March 11, 2025 • 25 mins
Labs and Tom remember the great Craig Wolfley, talk about free agency and answer this weeks questions
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is asked and answered question with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Free agency is officially upon us in the NFL. Deals
have been agreed upon can become official on Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
But before we get to all of that, all of
us here.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
In Steelers Nation are still mourning after the loss of
Craig Wolfley over the weekend. We found out the news
yesterday morning, Monday morning, and Labs that you knew him
as a player and then as a broadcaster for the Steelers.
A great friend and colleague to you. I cut my
teeth in this industry working on Tounch and Wolf's show.
That was really my first gig. So he was just
(00:40):
such a great mentor and a friend to me as well.
He's going to be sorely, sorely missed moving forward.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, I mean, yesterday was a tough day. And you know,
the thing about wolf is, above all he was just
a great human being and anything, anything you want to
(01:09):
talk about about him, you know, kind of always comes
down to that. You know, his his abilities as a
player were what they were. He was a team guy,
but always you know, for example, Edmund Nelson, who was
(01:34):
a defensive tackle drafted by the Steelers in nineteen eighty two.
You know, he told the story about, you know, his
first day at training camp. You know, Chuck Noll always
started with the Oklahoma drill, so the first day that
(01:54):
the veterans showed up, Edmund said, you know, his his
first matchup was with Wolf, you know, and Chuck used
to do like two or three snaps of each matchup,
and he said, the first snap he Wolf body slammed me.
The second snap, Eye body slammed him, he said, and
(02:16):
then we just went at it and they fought, and
they went at each other the whole the whole practice.
And he said, after practice was over, he said, we
were both so tired and beat up. Wolf came over.
He put his arm around me. I put my arm
around him, and we helped each other up the steps
(02:36):
back to the locker room, and you know we were
friends ever since. And so, you know, that's the kind
of that's the kind of guy he was. You know,
he was not someone to be messed with. But then
at the end, if you were interested, he was your
friend for life. And did a lot of work with
(03:01):
him on the radio night shows during the season on
the South Side and I'll tell you what. Walking to
your car. Uh, you know some of those shows ended
at nine o'clock walking to your car after the show
in the dark. It was it was there was a
(03:25):
comfort and say, right, Wolf would say, let's walk together.
I mean, I don't know if I ever felt as
safe as I did as when I was doing that
with him, And so, you know, I don't know, I
you can. I'm a big fan of him, the kind
(03:47):
of man he was, and it's just it's just so
sad that he's not going to be around anymore. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Absolutely, just like you said, such a great man. And
I'm lucky that I got to know him. You got
to know him that That's how I think everybody who
got to know him feels very lucky that they were
able to experience him in their lives. I know Wolf
would want us to talk about football today too. He'd
be excited about what's happening this week and laps. He'd
be excited about this wide receiver that the Steelers just got.
Dk Metcalf is cut right out of Wolf's cloth, I
(04:16):
think as a big boy.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, and you know, one of the things about Wolf,
you know, he was known a lot about for his
making up words to you know, slobord knockers and trickeration
and you know, all of those kinds of things when
he was, you know, doing his radio work. But the
(04:43):
man knew his football and he he just he loved
and respected the Steelers, and so anything the Steelers did,
he thought it was great. And that wasn't an act.
I mean, he wasn't doing that. He generally genuinely believe that.
And so yeah, I'm sure he would be excited about
(05:06):
Dk Metcalf because you know, DK Metcalf is a physical
guy and he's not afraid to use his size and
strength at his position, which is you know, in Steelers history.
I don't know about size and strength comparison, but heins
Ward was a guy not as big. Maybe pound for
(05:31):
pound he was as strong, I don't know, but heinz
Ward was a guy who played wide receiver in a
very physical and aggressive manner, kind of you would say,
with maybe a defensive player's mindset. And so yeah, you know,
that's that's that's a pretty exciting acquisition. And let me
(05:53):
just use that move kind of to explain a little
bit here before we get into the questions. This is
a very this free NFL free agency, and we're we're
still in the tampering period. Okay, this is this is Tuesday,
March eleventh, you know, shortly before ten in the morning.
