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The Steelers find themselves in a precarious position just a few days away from the NFL Draft.

The Steelers need running backs … bad.

However, they don’t have the money to get a veteran via free agency thus putting a tremendous burden of coming away with a handful ball carriers this weekend whether it is in the draft’s seven rounds or after the draft via the undrafted free agency market.

The Steelers currently have three running backs on the roster – Jonathan Dwyer, Isaac Redman, Baron Batch — which is not nearly enough. Last year, the Steelers started training camp with seven running backs –Redman, Dwyer, Batch, Chris Rainey, John Clay, Rashard Mendenhall (PUP list).

The year before that? Yup, seven running backs again. The year before that they had six running backs.

“Really, it depends on how the draft unfolds and what we do prior to the draft,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said on Monday. “Obviously, we have a number of days before the draft. Like Kevin (Colbert) has said numerous times, as have I, we’re interested in adding to this football team within all the avenues afforded to us within the system. Obviously, that’s free agency and the draft and we don’t lean one way or the other in terms of utilizing any of those vehicles.”

The Steelers would love to bring in a veteran and more established running back but just may not be able to.

They are only $600,000 under the salary cap, and even if you account the $5.5 million that will come the Steelers way on June 1 because of the release of Willie Colon, it still likely won’t be enough to entice a decent running back to town like an Ahmad Bradshaw.

“It’s not like we are going to hit the lottery (with the June 1 $5.5 million),” Colbert said. “We still have to compensate for these draft picks. The eight draft picks will start to count against the cap once they are signed. That’s all part of the money that we will pick up in June. There is still potential to sign a veteran free agent here or there depending on how we come out of this draft. We have to be ready to add a player if we think they can help us.”

Take in account that Colbert likes to hold back a little more than a million dollar in case of an emergency and the Steelers must add multiple running backs by the end of the week.

Knowing that, it looks like that Dwyer and Redman will be your running backs again this year. And if both stay healthy, that might not be a bad thing.

Mark Kaboly  |  Tribune-Review

The New England Patriots signed restricted free agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to an offer sheet on Wednesday forcing the Steelers into a pretty difficult to decision — either match the one-year offer or lose a second starting receiver within a month (Mike Wallace signed with the Dolphins on the first day of free agency.)

It is unknown what the terms of the offer were, but knowing that Sanders signed off on a one-year deal, it is likely a hefty pay raise from his 1-year, $1.3 million original-round tender the Steelers offered last month. The Steelers are only $2 million under the salary cap which would force them to make some move if they do choose to sign Sanders.

The Steelers have until Sunday to match the offer.

To me, it would be a mistake for the Steelers to match the Patriots’ offer especially since it is only a one-year deal. Sanders is going to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year anyway and there is no guarantee he will be back so why not assure yourself of some sort of return?

To be able to get compensation of New England’s third-round pick in this year’s draft coupled with the addition of $1.3 million in immediate salary cap space is just too good of a deal for a receiver who averages less than three catches per game over his career.

Sure, there will there be some short-term misery if Sanders goes especially when you consider Wallace left and tight end Heath Miller may or may not be ready for the start of the season because of knee surgery near the end of last year.

However, Jerricho Cotchery is still a very capable receiver who was grossly underutilized last year and would pair nicely with Antonio Brown. Plaxico Burress is serviceable and the team was high on David Gilreath a season ago.

And don’t forget that if Sanders does go, it instantly puts West Virginia receiver Tavon Austin back in the mix with the 17^th overall pick, which, by all accounts, might be able to be a starter instantly.

If the offer sheet was for more than one year, then it would change the entire dynamics of whether or not to match. But a one-year offer that could reach $4 million is just crazy to even consider … unless a long-term extension is also somehow intertwined with it that can be finalized over the summer.

We aren’t talking about Lynn Swann or Hines Ward here. We are talking about a guy with five career touchdowns and was really nondescript in his first chance as extended playing time last year. Sanders isn’t going to be determining factor if the Steelers win a Super Bowl or not this year. The Steelers aren’t going to overvalue him like the Patriots seem to have already done.

Let him go. It’s been proven that there can be replacements in the draft i.e. Wallace in the third and Brown in the sixth.

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Mark Kaboly  |  Tribune-Review

After being in the running for general manger jobs in Seattle, St. Louis and N.Y. Jets over the past few years, Steelers’ salary cap guru Omar Khan seems destined to move on to another organization.

