The Terrible Podcast — Talking Steelers Moving Forward With Heyward, Tomlin Tuesday, Smith Goals

welcome to the terrible podcast with your host from Steelers depot.com where you can find all your latest and greatest Steelers news it's Dave Brian and Alex kazora always lit talking Steelers and now here's Dave and Alex welcome to the terrible podcast season 15 episode 20 he St bran I'm Alex kazora Steelers depo.com thanks for being back with us here this Wednesday Steelers Nation Dave on the heels of Tuesday's big news of the cam Hayward threeyear extension that'll hopefully make him a stealer for life also have some Tomlin Tuesday our first of the regular season occurred yesterday so a pretty active day for Tuesday before week one for the Pittsburgh Steelers Dave how you doing ah happy Wednesday one more day to go before the NFL season officially gets underway with the Thursday night game uh starting to see all these contracts around the league uh some new contracts start to come in uh we obviously discussed the Cameron Hayward contract in about a 22 Minute Podcast uh Tuesday night I have a feeling we're going to be discussing at least one more before uh the Steelers kick off their game against the Atlanta Falcons Falcons on Sunday uh oh when those contracts hit like that my blood just it it it's it's it's uh uh invigorating the blood rushes right through up to the top of my head and uh uh I enjoy that part of it so uh hopefully I'll have at least one more of those kind of brain rushes if you will either today or tomorrow at least sometime by the time the team gets on the plane come Saturday yeah and that would be one Pat fryou with hey word done we turn our attention to fryou and it seems likely that a deal will get done but nothing is done until it's done and Pittsburgh's deadline is before week one officially kicks off on Sunday so we'll keep tabs on that if you want the details and all the kind of nitty-gritty of the Kim Hayward contract and we'll still waiting for a bit more information on on his deal but we would refer to you guys to the podcast that daav and I did yesterday episode 19 so check that out but I still want to of course address the overall reaction and and some of the details and numbers that might be having some people concerned when they look at the contract as it's initially reported three years 45 million $16 million signing bonus I mean a just off the top and those who have listened to the podcast before probably know the answer but Dave you're not surprised that a the deal was done and B the deal was structured in the way that it appears to have been structured no it felt like this was the way that this was going to go right from the offset I mean we've been talking about this dating back probably to to even the end of last season to some degree uh but you know at his age you know I wrote that post earlier half halfway through the off season I think thinking uh what is even the max that that that cam Hayward might be trying to reach for when it comes to maybe some additional new money above and beyond the $166 million that he was already scheduled to earn in 2024 uh that would have been a high side of additional uh income but even so when you backed out you put your glasses on you looked at his age and you look at what the Steelers have done uh with contracts he can ask that all day long and and and try to get that additional money and try to uh even increase his his new money average but when you just look at everything in totality the fact that he's also coming off the injury mid3 now uh you knew that he wanted at least two more years on on on on a deal you knew that he really wanted to end his career in Pittsburgh uh all of this pointed toward what we had said most of the offseason a no new money in 2024 exension and no guaranteed money Beyond uh 2024 so that's exactly what happened and another recent kind of uh flurry of our our discussion we discussed the whole will they will they take the route will this end up taking the route of the Troy palalo Heath Miller situation several years ago where and look that was a little bit different circumstance from the point that the team really needed some salary cap space at the time but on top of it both those guys were going into the final years of the contract as well uh they did exactly what they did with Cam Hayward is they gave no new money in in the current year that was set to be both those Players final years they turned all but the minimum uh that they could for a base salary into a signing bonus they added two years to each of those deals and then they went from there and obviously Troy palalo did not even uh see in in in any years past that and I think Keith Miller saw won did he not uh uh uh pass that so uh they they took the same route as they did several years ago with Paul amalo and and Heath Miller this was not surprising in one bit and for people out there that just hate numbers and hate us talking about it here's a long and short of it and I said this uh uh during the Tuesday night uh uh quick podcast