We're doing this right now, and this this changes. This
(06:15):
is fluid. It changes hourly sometimes, you know, half hourly,
and so a lot of these questions that we're going
to deal with might seem old at the time, and
I'll try and put them into context with where we
are now in terms of my answers. But people just
(06:37):
have to understand, I mean, there's this is this is
very fluid, and commenting on a situation now. In a
half an hour from now, that situation could have changed dramatically,
and so all I just keep going back and remembering,
you know, naturally a lot of questions about the quarterback
(06:59):
situation last year at his time, I think, you know,
the before before free agency began, we were all thinking
it was going to be Kenny Pickett and how they
were gonna, you know, build a team around him, and
what kind of steps was he going to take in
his you know, third season, and you know all of
(07:20):
that stuff. Then you know, I don't know, was it
forty eight to seventy two hours later he wasn't even
on the roster. So you know, I don't know what
I know. Fans want answers, and you know I would
like some too, but it's you got to let it
(07:40):
play out, and you really can't evaluate or assess where
they are until it's over, you know, until you kind
of get through the whatever the mania that seems to
be going on right now. So let's do our best
on these questions. And you know, wolf we mission.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I don't know what else to say, absolutely rest in peace,
Craig wolf Lee. Let's start with Timothy Downey from darry Pennsylvania.
He is our first question today. In your opinion, do
you think the Steelers are making a mistake by not
being more aggressive and trying to sign Justin Fields. There
are a few teams with interests that could lure him away,
or do the Steelers feel Fields just doesn't have starting
quarterback potential.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
We know which team that was that lured him away.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Now, right, and you know, don't I don't know that
the Steelers deserve blame for quote unquote not being aggressive
enough in trying to sign Justin Fields. I do believe
that they were in contact with his agent, his representation.
(08:47):
They were making offers, you know, and let's not forget
I mean that Jets signed him to it. What was it,
two year thirty million dollar contract and two year forty
million dollar contract, thirty million guarantee. Okay, the projections, you know,
based on the analysis of you know, people allegedly in
(09:09):
the know and you know online and stuff, was that
you know, Justin Wilson, Justin Fields. Excuse me, I was
kind of mixing Justin and Russell together there. Justin Fields
was you know, twelve to fifteen million would be the contract,
(09:33):
a two year deal kind of thing. So the Jets
were way way over that and the amount of money
they guaranteed. And you know, I mean sometimes the other team,
another team, or the other side of a negotiat or
whatever just goes gets ridiculous and raises the number to
(09:56):
where you just have to step away. And I believe
for a long time that how this whole Justin Fields
Steelers thing was going to end up was this he
was going to probably I don't know about testing the
market or whatever, but he was going to see what
(10:17):
was out there for him. The Steelers were gonna make
what they believed was their best offer. To him, and
then it was gonna he was gonna have to make
a decision. You know, did he want to chase the
money and start over again or did he see any
value in returning to the same team with the same
(10:37):
offensive system for a second straight year for the first
time in his NFL career. Uh, you know. And I
don't know what decision is right for him. I don't
know how it's gonna work out for him or for
the Steelers, but I believe that's what happened. Justin Field's
made his decision, and now he is reportedly agree terms
(11:02):
with the New York Jets, and so you know, uh,
you know, I'm not going to make fun of it
or or anything like that. I you know, going to
the Jets is its own you know, purgatory, I guess.
But now the Steelers got to move on. How what
(11:23):
they're doing, how they're going to do it. There's a
lot of a lot of stuff out there. Is it
going to be Aaron Rodgers, Is it going to be
a reunion with Russell Wilson? Is there someone else? Daniel Jones?
I mean, there's all kinds of names out there. Uh,
And I don't know, but I do believe that I
(11:44):
will stick with this. I do believe the Steelers want
to get this quarterback resolved sooner rather than later. I
would think that by four o'clock on Wednesday, they want
to have something. They want to have a veteran guy
at the top of the depth chart by then. So
(12:06):
but that's what I think. Maybe that changes again, who knows. Uh,
stay tuned. This is something that you know it is.
I will give the NFL this with this free agency thing.
I mean, this is pretty much must see TV or
must watch your Internet or your social media feeds or
(12:28):
or whatever, because stuff is changing rapidly.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Soneil George from Princeton, New Jersey. The Steelers really have
not had a slot receiver since Juju Smith Schuster. What
are the chances that the Steelers will draft a wide
receiver who can operate in the slot?
