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The Myth of Dead Money

By Ed Bouchette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 10 years ago

Good morning, (links fixed in this one)

Let’s conduct a little exercise here this morning without you having to break a sweat. You can post your answers on the blog if you like to these questions:

What would you rather see over the next five games from the Steelers:

--- Them squeeze into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed?

--- Them lose all five games so they can get a better draft pick?

I ask only because over the course of this season, more than a few fans have taken the time to email me or bring it up in my chat forum or written on this blog that they would like to see the Steelers get as high a draft pick as possible, that at least they would salvage something from this season. Some said they were true fans because they were merely interested in the Steelers improving themselves and that by losing they could do that so they could get a better draft choice.

For those who had that opinion, do you still think that way? And for those who do not, is it worth it to you for the Steelers to make the playoffs as the No. 6 seed but then get rubbed out quickly, as they did in 2011? Or would you rather them not make the playoffs at all if they are just going to go out and lose the first game?

I am not assuming that if they do make it as the No. 6 seed they would lose their first playoff game, just posing a scenario. I’m also not taking sides here, I am just intrigued where some fans stand on these issues.

Here are a few more, again without judging but merely testing public opinion: Right now, are those who wanted Mike Tomlin, Kevin Colbert or anyone else fired still of like mind?

And what about Todd Haley, whose offense seems to be performing a lot better lately? Fired, or do you bring him back? I need to know now, based on their 5-6 record and the way they are performing. We can have this little session again perhaps when the season is over, but right now after 3 straight wins, at 5-6 and back in the playoff hunt, do you still feel someone should be fired?

OK, get to work. We’ll look for your opinions here.

Onto some stuff:

--- I have no idea what the Steelers will do with LaMarr Woodley, Jason Worilds or any other personnel decisions they might have to make after the season. But here is a myth: They cannot cut/trade Woodley (or anyone else) because they would have too much “dead” money. That’s just not true.

Woodley will make $8 million in salary next season and count $13.6 million against their salary cap. He has an $8.5 million salary in 2015 and counts $14 million against their cap. He has a $9 million salary in 2016 and counts $12 million against their cap. That’s about $14 million in “dead” money, which is bonus money that’s been pro-rated or salary redesigned as a bonus and pushed into the future. It does not include his salaries, which are not guaranteed.

No matter what the Steelers do with Woodley – keep him, trade him, cut him – that $14 million cap hit isn’t going away. They can redistribute its affect by, for example, designating him as a June 1 release and taking a bigger cap hit in 2015 than 2014. Or they could just swallow hard and take the big hit in 2014.

They also could keep him. And if they keep him, they add his $8 million salary to their salary cap count in 2014. If they would, say, release him after June 1, they would save that $8 million under their salary cap; he would still count $5.6 million, the so-called “dead” money for 2014, but that’s a lot less than $13.6 million.

If they did that, his salary cap for 2015 would be a wash, about $14 million (as it now stands to be including his salary if he’s on the team) because all of the pro-rated stuff would count then. But then he would count nothing in 2016!

This is not to say the Steelers will cut or trade Woodley, it is merely using him as an example to point out that when people say they cannot cut or trade a player because of the “dead” money involved, they are wrong. They actually would save money and plenty of cap room, although in this case they would no longer have the services of LaMarr Woodley.

--- The Steelers odds to win the Super Bowl, which stood at 250-1 two weeks ago, are down to 50-1. Seattle is favored at 3-1 and Denver is next at 7-2. Baltimore, with the same 5-6 record as the Steelers, are longer shots at 66-1. The Tennessee Titans are 150-1 and New York Jets 250-1 despite identical 5-6 records.

--- You can listen to my regular Monday spot on 93.7 The Fan here.

--- They’re calling it “make or break” in Baltimore.

--- Steelers-Ravens a dud no more.

--- Chat today, 1:30.

--- Your questions:

--- YOU: I notice some IR guys like Larry Foote on the sidelines during games. Has Plaxico B. been hanging around with the team at all?

ME: Foote has been attending meetings, practices and games. I see Plaxico Burress only on occasion.

--- YOU: Ed, Heyward is having a great, great year. Worilds is having a very good year after a great game in CLE. These situations kind of remind me of the situation in Green Bay, where Favre was the man and Rodgers sat the bench. We all know how good Rodgers is now after XLV. Which is the primary reason why Heyward and Worilds didn't play (or start) extensively earlier, such as last year: they did not practice well, coaches preferred starters who were Super Bowl veterans, failure of our coaches to see their potential contributions on the field?

ME: Both were stuck behind good playes. Craig Heyward was behind Brett Keisel at right end, and Keisel was playing some of the best ball of his career. They could have replaced Ziggy Hood with him, but they weren’t ready to do that until the middle of this season. Same with Jason Worilds, who was behind LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison. Then, when those guys were hurt and there was an opportunity, Worilds had that wrist surgery and it took awhile for him to recover.

--- YOU: Everyone is bashing Le'Veon Bell. My contention is that he has looked VERY good. He may only be averaging 2-3 yards per carry, however guys like Dwyer, Redman, Jones were suffering losses while Bell is getting the 2 yards. I don't think the problem is at all with the RB's. It is in the line. You like to quote PFF (and I love that site!) so take a look at the cumulative run blocking ratings of our OL:

ME: I don’t know that everyone is bashing Le’Veon Bell or they are merely pointing out that the Steelers do not run the ball very well. You would think somewhere along the line, that Bell would explode for a big run and that just hasn’t happened. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but you’d like to see more from the back they have picked as their lead horse.