there cam Hayward was already scheduled to earn $16 million in 2020 24 before this deal was announced he woke up being scheduled to be ow owed 16 million on Tuesday he went to bed Tuesday night still set to earn $16 million in 2024 all they did was took all but the uh the vet minimum he was allowed to earn as a base salary and turned it into a signing bonus uh and then they added two new years of the on contract neither of which are guaranteed uh and those two total out at 29 million we don't know the exact split of those 2025 and 2026 salaries it'll probably be something either 14 million and 15 million or 15 million and 14 million or 16 million or 13 million something or 14 and A5 million or 14 it does it you know those are just uh specifics and they'll come out here in a few days here though uh and look as far as potential dead money uh goes with this thing I mean it's less than $10 million uh overall so if Cam Hayward God forbid has another injury play year or if he just looks like his play has completely fallen off the cliff then you have a hard decision to make next off season there uh is he worth whatever salary that ends up being in 2025 uh and then if you decide God forbid that you need to part ways with him you would probably designate him as a post June first cut so that you split that uh that little less than $10 million in potential dead money over 2025 and 2026 but uh that that's it I mean I I I don't if people are getting up you know for for most of the talk of this people are saying he needs to take a pay cut he needs to take a pay cut uh well he wasn't going to take a pay cut in 2024 there's just if you didn't get that part of it I'm sorry and if you think it's wrong for him not doing so I'm sorry I I don't know what to I don't know how to sooe those people he's making exactly what was scheduled are in 2024 if you're upset about salaries that have not even technically been applied yet and the decision on whether or not he will earn those salaries have not even come forth yet and you can't wait at least to see his play in 2024 to to even decide if he's worth x amount of money in 2025 I don't I I don't know what to tell you here this team had to to on top of it at least try to get some cash on the books for 2025 and 2000 or 2025 specifically uh and and and and they did that will they end up giving let let him earning earn that money we'll find out but I I just don't understand all the hand ringing that's going on related to the way this deal that he signed on on Tuesday seems to be manifesting I think the concern that some people have is just the risk the appearance of giving a 35y old even the larger base salaries next year but but you would just say the risk for this contract even if Hayward fell off a cliff by next year that risk is minimal correct yeah the potential dead money you should look it would it would have to be kind of cat cataclysmic for them to to part ways with Cam Hayward next summer let's assume just worst case scenario that it is okay well then you have uh like I said you got you you you would you would cut bait with him and you would then uh have a probably designate them as a post June 1st salary cap casualty and have four point something uh million dollars in debt money in 2025 and then the duplicate amount in 2026 and the way this cap cap is escalating uh I mean for God's sakes look at the dead money that you got on the books this year for for some players you got 4.61 3334 million in dead money on Mitch trabis you got a little hair over $3 million in ch Cham cor for uh Deontay Johnson you traded away with a dead money charge of 5.83 three million uh Kenny picket you traded away 3.75 uh Million Dead money charge in 2024 uh this year dead money's a a way of life in the NFL it happens you know like happens dead money happens can you say that on the on the podcast it's not a bumper sticker I think you're ordering them now okay uh have a nice day as Forest gum would say um I mean I I once again I I don't you know that's that's worst case scenario now the other aspect of it is is is if you keep him on the roster uh in 2025 and his let's say he plays okay in 2024 you decide to keep them around 2025 and then man it really goes south well then you can say man they wasted you know they paid him let's say $15 million in cash and it they they certainly didn't get a return on his investment but you know you you definitely could look at it that way but we're not going to be able to make that decision until NE you know after next season right right and if we assume the dead money scenario you laid out it would be roughly not knowing the exact cap next year probably a bit more than 1% of the cap be that dead money so it is a drop in the bucket of the ever expanding cap I had this thought as well last night I didn't bring up with you during the podcast I was laying in bed thinking about this last night let's assume that you're thinking about C in your as you lay down and go been hanging around you too much Dave oh oh my heart still my Beating Heart the one thing