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Okay, here's another one of those kind of questions that
when it was sent DK Metcalf wasn't on the Steelers
rock Now he is. So I just think that to
answer this question, you need to understand that there's a
difference between a receiver who lines up in the slot
(13:08):
and is used there sometimes and what I believe Sneil
is referring to as a slot receiver. You know, a
slot receiver in general, what the what the term means,
or the description of the position means, is a guy
who you know, is a possession receiver, works the short
(13:31):
areas of the field, you know, those kinds of things.
He is you know, Antoine randellel was a slot receiver
in terms of a job description. So, uh, you know,
I don't I don't think that the Steelers need to
look needed to look for someone like that. You know,
(13:53):
what they needed at receiver and I believe that they
got with DK Metcalf is a top of the depth
chart playmateer. You know, they need somebody who is you know,
before the DK Metcalf acquisition, I would have said, you know,
George Pickens is one. They need a one A. Well
(14:14):
maybe it's the other way around now, maybe it's DK
Metcalf who is one and Pickens is one A. But
the point of it is is that they needed a
weapon at the position, not a guy who is gonna,
you know, get you a seven yard catch on third
and six. Yes, you need that, and there are sometimes
(14:36):
you know, players have to have to provide that. But
in terms of drafting or signing a receiver. I believe
that the Steelers needed a top of the depth chart
kind of guy because in terms of that slot receiver
description slash role, I think Calvin Austen is that.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Even Wilson two labs. You don't want to write him on.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Mainly, right, don't want to write him off. And I
have no idea what he can provide or what he's
good at because we didn't see him at all. But
you know, Calvin Austen is a guy who you know,
he's still in his rookie contract. You know, he did
(15:22):
some nice things during the season. He had touchdown catches
last year, for example, of fifty five yards, twenty nine yards,
twenty three yards. So Austin showed he can add a
little bit of uh down the field playmaking ability as
a slot receiver. So, you know, drafting using a draft
(15:43):
pick on a slot receiver based on how this is unfolding.
You know, the Steelers have some other areas that they
need to address, and they gave up a second round
pick for DK Metcalf, and so I'm not drafting a
slot receiver quote unquote, And now that they've had a
DK Metcalf, you know, if you're going to keep George Pickens,
(16:08):
and that's up in the air too, who knows well
how that's gonna work out. You know, I think that
if you're going to keep Pickings and you've acquired DK Metcalf,
you know, I don't know that you really need the
draft a receiver, especially until the third day of the draft.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Allan Coddle from Chattanooga, Tennessee. When a player signs a
contract for fully guaranteed money, then he gets injured and
hasn't shown that much improvement on the field, is the
team still obligated to pay the fully guaranteed him out.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Uh. Yes. When a contract is fully guaranteed, payment cannot
be withheld because of dissatisfaction with a player's performance. And
that's why you know these guaranteed contracts. You know, sometimes
teams are very leery of guaranteeing a lot of money.
(17:00):
Call it the Jimmy Haslam Deshaun Watson rule. Well, I mean,
because they're paying, and they're going to pay, they have
to pay. There's no way to get out of paying.
And if you know, the guy gets injured or he's
not playing well or whatever, you're still paying. And a
lot of times, you know, it's not so much the
(17:22):
money that you're paying, but the cap space that he
is occupying that is preventing you from getting the kind
of players onto the roster who could make a difference,
an impact, you know, on your team season. So you know,
as far as guaranteed money goes, you know, let the
(17:43):
buyer beware.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Robert Jeger from Canyon Country, California, who would you choose
as the greatest Steelers player to never win a Super Bowl?
My choice would be Rod Woodson, with TJ. Watt a
close second.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Okay, in these kinds of you know, hypotheticals, when when
I'm trying to answer them, I always rule out active
players because you never know how their career is going
to end, and so I just don't entertain active players.
So t J. Watt is eliminated from this conversation, as
(18:24):
is Cam Hayward, just as a couple of guys who
would maybe be in this conversation. Rod Woodson won a
Super Bowl with the Ravens, so I understand that, you know,
never win a Super Bowl. He's a Steelers player. Maybe
(18:47):
it's a you know, I'm splitting hairs or something, but
I don't think Woodson qualifies either because he won a
Super Bowl. Okay, so now I'm I'm looking at the
rest of the potentials. The two guys I would consider
to be in that to wear that label the greatest
(19:10):
Steelers player to never win a Super Bowl, there's two,
Greg Lloyd and Dermanti Dawson. And the way I separate
him is this way. Dermanti Dawson was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame as a part of the
Class of twenty twelve. So it would be Dermonty Dawson
for me.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Really solid choice.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Ronald Wall from Shady Valley, Tennessee. What's the difference between
being waived and being released? It seems that either way,
a team is letting a player go. So why can't
a waved player decide which team he wants to play for?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Because it's very simple. The NFL rule that governs players
being let go is that guys with four or more
accrued NFL seasons are able to side which team he
wants to play for and at what price. Guys with
fewer than four accrued NFL seasons are subject to waivers.
