A Few Facts:

The depth chart provided at Steelers.com, the official site of the Pittsburgh Steelers, shows Brent Alexander as the starter at FS with Eric Totten and Russell Stuviants running 2^nd and 3^rd team.� Mike Logan is listed as the starter at SS with Chris Hope and Troy Polamalu contending for the 2^nd spot; for what it�s worth, Rashon Faison is displayed on the 3^rd tier there.� Off that, it�s apparent that the FO has done little to upgrade the FS position; while Kwame Lassiter remains unemployed, the fact is that the Steelers now are poorly positioned to make any move at all in FA.� Even a dirt-cheap deal like the one Sammy Knight signed with the Fins (2 years for 2.3M, i.e. Brent Alexander money) seems to be far beyond the team�s means.�

According to John Clayton at ESPN, the Steelers are currently about 824K below the cap.� That is 28^th overall, only the 49ers, Buccaneers, Broncos and Colts have less wiggle room.� (19) teams have 3M or more; (14) teams have 4M or more, (9) teams have 5M or more and (5) teams have 10M or more.� Most of those cap space leaders are bad clubs; in fact, six of those ten leading the cap room derby also were slotted in the top ten in last month�s draft.� Not that it matters though, since even playing for the Cards has got to look better to any vet FA (or any post-June CC) than, say, trolling the unemployment lines.��

Of course, a good bit of that cap room is illusory.� At this moment, only (3) drafted rookies have been signed; those are: Carson Palmer of the Bengals and DB Julian Battle and Willie Pile of the Chiefs.� Rookies who make the team do count against the cap; you can get a pretty good idea of which teams really have the scratch to invest in FA or the coming CC market simply by subtracting any team�s rookie pool figure from its current cap numbers.� For example, Detroit has the biggest rookie allocation, at 5.55M; most likely, that�ll entirely consume the 4.7M figure listed as their cap surplus (though the Luther Elliss re-do may change that).� In contrast, the Philly Eagles have 12.6M in cap space; their rookie pool figure is 2.83M so, if they want any vet, they�ve got over 9M to spend.�

That is not true for the Steelers, a team hobbled by any number of Contract Three (C$3) deals.� Their rookie pool figure is 29^th overall, at 2.46M; as mentioned, the Steelers are 824K below the cap.� More or less, that last number represents the kind of money that every team reserves for in-season contingencies; you know, signing Chidi Iwuoma, Josh Reed or Mike Jones; bumping the weekly pay for practice squad call-ups like James Harrison or Eric Totten.� Most teams hold back something like 750K for that purpose; while that money typically is generated out of the last of August cuts, we�ll get to that later.� The short form is that the Steelers need to clear about 1.6M immediately to secure their rookie class and will need to realize a nice chunk in August so to move personnel during the season. Give or take, the final minimum figure is 2.4M; to bump Maddox up (as should be done) will take that much more; to secure Lassiter, well, you get the drift.� However, we�re getting ahead of ourselves; first, let�s consider the following (attenuated) primer, offered here with the hope of dispelling some of the misinformation that has been promulgated elsewhere on-site:

The salary cap is the absolute maximum that any club may spend on player salaries, pro-rated signing bonuses, workout or roster bonuses and a range of realizable incentives.� The cap is in effect for 365 days a year, though the number of players it covers does vary.�� From the day before the season begins, every player on the roster is counted; after the season is over, teams make cuts to get to the cap; during that period, some may have as few as 35-40 players under contract for the coming year.� From March 1^st until just before the new season starts, only the top (51) players of up to (80) under contract count against any club�s cap.�

That is the period we are in now; at present, the Steelers have (45) players returning from their 2002 active roster, they�ve picked up (4) vet FA (Reimersma, Kriewaldt, Costa and Fordham) and (2) players no longer with the squad still count against the 2003 cap (Todd Peterson at 450K and Kordell Stewart at 1.62M).� That�s (51) and what that means is that no rookie, whether drafted or un-drafted, is presently counted against the Steeler cap.�

That�s going to change; the rookie pool might best be considered as a kind of cap within a cap.� It is the absolute maximum in aggregate salary cap value (as defined above) that a team is permitted to invest in its rookie class, including both draft choices and un-drafted free agents (UFDA) who make the club.� As noted, the Steeler rook pool is 2.46M; given their near-equal draft slots, figure Alonzo Jackson to make ARE money (459K cap in rookie season) and Ike Taylor to make Larry Foote money (315K).� That�s 774K; Polamalu will get more than either Hampton or Simmons because he went 16^th, not 19^th or 30^th.� Figure, say, 1.026M for the Trojan Torpedo for an aggregate of about 1.8M for the Steelers� top three picks.� From the moment that they are signed, each of those players will count against the cap; that is because several vets now with the team have a lesser cap value (Costa 300K, Keisel 309K, Mays 318K to name just three).�

Consider that the rookie salary minimum is 225K; excluding Polamalu, that�ll be the base for any rookie making the team.� The cap hit differential between rookies is bound into signing bonus, players taken in the 2^nd round get a nice check, players taken in the 5^th get (about) squat.� This means that there will be little difference in the cap value for, say, Brian St. Pierre or J.T. Wall versus Tim Levcik or any of the Steelers� UFDA.� If that 1.8M projection (above) is correct, then the Steelers have room for at most (3) more rookies after their top three picks but (again, presuming their top picks make the squad), they don�t have room for four more.

Maybe none, teams don�t have to spend all their rookie pool but, since the draft is the lifeblood of any roster, six rooks isn�t any too many.� As for clearing space, well, here are some possibilities:

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This easy move is to cut Breuner and Fiala June 2; this would net a 2.85M savings which, added to their current 824K surplus would give the Steelers something around 3.67M.� That�s enough to fill the rookie pool while furnishing 1.2M bait to fish for some vet FA.�� On the downside, this loads the 2004 cap with about 2M dead money, roughly the sum consumed by Stewart and Peterson in 2003.� 2004-wise, you�ve got to add Bettis (and maybe, Washington too) to the likely Breuner load and, well, there you go.�

Kurpeikis, Poteat and either Clancy or Hoke could be moved anytime with 1.355 to 1.585M saved now and no 2004 ramification.� More than likely, these guys will be gone in camp sometime; there�s your 2003-operating fund, and a bit for T-Max.��

Alternatively, the Steelers could do the smart thing (IMO); that would be cut both Bettis and Breuner now, Fiala, Poteat and Kurpeikis shortly after June 1 plus Hoke or Clancy.� That�s 1.30M for Bettis, Bruener and Fiala, with 1.355 to 1.585M (shown above for the D-side scrubs) and the existing 0.824M, you�ve got 3.48-3.71M, enough for both the rookies and the operating fund and, maybe, a nickel or two for T-Max.� As for the CC market well, other than maybe Terrence Mathis (at the 10-year vet 450K cap hit), the FO just doesn�t have it like that.�

If they do the hard, but correct, thing now, they�ll be good to go in 2004; if not, well, next off-season will be just like this one and the one thereafter just as the one before this and so on and so on.