The Steelers are aware Khan might not be around much longer or maybe they just need more help keeping the organization salary cap-friendly.

Whatever the reason, the Steelers may have found their guy-in-waiting, as they have hired former St. Louis Rams director of football operations Samir Suleiman to its newly created football administrator coordinator position.

Suleiman spent nine years with the Rams assisting president of football operations/general manager Jay Zygmunt in overseeing all aspects of football operations, including salary and player contract negotiations from 2000-09.

Suleiman left the Rams in early 2009 when there was a shakeup in the front office after the firing of coach Steve Spagnuolo. Prior to joining the Rams, Suleiman performed similar duties as manager of contract information for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Suleiman also worked for the NFL management council, for which he monitored the league-wide salary cap and analyzed player contracts.

Suleiman graduated from James Madison University in 1997 with a degree in sports management. He also played wide receiver on the football team.

Suleiman was reportedly in the running for the Green Bay’s chief negotiator job in 2008 and the vice president of football operations in Cleveland in 2009.

According to his Linkedin profile, Suleiman was a consultant for the Steelers from July 2011 to August 2012.

Mark Kaboly  |  Tribune-Review

With the Steelers departing ways with James Harrison on Saturday in a salary cap move, the question quickly moved to who will replace the All-Pro linebacker on the right side?

The logical answer is Jason Worilds — a former 2nd-round pick that showed flashes last year while replacing Harrison early in the season and LaMarr Woodley late in the season.

According to ProFootballFocus, Worilds finished the season with five sacks despite only rushing the passer 175 times. By comparison, Harrison had six sacks in 310 pass rushes and Woodley four sacks in 245 pass rushes.

Worilds has played in 999 snaps in three season and has 10 career sacks.

Despite the improvement from Worilds, the Steelers aren’t 100 percent sold on him because of his lack of experience and his inability to stay healthy and will look for competition for him on the free agency market so that’s why they are exploring free that possibility.

The organization has their eyes on at least three what can be considered young and underutilized free agent outside linebackers. Taking a linebacker early in the draft would not help the situation immediately.

The issue with a free agent replacement is that the Steelers don’t have a ton of money to throw at that position especially since they just released a guy because of money. The Steelers would likely be only willing to offer $3-4 million per season to a guy like that, and that wouldn’t entice many young free agents with potential.

So unless the Steelers are willing to scratch together a little more money to offer a free agent linebacker, they will have no choice but to hand the job over to Worilds.

And if Worilds stays healthy, that might not be a bad thing … that is if he stays healthy.

Mark Kaboly  |  Tribune-Review

Steelers guard Ramon Foster is an unrestricted free agent.

The Steelers had contract discussions with Ramon Foster’s agent, Joel Segal, on Thursday and will eventually make the unrestricted free agent offensive lineman an offer once the organization gets a better grasp on their current finances, said a source with knowledge of the meeting.

However, that offer may come too late and significantly under market value in order to retain Foster. Arizona, Chicago and Tennessee have shown interest in the 27-year-old guard. The N.Y. Giants could also be a potential suitor if they can’t re-sign Kevin Boothe.

Because of a new rule, agents are allowed to start formal talks with other teams starting three days before the start of the new NFL calendar year (12:01 a.m. Saturday) which is set for 4 p.m. Tuesday.

No signing can be announced until the opening of free agency if a deal is reached.

The 6-foot-5, 325-pound Foster has been a regular on the Steelers offensive line since being an undrafted rookie out of Tennessee in 2009.

Foster started 30 consecutive games at guard and 42 of 44 including Super Bowl XLV since being inserted into the lineup for a Week 10 game against the Patriots in 2010.

Foster has been extremely durable at a position that’s been injury prone for the Steelers in recent years. Foster missed only the second half of the season-opener against Denver with a severe headache before playing the final 966 snaps of the year at right guard.

According to ProFootballFocus, Foster allowed only two sacks the entire season – the least of all Steelers starters.

Foster signed a 1-year tender for $1.26 million last year as a restricted free agent after not getting much interest on the open market. He became expendable when the Steelers used a first round draft pick on right guard David DeCastro and decided to move Willie Colon and his recently signed 5-year, $29 million contract to left guard within a month of each other.

However, Foster started all 16 games last year when DeCastro was injured during the preseason.

By Alan Robinson

Want to watch every possible NFL game on Sunday, not just the games offered on your local channels (in Pittsburgh, that’s 2, 11, and 53)? Since 1994, there has been only one alternative: DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket.