(20:11):
You know, waivers is a twenty four hour period when
the other thirty one, teams can submit a claim for
that waved player, and then that player is awarded to
the team with the worst record, kind of I like
the draft is used. You know, worst teams get top
priority and through the rest. So you know, just as
(20:33):
a little sideline, there is a time at the end
of the regular season where all released players must go
through waivers. But that's a competitive issue. The NFL doesn't
want teams making side deals where you know, I'll cut
so and so so you can sign him for your
playoff run. You do this for me, you know on
(20:57):
the back end whether they don't want any of those
kinds of side deals. So there's that that's put in,
as I mentioned, as a competitive issue towards the end
of a regular season. But you know that's the rule.
I mean, it's it's negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement.
And as I said, why, that's why, because it's a rule.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Final question today comes from Tony Terre from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Some draft eligible players choose not to work out at
the combine. Are you aware if that affects coach Mike
Comlins or general manager Omar Kahan's views on drafting those players.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
No, it's a rule, I would say, No, it's it
has it does not have a major impact on you know,
the Steelers' brain trusts of you on drafting these guys.
You know, usually players who don't work out at the
Combine work out at their pro day. So there's that
you know some guys, and you know, this is why
(21:59):
a lot of this off season testing stuff you have
to be a little bit leery of it because some
guys what they will do is they might choose to
either run or lift at the Combine. Okay, So then
they train their bodies from the end of their college
(22:21):
season until the Combine for that so they're either working
on their strength or their speed. Okay. Then after that
that's all they do at the Combine. Then at their
pro day they do the other thing. So then from
that point at the end of the Combine to whenever
their pro day is, they work on the thing that
they didn't do at the Combine. And so they're trying
(22:42):
to put out the best numbers in each category for
themselves before the draft. So you know, I mean, you
take that into consideration as an NFL team. So the
Combine was originally created The purpose of it truly was
(23:02):
to get detailed medical information on draft eligible people. You know,
all this other underwear Olympics stuff in the TV and
you know, interviews excuse me, and all that kind of
stuff kind of was added on and became part of it.
But the true purpose of the putting the scouting combine
(23:23):
together was to get a bunch of medical professionals on
site and go and examine all these guys physicals, whatever.
And so as long as teams get that from the combine,
you know, then you have game film from their their
(23:46):
college seasons. You can meet the guy pre draft visit
if you want to talk to him some more, you know,
get a little bit more uh into his head, if
if if that's possible, and guys, well, you know they will.
They understand that it's a job interview and you have
to perform in some way. But as long as they're
(24:11):
not hide or trying to hide anything, like if you
for example, and I can't imagine this happened, but I'm
just using it. A receiver doesn't want to run at
the combine, and then he doesn't want to run its
pro day. Okay, Well, the problem with that guy is
going to be everybody's going to assume that he's injured,
(24:32):
and that's going to cost you millions of dollars. So
that's that's the thing. You don't really you don't really
gain anything by trying to hide this from teams because
teams will just they'll fill in their own blanks, and
those blanks are usually not going to be in your favor.
So you know, I think it's in in a player's
(24:56):
best interest to be forthcoming with some of the stuff
that the NFL wants to see you do physically before
they spend millions of dollars to draft you.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
That'll do it for us today.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Remember, as Labs noted at the beginning of this podcast,
were recording this at Tuesday morning at ten am. So
if you're listening to this like on Wednesday, on Thursday
this week and things have changed drastically, just know that
that's when it was taped. And this is probably the
most fluid time of the NFL offseason. But we'll be
back again next week. A lot more deals I think
will take shape for the Steelers and around the league,
(25:30):
so we can talk about them then.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Can't wait for that. Can't wait to answer your questions
as well for Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
I'm Tom Aferman. Thanks has always for giving us a listen,
and this has been asked an answered
This is asked and answered question with Tom Upferman and
Steelers Digest editor Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Free agency is officially upon us in the NFL. Deals
have been agreed upon can become official on Wednesday.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
But before we get to all of that, all of
us here.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
In Steelers Nation are still mourning after the loss of
Craig Wolfley over the weekend. We found out the news
yesterday morning, Monday morning, and Labs that you knew him
as a player and then as a broadcaster for the Steelers.