that can make D Brian blush um had Hayward played out this year some advocated let him play out this year see if he's healthy see how he does and go from there not an unreasonable thought to have to be clear but had you had he played out this year and he had a good year and he wanted to bring him back then you're probably having to throw in some signing bonus some real some real actual new money on top of what his salary would be on a on a true free agent deal come say next February or March and and so there'd be a chance of having more invested in him if you had if you waited until after this year as opposed to doing it before this year correct yeah but what you know also what would his value be how many teams would be actually interested in signing a 30 what would he be 36 uh sure uh but you know what if he once again if he what what if he has six seven sacks and and looks like cam Hayward from a couple years ago yeah my point is though there'd be an actual signing bonus in that contract would there not be yeah yeah yeah but I mean still you would have a c you what what would his total cash payout be for for for 2025 but yeah uh you it would probably uh take a uh signing bonus of some degree that if you sign him to a two-year deal would be Pro would be uh pro-rated out over over the two years so you would still have a dangling of Deb debt money potentially there for 2026 yeah so the situation Pittsburgh would have found themselves even if they had a wait and see approach may not have been really any different um this way you get it done now without any kind of concern that you know you don't bring him back uh there is always always risking contracts always risking signing anybody and someone who's 35 years old coming up for groin injury does have some risk I'm not going to deny that but the point that I made last night in our podcast or have an article up this morning is this is not the lifetime achievement contract for cam Hayward this is not just about what he's meant to the franchise what he's done for the past which has been you know almost hard to calculate but I think he's still a really good player and even last year on one leg I Revisited some of the numbers I did this off season how how good his run defense was when teams ran at cam Hayward last year they averaged 2.7 yards per carry they had a 40% run success rate away from cam Hayward they averaged over five yards per carry and a 55% run success rate look at the way the run defense immediately got better once Hayward got on the field those first three weeks after he got back Pittsburgh went from being a bottom five run defense and ysb carry allowed to a top 10 run defense in yards perur carry allow so there was still real impact he can make and again he was not healthy at any point last season the pass rush was not there he could not get after the quarterback in large part du to the injury and trying to get back from that before being fully healed he's looked back to his you know generally his explosive and Powerful self as a bull rusher this year so I still think he can be a six to seven sack guy I think gone are the days in all likelihood of him being a double digit sack guy but he doesn't have to be that guy so I still think there's good good tread in those tires on cam Hayward look before before he uh before he signed this deal he was the 19th rated interior defensive lineman in the NFL when it comes to average per year at $16.4 million new money average okay uh his new money average has now dropped down to 14.5 million and he's Dro one spot now uh he is now the TW he's tied with Eric armstr stead uh of the Jaguars uh at 14.5 million new money average so he took a little bit of a haircut in the new money average he dropped one space in the rankings is at least going into 2024 uh how you know can can cam Hayward be considered a 20th ranked interior defensive lineman defensive tackle in the NFL I say yes I do too I know the interior defensive line class has gotten better and there is just stupid good talent out there but I think if we made a list of the top 20 interior defens lineman D tackles Hayward would be in that top 20 right and that's what they're at least telling him he is worth right now this year uh where would you think he would be next year do we I know it's harder to project that out we don't have exact numbers on the contract and the structure but he's probably going to be lower next year would he not uh after I guess it depends on who gets what and who gets cut and uh I mean I mean you're talking you're you're opening up a a Pandora's Bark Box that's that's hard to get a visualization around because because you're dealing with an entire league how many of these guys will be cut around the league uh how many young guys will be up for contracts that uh end up having new money averages greater than 14.5 million so I mean it's it's it's unpossible for me to answer okay but he's unlikely to jump into the top 10 next year is kind of my point oh yeah he's he's not gonna jump I mean he in all likelihood he'll either