The package, which offers all out-of-market Sunday games (those on any other day of the week are televised nationally), has been a DirecTV exclusive. DirecTV paid dearly for the rights, too; the most recent agreement, which runs through the 2014 season, cost $4 billion.

However, the days when a dish on the rooftop is the only way to see every NFL game might end after two more seasons. During an investors conference call Wednesday, DirecTV CFO Pat Doyle said that if the exclusivity price goes too high when the current deal expires, DirecTV might explore a non-exclusive deal or even drop the package entirely.

The Sunday Ticket package has been considered one of DirecTV’s strongest selling points since it launched in the mid 1990s, and losing it might alienate some subscribers who signed up with DirecTV largely because of the NFL games.

In the past, DirecTV and the NFL have extended the Sunday Ticket agreement several years in advance, but that hasn’t happened this time.

So what happens if the exclusivity contract runs out? The NFL could offer the Sunday Ticket package to the Dish Network and cable TV companies, something it has never done.

Currently, the only “extra” game day programming offered outside of DirecTV is the RedZone channel, which shows every NFL touchdown. The popularity of that channel has made the Sunday Ticket less attractive to some viewers who want to see highlights of every game even as they watch another one, without having to devote long stretches to it.

Another factor for DirecTV: When the NFL expanded its Thursday night schedule in 2012 to run from start of the season to finish (previously, it was a half-season package),Sunday games were taken away from DirecTV. Partly as a result, DirecTV cut the Sunday Ticket price for existing subscribers to $199 from about $325. Another reason for that price drop was that millions of subscribers signed up the previous year with the promise of a full season of Sunday Ticket for free, and DirecTV did not want to alienate those new subscribers with an onerous fee to continue seeing the games.

If the NFL decides to open up Sunday Ticket to cable operators, it could mean that, for the first time, millions of U.S. television-watching households could have access to every NFL game from start to finish without needing a dish. And it could happen as soon as 2015.

By Alan Robinson

The Steelers traditionally don’t spend much money or take many risks in free agency.

Given their many needs — and there could be more by the end of next week — this might be a year when they need to be a bit risky, especially when it might not cost them very much money.

If Rashard Mendenhall leaves, and it seems very likely he will, the Steelers will have a glaring need for a running back — even if they bring back restricted free agents Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman, as expected.

But there is a physical and effective 1,000-yard back on the market who would seem to fit their needs perfectly, and he won’t cost them what such a player commonly commands on the open market.

He is Ahmad Bradshaw, who owns two Super Bowl rings with the New York Giants but was cut earlier this month to avoid paying him his $3.75 million salary in 2013.

Bradshaw will turn 27 later this month, an age at which running backs can still be very effective. He ran for 1,015 yards and six touchdowns last season, and he has 4,232 yards in six Giants seasons.

Even better, he is a locker room leader and high-character player who has missed only eight games in five seasons despite having chronic foot problems.

“Can’t walk on Thursday, but he plays on Sunday,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.

The Steelers could use a few more players who actually play on Sunday.

Bradshaw recently had foot surgery — he had a large screw placed in his right foot — but hopes be to cleared Wednesday to resume offseason activities. His foot problems — he has had issues with both feet — apparently have scared off some teams, and the Steelers normally don’t sign a player with such baggage.

But perhaps Bradshaw should be the exception, given the production, leadership and intangibles he could bring to a team that needs more of all three such qualities. Especially given he wouldn’t cost them anything close to what a 1,000-yard rusher normally does.

Bradshaw reportedly was encouraged to play for a team with a grass field, which, of course, the Steelers have.

The Giants cut Bradshaw partly because they have first-round draft pick David Wilson ready to step in and replace him.

The Steelers, right now, have nobody to step in.

Mark Kaboly  |  Tribune-Review

Even though free agency doesn’t start until 4 p.m. March 12, we very well could find out where Steelers free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace will land by this weekend.

The NFL added a three-day tampering window back in October that permits players, teams and agents to talk to one another before a potential free agent’s contract is up.

Now, it’s not like these meetings haven’t taken place in past years, but this year it will actually be legal under the new terms set forth by the NFL.

So, it is very possible that we could hear something about Wallace and where he will sign not long after 4 p.m. on Saturday even though it won’t become official until the beginning of the new football year March 12.

Speaking of Wallace, with the signing of Kansas City wide receiver Dwayne Bowe to a 5-year, $56 million deal the other day and when you take in account that Vincent Jackson got a deal just like that last year, look for Wallace to at least get the 5-years and $56 million (likely more) when he signs.