A great friend and colleague to you. I cut my
teeth in this industry working on Tounch and Wolf's show.
That was really my first gig. So he was just
(00:40):
such a great mentor and a friend to me as well.
He's going to be sorely, sorely missed moving forward.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, I mean, yesterday was a tough day. And you know,
the thing about wolf is, above all he was just
a great human being and anything, anything you want to
(01:09):
talk about about him, you know, kind of always comes
down to that. You know, his his abilities as a
player were what they were. He was a team guy,
but always you know, for example, Edmund Nelson, who was
(01:34):
a defensive tackle drafted by the Steelers in nineteen eighty two.
You know, he told the story about, you know, his
first day at training camp. You know, Chuck Noll always
started with the Oklahoma drill, so the first day that
(01:54):
the veterans showed up, Edmund said, you know, his his
first matchup was with Wolf, you know, and Chuck used
to do like two or three snaps of each matchup,
and he said, the first snap he Wolf body slammed me.
The second snap, Eye body slammed him, he said, and
(02:16):
then we just went at it and they fought, and
they went at each other the whole the whole practice.
And he said, after practice was over, he said, we
were both so tired and beat up. Wolf came over.
He put his arm around me. I put my arm
around him, and we helped each other up the steps
(02:36):
back to the locker room, and you know we were
friends ever since. And so, you know, that's the kind
of that's the kind of guy he was. You know,
he was not someone to be messed with. But then
at the end, if you were interested, he was your
friend for life. And did a lot of work with
(03:01):
him on the radio night shows during the season on
the South Side and I'll tell you what. Walking to
your car. Uh, you know some of those shows ended
at nine o'clock walking to your car after the show
in the dark. It was it was there was a
(03:25):
comfort and say, right, Wolf would say, let's walk together.
I mean, I don't know if I ever felt as
safe as I did as when I was doing that
with him, And so, you know, I don't know, I
you can. I'm a big fan of him, the kind
(03:47):
of man he was, and it's just it's just so
sad that he's not going to be around anymore. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Absolutely, just like you said, such a great man. And
I'm lucky that I got to know him. You got
to know him that That's how I think everybody who
got to know him feels very lucky that they were
able to experience him in their lives. I know Wolf
would want us to talk about football today too. He'd
be excited about what's happening this week and laps. He'd
be excited about this wide receiver that the Steelers just got.
Dk Metcalf is cut right out of Wolf's cloth, I
(04:16):
think as a big boy.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Yeah, and you know, one of the things about Wolf,
you know, he was known a lot about for his
making up words to you know, slobord knockers and trickeration
and you know, all of those kinds of things when
he was, you know, doing his radio work. But the
(04:43):
man knew his football and he he just he loved
and respected the Steelers, and so anything the Steelers did,
he thought it was great. And that wasn't an act.
I mean, he wasn't doing that. He generally genuinely believe that.
And so yeah, I'm sure he would be excited about
(05:06):
Dk Metcalf because you know, DK Metcalf is a physical
guy and he's not afraid to use his size and
strength at his position, which is you know, in Steelers history.
I don't know about size and strength comparison, but heins
Ward was a guy not as big. Maybe pound for
(05:31):
pound he was as strong, I don't know, but heinz
Ward was a guy who played wide receiver in a
very physical and aggressive manner, kind of you would say,
with maybe a defensive player's mindset. And so yeah, you know,
that's that's that's a pretty exciting acquisition. And let me
(05:53):
just use that move kind of to explain a little
bit here before we get into the questions. This is
a very this free NFL free agency, and we're we're
still in the tampering period. Okay, this is this is Tuesday,
March eleventh, you know, shortly before ten in the morning.