remain about where he's at or drop let's say five spots right right so it'll it'll be even cheaper relatively speaking over time right and remember you invested no new cash this year in him so you the same cash that you had allocated for him in 2024 is still getting paid to him uh the only thing you've done is you put on potential cash spendings for 2025 and 2026 uh look will he will he make will he play out the you know the the the next two years of this thing you know as in after this year the next two years or this year next I mean the the complete contract will he will he play out 20 25 2026 we it that's that's impossible to answer right now you know right I I think he certainly could that is my expectation I think that that final year 2026 is obviously more unpredictable I'm pretty confident obviously play this year I'm pretty confident he'll play next year play it out where it goes from there you know we'll see but if there's a guy that's going to do it it's Hayward because I mentioned this last night too when you're strong when your your game is built around power that kind of falls off more like a sloping Hill when your game is built on speed and finesse it falls off more like a cliff and so I think that power and strength stays longer than athleticism does and Hayward to be is still as strong as anybody on this team yeah uh all right we've uh we we we've we've looked at that from every different angle right now let me ask you one more plus they dropped this cap hit you know well over $9 million too as part of this yeah that clears up cap space this year which could get added back to a degree with a Pat fryou Uh extension you talked about that last night but should still leave this team additional 2024 cap space to do what with we'll see but there should be some more flexibility let me ask you one other question and assume whatever you want to assume about how the rest of hayward's career goes but knowing that you're believing that is Cam heward Hall of Famer Ross mccorkell had the article yesterday talking about this this contract may help be a to ensure that that Heyward can play more years in the league and and make the Hall of Fame do you think he'll end up in can I I think it's I think what he does in at least this next season will go a long way in helping that I think he's very borderline right now uh I I I obviously don't think he's a slam dunk if he doesn't play another down right now yeah we assume he'll play I mean assume he plays at least two more years whatever stats you want to ascribe to him feel free but what is your gut I mean I think there obviously he's got to be a a good H you know at least 10 12 sacks over the course of the next two years would would certainly help his cause okay yeah I think he's very much borderline right now I've done some studying and looking at historical resumés of Hall of Famers he gets to 90 sacks he's nine and a half away from 90 history say there's a good chance not that that's Ironclad and just looking at resumés and both ERS are you know subjective not objective and there's no hit these boxes and and you're automatically in the Hall of Fame but I think for guys with his number of pro bows and you get to 90 sacks there are very few of those interior linemen who have not made the Hall of Fame one of which is like Aaron Donald and obviously he'll end up there on his first ballot so ad don't Hayward will be a first ballot guy if he gets the 90 and hopefully a little bit of pass that there's a a decent chance he'll get in within the first probably couple years of being eligible yeah look uh if he stays healthy this year he is surrounded by a nice group of uh of uh front seven guys and if those guys stay healthy it should it could very easily equate to some some very respectable numbers for Cameron Hayward uh as a byproduct of that and uh yeah I mean if he goes out there and has another you know six seven eight sacks uh in 2024 stays on the fields good against the run and all like that uh it would it would really help his chances in in in in 2024 last year for the Atlanta Falcons Kus Campbell at age 37 had six and a half sacks you think cam Hayward goes over or under six and a half sacks this year at age 35 what was the over under presented to us in the uh live stream the other night do you remember I don't remember it was a Mike I forget what his number was that I want to say it was eight but I can't recall exactly what he suggested I if if you told me right now cam Hayward had six sacks in 2024 I would not be surprised okay so six and a half is the over under I'm I'm right there on it you push I mean he could hit six and a half yeah he could hit six and a half because uh I'd be right on it Alex be honest with you because I I think this front's gonna have some you know or should uh I mean what what did what did even Mike throw out there as a total like 55 you know and and these you got a lot of guys out there in this front if they stay healthy for that to be distributed around to right uh and if T if TJ gets lion share of that uh let's