Pittsburgh Steelers Rumors & News

Pittsburgh Tribune Review "Charlie Batch never knew there was a two-minute warning for pro football writers just like there is for NFL players. Batch, the still-not-retired former Steelers quarterback, took another step toward his post-football career this week when he attended a three-day seminar at Bowling Green State..." May 19

Pittsburgh Tribune Review "In late December, the Steelers infrequently find themselves out of the playoffs — as they did last season. In mid-May, however, they're almost always considered to be one of the teams to beat. Not this May. As the Steelers resume practicing this week for the first time since they ended a..." May 19

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The Steelers said today they have signed a fourth-round draft pick, safety Shamarko Thomas. Terms of the four-year contract were not disclosed. Thomas (5-9, 217), was the 111th overall pick and the first of the team's two fourth round picks in this year's draft. He played college football at..." May 16

Pittsburgh Tribune Review "Shamarko Thomas, the former Syracuse safety and the first of the Steelers' two fourth-round draft picks, has signed a four-year contract. Thomas is the first of the Steelers' nine draft picks to reach agreement. Because the NFL rookie wage scale mandates salaries for fourth-to-seventh-round..." May 16

ESPN Boston "Prior to signing a pair of offensive linemen on Monday to bring their roster total to 89 players, the Patriots worked out veteran linebacker Brandon Johnson, according to a league source. Johnson, 30, spent the 2012 season with the Steelers, recording 10 tackles in 14 games played. He spent..." May 13

Pittsburgh Tribune Review "Max Starks planned on spending a football-free weekend at Churchill Downs with his stylish tan fedora hat perched on top of his head and enjoying his first Kentucky Derby. Well, the football-free part of the weekend didn't actually go as planned. Starks had a “couple of conversations” over..." May 09

ESPN.com "ESPN’s “NFL Live” television program discussed the Patriots on Monday, with analyst Darren Woodson and Steelers safety Ryan Clark on the set with host Wendi Nix. The question posed was how vulnerable the Patriots are given the offseason loss of Wes Welker, and Clark's analysis was particularly..." May 07

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Man landed on the moon the year Joe Greene first joined the Steelers in 1969. Many thought that was an easier accomplishment than him helping the team win a championship. He helped them win six. Joe Greene, 66, retired Monday from the Steelers, leaving his third different job with them for a..." May 07

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Terry Hawthorne was a Parade All-America receiver as a high school senior in East St. Louis, Ill. At the University of Illinois, he was converted to cornerback and developed into a top NFL prospect by the time his junior season ended. But after a senior season that some termed disappointing,..." May 06

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Steelers coach Mike Tomlin disagrees with linebackers coach Keith Butler. He said Sean Spence, the second-year linebacker who severely injured his knee in a preseason game in August, will make a full recovery. Butler said last weekend it would be "miraculous" if Spence, the team's third-round..." May 05

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Having absorbed criticism for a perceived lack of fitness in 2012, Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley said Saturday he's "getting after it" with his offseason conditioning, hoping to avoid the injuries that sidelined him for stretches of the past two seasons. "My offseason is going great. I'm..." May 05

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "In Shamarko Thomas, the Steelers hope they have found the next Bob Sanders, a compact, powerfully built safety who delivers torpedo-style hits. They hope he is not the next Anthony Smith. Thomas is a 5-foot-9, 213-pound bundle of speed and unbridled power, and the Steelers thought enough of him..." May 04

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Relationships between high school and college coaches are the lifeblood of recruiting. When it comes time for college players to move into the NFL, relationships between college and NFL coaches can be just as important. One such relationship is why the Steelers are taking a calculated gamble on..." May 04

Pittsburgh Tribune Review "Landry Jones reported to the Steelers two days ago and immediately was handed a playbook the size of the one he had at Oklahoma. That was only the beginning for the first quarterback drafted by the Steelers in anything other than a late round since 2004. On Friday morning, Jones was running..." May 04

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "If this draft had been based on needs, then the Steelers last weekend ignored one of their neediest positions -- inside linebacker. Or did they? They passed on Manti Te'o, passed on Kevin Minter, passed on Michael Mauti. Just as they passed on Penn State's Sean Lee four years ago in favor of..." May 02