We're doing this right now, and this this changes. This
(06:15):
is fluid. It changes hourly sometimes, you know, half hourly,
and so a lot of these questions that we're going
to deal with might seem old at the time, and
I'll try and put them into context with where we
are now in terms of my answers. But people just
(06:37):
have to understand, I mean, there's this is this is
very fluid, and commenting on a situation now. In a
half an hour from now, that situation could have changed dramatically,
and so all I just keep going back and remembering,
you know, naturally a lot of questions about the quarterback
(06:59):
situation last year at his time, I think, you know,
the before before free agency began, we were all thinking
it was going to be Kenny Pickett and how they
were gonna, you know, build a team around him, and
what kind of steps was he going to take in
his you know, third season, and you know all of
(07:20):
that stuff. Then you know, I don't know, was it
forty eight to seventy two hours later he wasn't even
on the roster. So you know, I don't know what
I know. Fans want answers, and you know I would
like some too, but it's you got to let it
(07:40):
play out, and you really can't evaluate or assess where
they are until it's over, you know, until you kind
of get through the whatever the mania that seems to
be going on right now. So let's do our best
on these questions. And you know, wolf we mission.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
I don't know what else to say, absolutely rest in peace,
Craig wolf Lee. Let's start with Timothy Downey from darry Pennsylvania.
He is our first question today. In your opinion, do
you think the Steelers are making a mistake by not
being more aggressive and trying to sign Justin Fields. There
are a few teams with interests that could lure him away,
or do the Steelers feel Fields just doesn't have starting
quarterback potential.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
We know which team that was that lured him away.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Now, right, and you know, don't I don't know that
the Steelers deserve blame for quote unquote not being aggressive
enough in trying to sign Justin Fields. I do believe
that they were in contact with his agent, his representation.
(08:47):
They were making offers, you know, and let's not forget
I mean that Jets signed him to it. What was it,
two year thirty million dollar contract and two year forty
million dollar contract, thirty million guarantee. Okay, the projections, you know,
based on the analysis of you know, people allegedly in
(09:09):
the know and you know online and stuff, was that
you know, Justin Wilson, Justin Fields. Excuse me, I was
kind of mixing Justin and Russell together there. Justin Fields
was you know, twelve to fifteen million would be the contract,
(09:33):
a two year deal kind of thing. So the Jets
were way way over that and the amount of money
they guaranteed. And you know, I mean sometimes the other team,
another team, or the other side of a negotiat or
whatever just goes gets ridiculous and raises the number to
(09:56):
where you just have to step away. And I believe
for a long time that how this whole Justin Fields
Steelers thing was going to end up was this he
was going to probably I don't know about testing the
market or whatever, but he was going to see what
(10:17):
was out there for him. The Steelers were gonna make
what they believed was their best offer. To him, and
then it was gonna he was gonna have to make
a decision. You know, did he want to chase the
money and start over again or did he see any
value in returning to the same team with the same
(10:37):
offensive system for a second straight year for the first
time in his NFL career. Uh, you know. And I
don't know what decision is right for him. I don't
know how it's gonna work out for him or for
the Steelers, but I believe that's what happened. Justin Field's
made his decision, and now he is reportedly agree terms
(11:02):
with the New York Jets, and so you know, uh,
you know, I'm not going to make fun of it
or or anything like that. I you know, going to
the Jets is its own you know, purgatory, I guess.
But now the Steelers got to move on. How what
(11:23):
they're doing, how they're going to do it. There's a
lot of a lot of stuff out there. Is it
going to be Aaron Rodgers, Is it going to be
a reunion with Russell Wilson? Is there someone else? Daniel Jones?
I mean, there's all kinds of names out there. Uh,
And I don't know, but I do believe that I
(11:44):
will stick with this. I do believe the Steelers want
to get this quarterback resolved sooner rather than later. I
would think that by four o'clock on Wednesday, they want
to have something. They want to have a veteran guy
at the top of the depth chart by then. So
(12:06):
but that's what I think. Maybe that changes again, who knows. Uh,
stay tuned. This is something that you know it is.
I will give the NFL this with this free agency thing.
I mean, this is pretty much must see TV or
must watch your Internet or your social media feeds or
(12:28):
or whatever, because stuff is changing rapidly.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
Soneil George from Princeton, New Jersey. The Steelers really have
not had a slot receiver since Juju Smith Schuster. What
are the chances that the Steelers will draft a wide
receiver who can operate in the slot?