say TJ hits 20 you know that leaves 35 for how many other players you know so uh yeah I think six and a half or seven is is it is a a realistic number boy if he exceeds that oh boy you know it's a fantastic year for him and presumably this defense if hayward's able to get even if he hits double digits he'll basically be one of two D tackles at his age to ever do it him and Steve McMichael would be two um so Kudos him if he can do that I know he's going to be gunning for it and listen he had double digit sacks at age 32 and AG 33 so it's not crazy that he could do it at 35 but his says that's unlikely to occur all right all right good discussion there I'm happy with the contract I'm happy it got done personally but also professionally as sayward the player is just good for Pittsburgh did you question whether or not it get done I never did you are you have a steadier heartbeat than I do I'm a little more cold feet I I still thought it would get done I wasn't in the camp of oh my goodness it's not going to happen but I was getting to I'm a little unsure how this thing is going to go the clock's ticking let's hopefully I I also just felt like the iuk situation was holding up everything and once that got finally resolved then kind of the gates open to do something with Hayward and we well it's going to transition into Pat fryou and hopefully something done with Pat fryou you're still confident something will happen maybe we hear something very soon on that but you still think this thing is very likely to occur that'll Harden you up for the next time Alex probably not I live in my fears uh you you are much better than avoiding that than I am follow the cash all right I remember that but with fry you think this thing's still getting done oh yeah it's getting done it might get done before we get done with this thing today so uh and I've already kind of mapped out what I think that uh might might look at too I hope hope people didn't use up all their mad all their hate uh on on on Twitter on on Tuesday evening there uh and look I mean it's no surprise we we've talked about where we kind of think this thing might come in at uh overall uh you've got Cole KT uh at $12.5 million new money and that deal happened well over a year ago what was it like July or June of 2023 uh that deal happened so that thing's already got some age on it at this point obviously Cole KT a one of the younger guys uh in the NFL up and coming tight ends and then I I I view that as sort of the floor uh with apy when it comes to uh Pat fouth and I I I view the ceiling at Mark Andrews uh at $14 million uh new money average is it unpossible that frith uh exceeds Mark Andrews at 14 million I'm you know me I'm not gonna paint myself in a corner here but I will be a bit surprised could he equal Mark Andrews I suppose that would feel that would feel on the rich side to me uh if if if if they went that high and if they obviously exceeded $14 million in new money average yeah I that that would raise my eyebrows a little bit uh Alex to be honest with you uh Mark Andrews is the one two three four fifth highest paid tight end in the in the NFL right now at 14 million Travis Kelce leads everybody at 17.1 25 TJ Hawkinson is second at 16.5 million uh George KD is 15 million Dallas gdd 14.25 million and then Mark Andrews at 14 million now uh the question is is how much more does uh Fri M jump KT at 12.5 there's only two players uh between KT and Andrews that he would have to jump uh uh David en joku at 13.6 875 million and that contract's got a little age on it and Evan Ingram with the Jaguars at 13.75 million so for Pat faru to jump both those guys but yet not jump Mark Andrews at 14 million there's only a $250,000 uh Gap at that point uh Alex and that's why my my final kind of look at this thing feels like uh it might come in at a what did I put uh where is it here losing my spot uh at probably 13.8 million new money average which would slot him sixth overall in the NFL between Mark Andrews and Evan Ingram uh how many years are we talking about three additional years on to 2024 are we talking four additional years we'll see uh the Steelers don't like to do the new money past or guaranteed money past the first year that would probably in turn uh uh push fire moose side to say well we want a shorter deal okay uh the way I've at least mapped this out is a three-year extension onto 2024 meaning that the contract would run through 2027 with a new money average of what I said of 13.8 million I can visualize like a$ 122.4 million signing bonus being part of that uh the total new money uh for the for for the additional years would be 41.4 million I envisioned him keeping his base salary exactly the same as it is right now which if indeed everything came to fruition exactly the way I lay out which likely won't happen but pretty d damn close it would make the deal total 42882 024 million all right keep that number in mind and I think we'll get an answer soon of how my wife is making signals at me which that could mean a lot of things yeah she just