NFL.com "Tyler Bray's tumble through the 2013 NFL Draft ultimately ended on a positive note. After 32 teams passed on Bray, the former Tennessee quarterback signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. Jeff Bray, Tyler's dad, sounds relieved the process is finally over. "It was brutal,"..." May 02

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The Steelers wanted to improve their running game in 2012, then they did a strange thing: They did absolutely nothing to help the rushing attack and, in fact, reduced their chances of running the ball better heading into last season. The team talked a good running game but slipped to 26th in..." May 01

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The Steelers' 2013 draft class will soon discover something that few others have had in their rookie years with them: Opportunity. Jobs are plentiful after an 8-8 season and because of many veteran defections either forced or voluntary since it ended. For the first time in a long time, their..." April 29

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Forget the first three rounds of the draft, it took until the third day for things to really get interesting for the Steelers. A linebacker, a halfback and a wide receiver fail in comparison to what happened Saturday in the fourth round. First, the Steelers traded away a future draft pick for the..." April 28

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "It may be a passing league, the rules may reward those teams who love to throw the ball, but the Steelers told the rest of the NFL through the first two rounds of the draft where they stand, and it's a philosophy that hasn't changed much through the years: Run the ball, play good defense. After..." April 27

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "With a desperate need at a position that has been a jewel of their defense for decades, the Steelers on Thursday night drafted outside linebacker Jarvis Jones of Georgia with the 17th pick in the first round. And they say they got lucky because he ran so poorly. Jones is the first linebacker..." April 26

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Something Kevin Colbert said the other day about the draft made perfect sense yet was so out of character that a skeptic might consider it disinformation. The Steelers general manager rarely shares his insight about plans in the draft. He refuses to mention draft prospects by name much less..." April 25

Pittsburgh Tribune Review "The Steelers began working on this NFL Draft on April 29, 2012, exactly one day after last year's draft ended. The man-hours by the coaches and scouts spent watching games and traveling, viewing video after video of player after player, interviewing athletes and coaches, gathering 40-yard dash..." April 25

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The Steelers have no more need at any position than they do at halfback. The last time they were in such a spot, they drafted one in the first round and won a Super Bowl. Rashard Mendenhall did not contribute much to that 2008 team. Ray Lewis ruined the rookie's first NFL start with a vicious..." April 24

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "You made five Pro Bowls. You were a giant -- literally and figuratively -- on the field and in the locker room. You were adored by your teammates. You deserve to go out in style. You deserve better than a one-line mention in a story announcing a new contract for your backup, who only can hope to..." April 23

Cincinnati Enquirer "The release from the team: The Bengals today signed free agent LB James Harrison, a five-time Pro Bowl selection for Pittsburgh and also a former NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Harrison (6-0, 242; Kent State) is a 10th-year NFL player in 2013, having played all his previous seasons with..." April 23

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The Steelers haven't decided if they will take a quarterback sometime Friday or Saturday in the NFL draft. But, for the first time in a long time, general manager Kevin Colbert said they are open to the possibility. If they do, will they wait until the middle or late rounds to draft a quarterback..." April 22

CBSSports.com "Because they do the on-location television coverage for the draft, the analysts who work for ESPN and NFL Network will know in advance who's being taken in the 2013 NFL Draft. But this year, those folks aren't going to spoil the picks on Twitter. Instead, they will "speculate" on who might be..." April 22

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Two well-documented facts could work against the Steelers trying to fill their biggest need in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday, that of outside linebacker. One, they last chose an outside linebacker in the first round in 1991, and they last drafted one in the first round who did not..." April 20

Beaver County Times "It appears that Steve McLendon will be the Steelers' nose tackle of the future. Today, McLendon signed a three-year contract worth $7.25 million. He was a restricted free agent who had been tendered a one-year $1.3 million offer from the Steelers." April 20

Pro Football Talk "James Harrison is about to become a Bengal. Harrison, the longtime Steelers linebacker, has agreed to terms with the division rival Bengals. It’s a two-year contract, according to Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The deal comes shortly after Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said he expected..." April 19