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Okay, here's another one of those kind of questions that
when it was sent DK Metcalf wasn't on the Steelers
rock Now he is. So I just think that to
answer this question, you need to understand that there's a
difference between a receiver who lines up in the slot
(13:08):
and is used there sometimes and what I believe Sneil
is referring to as a slot receiver. You know, a
slot receiver in general, what the what the term means,
or the description of the position means, is a guy
who you know, is a possession receiver, works the short
(13:31):
areas of the field, you know, those kinds of things.
He is you know, Antoine randellel was a slot receiver
in terms of a job description. So, uh, you know,
I don't I don't think that the Steelers need to
look needed to look for someone like that. You know,
(13:53):
what they needed at receiver and I believe that they
got with DK Metcalf is a top of the depth
chart playmateer. You know, they need somebody who is you know,
before the DK Metcalf acquisition, I would have said, you know,
George Pickens is one. They need a one A. Well
(14:14):
maybe it's the other way around now, maybe it's DK
Metcalf who is one and Pickens is one A. But
the point of it is is that they needed a
weapon at the position, not a guy who is gonna,
you know, get you a seven yard catch on third
and six. Yes, you need that, and there are sometimes
(14:36):
you know, players have to have to provide that. But
in terms of drafting or signing a receiver. I believe
that the Steelers needed a top of the depth chart
kind of guy because in terms of that slot receiver
description slash role, I think Calvin Austen is that.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Even Wilson two labs. You don't want to write him on.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Mainly, right, don't want to write him off. And I
have no idea what he can provide or what he's
good at because we didn't see him at all. But
you know, Calvin Austen is a guy who you know,
he's still in his rookie contract. You know, he did
(15:22):
some nice things during the season. He had touchdown catches
last year, for example, of fifty five yards, twenty nine yards,
twenty three yards. So Austin showed he can add a
little bit of uh down the field playmaking ability as
a slot receiver. So, you know, drafting using a draft
(15:43):
pick on a slot receiver based on how this is unfolding.
You know, the Steelers have some other areas that they
need to address, and they gave up a second round
pick for DK Metcalf, and so I'm not drafting a
slot receiver quote unquote, And now that they've had a
DK Metcalf, you know, if you're going to keep George Pickens,
(16:08):
and that's up in the air too, who knows well
how that's gonna work out. You know, I think that
if you're going to keep Pickings and you've acquired DK Metcalf,
you know, I don't know that you really need the
draft a receiver, especially until the third day of the draft.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Allan Coddle from Chattanooga, Tennessee. When a player signs a
contract for fully guaranteed money, then he gets injured and
hasn't shown that much improvement on the field, is the
team still obligated to pay the fully guaranteed him out.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Uh. Yes. When a contract is fully guaranteed, payment cannot
be withheld because of dissatisfaction with a player's performance. And
that's why you know these guaranteed contracts. You know, sometimes
teams are very leery of guaranteeing a lot of money.
(17:00):
Call it the Jimmy Haslam Deshaun Watson rule. Well, I mean,
because they're paying, and they're going to pay, they have
to pay. There's no way to get out of paying.
And if you know, the guy gets injured or he's
not playing well or whatever, you're still paying. And a
lot of times, you know, it's not so much the
(17:22):
money that you're paying, but the cap space that he
is occupying that is preventing you from getting the kind
of players onto the roster who could make a difference,
an impact, you know, on your team season. So you know,
as far as guaranteed money goes, you know, let the
(17:43):
buyer beware.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Robert Jeger from Canyon Country, California, who would you choose
as the greatest Steelers player to never win a Super Bowl?
My choice would be Rod Woodson, with TJ. Watt a
close second.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Okay, in these kinds of you know, hypotheticals, when when
I'm trying to answer them, I always rule out active
players because you never know how their career is going
to end, and so I just don't entertain active players.
So t J. Watt is eliminated from this conversation, as
(18:24):
is Cam Hayward, just as a couple of guys who
would maybe be in this conversation. Rod Woodson won a
Super Bowl with the Ravens, so I understand that, you know,
never win a Super Bowl. He's a Steelers player. Maybe
(18:47):
it's a you know, I'm splitting hairs or something, but
I don't think Woodson qualifies either because he won a
Super Bowl. Okay, so now I'm I'm looking at the
rest of the potentials. The two guys I would consider
to be in that to wear that label the greatest
(19:10):
Steelers player to never win a Super Bowl, there's two,
Greg Lloyd and Dermanti Dawson. And the way I separate
him is this way. Dermanti Dawson was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame as a part of the
Class of twenty twelve. So it would be Dermonty Dawson
for me.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Really solid choice.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Ronald Wall from Shady Valley, Tennessee. What's the difference between
being waived and being released? It seems that either way,
a team is letting a player go. So why can't
a waved player decide which team he wants to play for?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Because it's very simple. The NFL rule that governs players
being let go is that guys with four or more
accrued NFL seasons are able to side which team he
wants to play for and at what price. Guys with
fewer than four accrued NFL seasons are subject to waivers.