she knows how excited I get over talking contracts in the cap and she your time of year yeah all right uh but that that's I mean uh do you think he will come in any any do you think he will come in under 14.8 million or should he come in under or 13.8 million no I mean I think you set it up well you study the numbers more than me I think that's fine knowing that everyone's trying to get more than what the last guy got and yeah if you sat down and said is Pat fryou the sixth best Titan in football the answer would likely be no but we know that in terms of how contracts get paid out and where you rank in terms of your peers are not always the same Jared G is one of the highest paid quarterbacks in football from an average yearly value standpoint he's not one of the best quarterbacks in football overall not a top five top seven names so you understand that context of how contracts and Deals work so uh that number seems reasonable and I would have no problem if that's how the deal was was laid out will his new money average come in between the 12.5 and 14 million that seems reasonable it would be I think an upset if it came in because if it was below then FR probably says I'll play this year out and I'll rebuild my value and make more money next year and I don't think Pittsburgh's going to go higher than that 14 million either right all right so we sit and wait we do we do all right let's talk Tomlin Tuesday had his press conference yesterday with the media this was before the Hayward deal um and everything kind of went down later in the day nothing Earth shattering there from Tomlin did provide an injury update did officially rule out Isaac SE amalu from not playing against Atlanta but called him week to week and seem to be generally optimistic about his status and is not even ruling him out for week two against Denver so that's encouraging and has optimism for the likes of the rookies Troy fanu and Roman Wilson along with Jaylen Warren and quarterback Corey tce Jr so Wednesday will be the official first injury report for this team we'll get statuses and and practice work on all those guys Warren should play sounds like T will play too I think fonu will be healthy and probably cleared will he play will he start we'll have to see Roman Wilson's a guy that's missed a lot of time and seems to be maybe a bit further behind than fanu but we'll have to see his status today he may be limited on today's injury report yeah we do get our first injury report of 2024 today so that'll be interesting to watch play out uh we have a little bit of breaking news coming in Boston Scott uh who was signed to the uh practice squad uh recently here uh has been placed on the practice squad injured reserve list and the team signing Aaron Champlin to the practice squad to replace him so unfortunate for Boston Scott who's had some NFL experience and would have been useful in that Giants gem I guess maybe he could come back by then don't know the extent of injuries and exactly how practice squad injured works but Shanklin to replace him who thought had a decent summer plates in special teams look explosive uh him and Jonathan Ward will now we teams to practice squad backs uh yes they will and let's see is that all the breaking news we have right now uh yeah uh unfortunate for him didn't even didn't even make it through week one yeah so when you said breaking news I didn't know where we were going with the uh the story there but uh not not fryou but still notable and unfortunate like you said for Boston Scott yeah all right uh so Tomlin injury overall you know do you think what is your thought on F T in terms of will he dress will he start what's his status going to look like for Sunday at yeah uh I I I think we'll get a lot of our answer a good idea today but Mike Tomlin said that he's ramping up and did you know seem to be pleased with what he did on Monday obviously Tuesday was an off day uh I think Wednesday will go a long way in determining that uh how many weeks has it been since that actual injury happened now it happened in the second preseason game yeah it was the first preseason game first preseason game uh about three weeks roughly see what was the actual date on that yeah August I don't know August 10 top my head I don't have the uh schedule pulled up here let me pull it up real quick want say about three weeks since the August 9th 9th okay so getting close to a month it'll be almost a month by kick off yeah so I I'll go ahead and guess that he'll be be up and active you obious viously I'll be a bit surprised if he starts but uh I'm I'm I'm I'm optimistic that he will dress and be a backup okay I'm with you I'll go with you on that one if not him then your backup tackles get kind of shaky you got Spencer Anderson but he's gonna be starting at left guard as Tomlin also confirmed that Anderson will be next man up to replace sealo so I I'll I'll hold hands with you on that one Dave I think fanu dresses but it's the backup I think Den Moore junior is at left tackle and brri Jones is at right tackle and as far