 
That might sound crazy to you, but not to former NFL executive Bill Polian.

 
Polian, who is most known for with his days as Buffalo’s GM during their first three Super Bowls and president of the Colts during the Peyton Manning era, thinks Wallace fits perfectly into the mold of what a high-priced free agent looks like.

” He is productive.  He has great speed, which is always something that is desirable in a receiver,” Polian said. ” He falls within the reasonable age parameters and he hasn’t had a high history of injury When you look at all of the things that you use to try to decide whether or not you want to pursue a player, he checks every box with few question marks.”

Polian said there aren’t many red flags at all when it comes to Wallace.

By Alan Robinson

INDIANAPOLIS–Earlier this week, Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau went home to London, Ohio, but — and just for a moment — he felt a little out of place.

At a full-school assembly honoring him for being a Pro Football Hall of Fame member, LeBeau was listening to the London High School pep band play the school’s fight song. It wasn’t the same one he remembered from 57 years ago.

Yes, the 75-year-old LeBeau has outlived his high school’s original fight song.

But while LeBeau played with the grandfathers of current-day London High players, he remains as contemporary as ever in his approach to defense. He told the students how much he enjoyed working with the Steelers’ current-day players, how their mindset to remain as one of the NFL’s premier defenses from season to season never changes.

There was no talk of a locker-room rift on this day.

“There’s still some things I want to get done with these guys,” LeBeau said, suggesting that he is not yet contemplating the retirement is certain to come soon — and but perhaps not in the near future.

Certainly not before the Steelers go to London to play next fall — the one in England.

During the ceremony, LeBeau’s older brother, Bob, proudly read off a list of accomplishments by the Steelers defense. The pride in his voice was obvious. The pride that London takes in its hometown-boy-made-good in LeBeau is obvious, too; LeBeau has been gone from the community for more than 50 years, yet two entire sections of the school trophy case are devoted to him.

As LeBeau walked into the school gym, the football players lined up to shake his hand and to show him the way.

The 500 or so London students sat quietly — there wasn’t even the hint of a murmur — as LeBeau talked for 15 minutes about being from a small town, and how it influenced his life. His recalled his mother being a competitor who didn’t get mad at losing any game or contest but one who immediately asked for a rematch. He talked about his amateur golfer father who was routinely outdriven by 50 to 75 yards in area tournaments, but whose steadiness meant he was never out of a match.

“This is a proud moment for me,” LeBeau said.

His hometown felt the same. There is a movement on to raise the money to build a new gym. If is it built, the plans are to name it after LeBeau.

Dick LeBeau goes home to London.

By Alan Robinson

Several years ago, Dick LeBeau traveled to Canton to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

This time, the Hall of Fame is coming to LeBeau — or, at least, to his hometown.

LeBeau will be the latest Hall of Famer with Steelers ties to be honored via the “Hometown Hall of Famer” program. On Wednesday, a plaque denoting LeBeau’s Hall of Fame selection will be unveiled at his alma mater, London (Ohio) High School. LeBeau will accept the award and talk to the school’s students in the gymnasium, where the plaque will be displayed.

A highway sign recognizing London as LeBeau’s hometown also will be installed.

Bob LeBeau, a former London High quarterback and LeBeau’s brother, will make the presentation, which will be attended by some of LeBeau’s friends and former high school teammates.

After playing at London High, LeBeau played for coach Woody Hayes at Ohio State and was a member of the Buckeyes’ 1957 national championship team. A fifth round pick by the Browns in 1969, LeBeau — a defensive back — was cut during rookie camp but went on to sign with the Detroit Lions. He became a starter midway through his rookie season and remained one the rest of his career.

LeBeau went on to become one of the best defensive backs in NFL history, making 62 interceptions during his 185-game career. He had at least three interceptions in 12 consecutive seasons. At the time he retired in 1972, LeBeau ranked third in interceptions in NFL history.

LeBeau later became the Bengals head coach and an assistant for the Steelers, Bengals, Eagles, Packers and Bills. He has been the Steelers defensive coordinator for 11 seasons, in 1995-96 and every season since 2004.

LeBeau was passed over for the Hall of Fame numerous times before being inducted as a senior nominee in 2010. The entire Steelers team attended the ceremony.

The Hometown Hall of Famer program is conducted by the Hall of Fame and Allstate Insurance.