(20:11):
You know, waivers is a twenty four hour period when
the other thirty one, teams can submit a claim for
that waved player, and then that player is awarded to
the team with the worst record, kind of I like
the draft is used. You know, worst teams get top
priority and through the rest. So you know, just as
(20:33):
a little sideline, there is a time at the end
of the regular season where all released players must go
through waivers. But that's a competitive issue. The NFL doesn't
want teams making side deals where you know, I'll cut
so and so so you can sign him for your
playoff run. You do this for me, you know on
(20:57):
the back end whether they don't want any of those
kinds of side deals. So there's that that's put in,
as I mentioned, as a competitive issue towards the end
of a regular season. But you know that's the rule.
I mean, it's it's negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement.
And as I said, why, that's why, because it's a rule.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
Final question today comes from Tony Terre from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Some draft eligible players choose not to work out at
the combine. Are you aware if that affects coach Mike
Comlins or general manager Omar Kahan's views on drafting those players.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
No, it's a rule, I would say, No, it's it
has it does not have a major impact on you know,
the Steelers' brain trusts of you on drafting these guys.
You know, usually players who don't work out at the
Combine work out at their pro day. So there's that
you know some guys, and you know, this is why
(21:59):
a lot of this off season testing stuff you have
to be a little bit leery of it because some
guys what they will do is they might choose to
either run or lift at the Combine. Okay, So then
they train their bodies from the end of their college
(22:21):
season until the Combine for that so they're either working
on their strength or their speed. Okay. Then after that
that's all they do at the Combine. Then at their
pro day they do the other thing. So then from
that point at the end of the Combine to whenever
their pro day is, they work on the thing that
they didn't do at the Combine. And so they're trying
(22:42):
to put out the best numbers in each category for
themselves before the draft. So you know, I mean, you
take that into consideration as an NFL team. So the
Combine was originally created The purpose of it truly was
(23:02):
to get detailed medical information on draft eligible people. You know,
all this other underwear Olympics stuff in the TV and
you know, interviews excuse me, and all that kind of
stuff kind of was added on and became part of it.
But the true purpose of the putting the scouting combine
(23:23):
together was to get a bunch of medical professionals on
site and go and examine all these guys physicals, whatever.
And so as long as teams get that from the combine,
you know, then you have game film from their their
(23:46):
college seasons. You can meet the guy pre draft visit
if you want to talk to him some more, you know,
get a little bit more uh into his head, if
if if that's possible, and guys, well, you know they will.
They understand that it's a job interview and you have
to perform in some way. But as long as they're
(24:11):
not hide or trying to hide anything, like if you
for example, and I can't imagine this happened, but I'm
just using it. A receiver doesn't want to run at
the combine, and then he doesn't want to run its
pro day. Okay, Well, the problem with that guy is
going to be everybody's going to assume that he's injured,
(24:32):
and that's going to cost you millions of dollars. So
that's that's the thing. You don't really you don't really
gain anything by trying to hide this from teams because
teams will just they'll fill in their own blanks, and
those blanks are usually not going to be in your favor.
So you know, I think it's in in a player's
(24:56):
best interest to be forthcoming with some of the stuff
that the NFL wants to see you do physically before
they spend millions of dollars to draft you.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
That'll do it for us today.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Remember, as Labs noted at the beginning of this podcast,
were recording this at Tuesday morning at ten am. So
if you're listening to this like on Wednesday, on Thursday
this week and things have changed drastically, just know that
that's when it was taped. And this is probably the
most fluid time of the NFL offseason. But we'll be
back again next week. A lot more deals I think
will take shape for the Steelers and around the league,
(25:30):
so we can talk about them then.
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Can't wait for that. Can't wait to answer your questions
as well for Bob Labriola.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
I'm Tom Aferman. Thanks has always for giving us a listen,
and this has been asked an answered
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