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "They passed on Chris Canty and Cullen Jenkins. But with the NFL draft closing in, maybe the Packers are considering a different defensive lineman in free agency. The Packers had restricted free agent Steve McLendon in on a visit Wednesday, a source confirmed to the Journal Sentinel. The..." April 18

Pittsburgh Tribune Review "Jarvis Jones? Kenny Vaccaro? Cordarrelle Patterson? Tavon Austin? No, no, no and no. For all of their multiple needs — and they might have more than in any recent draft — the Steelers simply must take one player if he is available with the No. 17 pick in the NFL Draft, according to ESPN..." April 17

Yahoo! Sports "On the heels of regulators red-flagging a potential $18 million scam last week, multiple federal agencies are probing investments sold to NFL and NBA players, Yahoo! Sports has learned. According to multiple sources that spoke to Yahoo! Sports on the condition of anonymity, several professional..." April 17

Cincinnati Enquirer "After optimism over the weekend that James Harrison could be coming to the Bengals, things have slowed down measurably. According to observers on both sides, no signing is imminent. the linebacker visited town Thursday and meetings with the team went well. But things can change once..." April 17

NFL.com "Pump the brakes on the lovefest between free-agent linebacker James Harrison and the Cincinnati Bengals. Harrison met with the Bengals on Monday to hammer out a contract, but talks have hit a snag. "It's not going well," a source informed of the process told NFL.com's Ian Rapoport. Asked by..." April 16

NFL.com "Pat Summerall spent 10 years in the NFL as a player. He spent another 40 years describing the game he loved as one of the sport's iconic broadcasters. On Tuesday, Summerall passed away at the age of 82, Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell confirmed to NFL.com and NFL Network. According to..." April 16

NFL.com "Fear not, friends, the NFL schedule will become public knowledge this week. League spokesman Greg Aiello announced Tuesday that the NFL's 2013 regular-season slate of games will be announced on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. This comes one day after the league told NFL.com's Around The League that..." April 16

Yahoo! Sports "There's a curious and somewhat disgusting case of whodunit being investigated by approximately a dozen NFL teams. National Football Scouting president Jeff Foster, who runs the NFL scouting combine, confirmed that a hotel room was left trashed during the February 2013 event in Indianapolis...." April 16

CSN New England "Just hours away from losing Emmanuel Sanders to the Patriots, the Steelers decided to retain their restricted free-agent receiver. As a result of the move, the Patriots get to keep their third-round pick, which would have gone to Pittsburgh had the Steelers decided to let Sanders walk. The..." April 15

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The New England Patriots weren't the only ones to offer Emmanuel Sanders a contract in free agency, and the Steelers might not be able to keep the wide receiver beyond the 2013 season. "We had several teams make offers in free agency so we know there are teams who really like Emmanuel," Jordan..." April 15

Boston Herald "The Pittsburgh Steelers foiled the Patriots’ recent bid to make an upgrade at wide receiver, matching the Pats’ offer sheet yesterday to retain restricted free agent Emmanuel Sanders. The Patriots’ $2.5 million offer seemed modest Wednesday, and that ultimately proved to be the case when the..." April 15

USA Today "About six hours before the deadline to match the New England Patriots' offer to Emmanuel Sanders, the Pittsburgh Steelers have done just that. The team on Sunday matched the one-year, $2.5 million offer sheet for the restricted free-agent wide receiver, Sanders' agent, Jordan Woy, told USA..." April 14

ESPN.com "The Cincinnati Bengals and former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison will try to complete a deal this week, a source familiar with situation told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. Harrison and former Miami Dolphins linebacker Karlos Dansby each visited Cincinnati last week, and while..." April 14

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Jimmy Haslam, who bought the Cleveland Browns last October, completed the sale of his minority ownership in the Steelers, who have added two more minority partners. The Steelers announced the change in ownership in a two-paragraph statement this afternoon. The majority of Haslam's stock was..." April 13

CBSSports.com "The Steelers have not finalized a decision on matching Emmanuel Sanders' offer sheet with New England, according to sources, and the decision will likely to come down to Monday. The team has until Monday to make a final decision with a five-day window to match the $2.5 million offer sheet to..." April 13