then two injury notes that have been released here in
Speaker 3: the last couple hours as well. The first Jeremiah Love's
Speaker 3: gonna miss at least a week with a sore ankle
Speaker 3: from Thursday night's preseason game against the Raiders.
Speaker 4: He played a lot in that game and to look good,
Speaker 4: But what are we doing here? He's like at points,
Speaker 4: he's like lowering his shoulders, spinning on dudes and jumping
Speaker 4: through the air, and he's really fun to watch, But like,
Speaker 4: you got a million backs and you're not gonna win
Speaker 4: anything this year? Does he really need to play that much?
Speaker 3: In the middle of the Steelers game, mad, like halftime
Speaker 3: or during one of the breaks, I'm kind of just
Speaker 3: looking at some of the other preseason stuff real quickly,
Speaker 3: and I see this hot Someone's like, oh, Jeremiah loves
Speaker 3: running like Adrian Peterson. And it's him like putting his
Speaker 3: shoulder down.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, And I'm like, great, that's phenomenal.
Speaker 3: Why are we doing that? On August thirteenth, thirty days
Speaker 3: till the regular season starts. Man, keep this guy healthy,
Speaker 3: so doesn't sound like anything serious, but he's to miss
Speaker 3: at least a week with a sore ankle from Thursday night.
Speaker 4: I was talk about this on another podcasts. I'm like,
Speaker 4: maybe that's good. So they shut him down and don't
Speaker 4: beat the crap out on the next two preseason game.
Speaker 3: Could be a blessing in disguise. Yeah, And then speaking
Speaker 3: of Arizona, this is unfortunate. This one just a couple
Speaker 3: of minutes ago across the timeline rookie offensive line Chase Pistontis,
Speaker 3: who we spent plenty of time discussing as the Steelers
Speaker 3: possibility very early second round pick on season ending injured reserve,
Speaker 3: he tore his MCO.
Speaker 4: I mean, they have a lot of problems on that team,
Speaker 4: but it looked like guard with him and Seamaloo could
Speaker 4: be a real nice, old young compliment, you know, and
Speaker 4: set up well at bringing that leader to the offensive
Speaker 4: line room that we knew Isaac was when he was here.
Speaker 4: And then the next potentially really good slash great, you
Speaker 4: know offensive lineman to pair with Paris Johnson and man
Speaker 4: some of these injuries to young guys that you're super
Speaker 4: excited about the teams are counting on to be Day
Speaker 4: one starters are just crucial and there's there's no way
Speaker 4: to really make up for it.
Speaker 3: No, there is not, so some us that is a bummer.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 3: You hate to see anybody, but especially young guys pick
Speaker 3: up a season ending injury so quickly into their career.
Speaker 3: But all the best for him and hopefully for a
Speaker 3: full recovery as again though, Yeah, that's one of the
Speaker 3: few areas that it felt like the Cardinals could hang
Speaker 3: their hat.
Speaker 4: On this year. Yeah and really grow.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, that offensive line and that offense. But
Speaker 3: a setback for bestontist for sure that you hate to
Speaker 3: see there. That's an hour in the books, folks. We've
Speaker 3: got two more hours to go, and I promise when
Speaker 3: we return, we are going to get into the weeds.
Speaker 3: We're gonna get heavy into everything from that Steelers preseason
Speaker 3: victory twenty eight to nine over the Packers on Thursday night.
Speaker 3: An hour in the books, two more hours to go,
Speaker 3: Eu'ler Williamson. It's the Drive Steelers Nation Radio on the
Speaker 3: Steelers Audio Network.