as the other injured go uh obviously SE Amala will be out this week uh probably a good chance Roman Wilson regardless of his health is inactive anyway just too much time missed so that'll be him that'll give Scotty Miller Calvin Austin the Hat the opportunities along with Van Jefferson and George Pickins uh we'll see if any elevations occur Mike Tomlin did allude to that I think in regards to a question about beanie bishop and would he be the starting slot Corner could we see a Thomas Graham get elevated Matthew Marks you wrote about that this morning something to watch for during those Saturday elevations absolutely we'll get uh all we need as far as a potential inactive list goes depending on what happens on the Saturday uh potential elevations what else from Tomlin I'm going to kind of scroll through we what we wrote about to see what kind of stuck out the most the first presser can be a little drier because there's not really any games to go off of and more reaction to have he talked about the challenges of preparing for the Atlanta Falcons with the new coaching staff and was asked along the lines of how much does Arthur Smith help in preparation and you know in so many words he said look you know Arthur Smith you know knows a lot of the Personnel over there that they have and probably the strengths and the weaknesses of said personnel uh when you talk about individually and probably collectively as well too but as far as schematics go uh the team has to rely you know with with Kirk Cousins coming in obviously Kirk Cousins is not playing during the preseason you have to roll back to what he did in Minnesota uh you could probably got a good idea of what Kirk Cousins can do and can't do regardless of the schematics and the offense that he's in at this point but you know you just really don't have a good sense of maybe what they're going to try to do schematically uh overall uh even though you do know the strengths of and weaknesses of several those those players on the roster so does Arthur Smith help in some degree yes but is it an astronomical Advantage overall I think tomlin's take takeaway was no yeah I think that's true I think that's being sincere when Tomlin says that the advantage is pretty minor when you're talking about a whole new coaching staff down there in Atlanta and you know the guys the players that played for Arthur Smith can probably provide just as much insight into what Smith might do with Pittsburgh as Smith could do with Atlanta I did think Tomlin made a good point about you know it's a new coaching staff but a lot of those guys come over from the Rams in terms of what DC Jimmy Lake and OC Zack Robinson they played the Rams last year they beat Los Angeles and so maybe you can lean on on that game a little bit but yeah I mean the Falcons are kind of a a blank slate not only did cousins sit out of the preseason I believe Atlanta basically held out all their starters the entire preseason I don't think really any of those guys played and so you don't really get a lot a guidance from even preseason tape so I think generally though for week one even regardless of opponent whether it's you're playing the Browns or playing the Falcons it's about yourself and and doing your things correctly executing your Technique and your scheme and not you know losing the game before you can win it kind of thing so that's still the general Mantra I think of week one is just kind of focusing on self more than opponent but it kind of comes in handy because it's kind of hard to gauge how Atlanta's going to present themselves uh and look you know you look at it from Atlanta's point of view too they got got you know several years of Arthur Smith as as an offensive coordinator you know they they probably got a good idea what Arthur Smith wants to do offensively schematically sure sure we talked about this I think on Monday show or Friday show that you may have to be careful if you're Arthur Smith about your your calls your verbiage your checks because that Falcon defense who went against Smith in practice for three years they they know the language and so you may have to be careful about that or have some dummy calls or just you know just be careful of how you work and I they maybe on a silent count you I know T fans will certainly be taking over that game we'll see how Pittsburgh operates but just have to be careful about those things I do think overall that gives the Falcons an advantage in this one I think Pittsburgh's more known to them than Atlanta is to Pittsburgh but um you know it's not GNA not going to make or break the outcome of this game right you still got to make plays right and still got to not turn the football over uh still got to have explosive plays uh you kind of alluded to this uh he was asked about beanie Bishop didn't playing a second preseason game and split snaps in the third what did he do to prove to you guys that he should be elevated Mike Thomas says I don't know that he's done it yet we have uh player of elevation opportunities and things of that nature uh in the course of the work week that determines how we divide the labor up beanie is an exciting young guy we'll watch him during the week along with some others and we'll make the decisions at the end of the week that's best suited for winning this game so it will be interesting to see if a guy such as what uh uh Graham Thomas Graham yeah that could be an elevation I think even if Bishop is kind of in a starting capacity you're going to see a committee approach for Bishop's going to be your rundown guy and then I think you're looking at Deshawn Elliott to kind of work in passing situations where Casey comes on to replace Elliott at safety and and uh desun Elliot down over slot so certainly one position group to watch because there's not been great clarity you know presented and given and created this preseason because of injuries and just lack of guys really stepping up to truly take hold of that job all right Alex did Mike tomman have a sip of the truth serum uh when asked about the wide receiver situation Mike Tom Mike Tom was asked following up on a question about the wide receivers after you guys traded Deontay Johnson did you find the landscape of building that room more challenging what did you think about his answer I was going to ask you do you believe tomlin's answer that he went into training camp the receiver room one day during camp and challenged those guys to step up and in tomlin's WS they did and he feels comfortable with that room now do you think he's truly comfortable or is it well I got no choice to be comfortable or not this is the group and so I might as well roll with it uh I there's parts of this that I uh there there's truth do I think that he did go in that room and and voice his concerns at some point yes yes I do uh uh is he going to come out and tell us you know what I went that room I went in that room I told them my concerns and you know what head let me down they let me down they're not they're they're not they're not they're not the droids that I was looking for uh uh kind of uh situation here uh what else is he going to say in that situation I mean it's true that Ben Jefferson Scotty Miller had good and consistent training camps and Tomlin made sure to really talk up those two guys in particular better floors which I would I I I will say this he him mentioning both those guys and and and saying higher floors uh did resonate to me uh I come came out of training camp and the pree uh based on what I had known about those two guys from the moment they were signed thinking that maybe they do have higher floors and I think that's true I mean they had comfort in knowing the Arthur Smith System both in Atlanta last year and so that probably gave them a leg up to to hit the ground running with this new offense even maybe more so than some returning Steelers yeah they have higher floors they're veterans they have good skill sets they work hard question is how high is that ceiling are we talking Ranch level you know with just one floor or are we talking multi level and that's the the concern here is what is the ceiling uh for for for them and by extension for this offense right is it enough yeah and it's still hard to make me think that it is enough to get to where Pittsburgh would ideally want to be I mean again in these Arthur Smith Systems can you win without you know number two receiver yeah I think you you can do that the way this offense is built but can you really go on a run and how much you know faith and risk do you place in George Pickins for him to stay healthy and be productive and not be game planned away if if any of those things occur then I think you're in real big trouble right but that is the answer from Tomlin and time will tell exactly how that room sorts itself out Beyond George Pickins anything else from Tomlin got a got a Kelvin beum name drop in his press conference in regards to Spencer Anderson talked about how Anderson like beum their rookie years were making the team on versatility remember beum was initially Tred at guard even some Center talk before he settled in a left tackle Anderson settling in a guard this year in his second season and said um you know Anderson would be fortunate to have the longevity that beum has who was still in the NFL when I roll back and I think about Kevin Kelvin beam's career in the NFL I specifically think about I don't know is either the first or second preseason game uh his rookie season and thinking oh man what a mess what a mess this guy is destined for the practice squad uh he's not going to make the 53 and he obviously did and then not only that he went on to you know become uh starting left tackle for this team and probably would have held on to that spot even longer if not for the injury that he had that that gave birth to uh Alejandro V NOA at the time uh and then obviously is since uh more more so flipped over to to to to the other side but can still obviously play both the fact that that a guy with his because he doesn't have a classic build either does he he's got kind of that long torso uh build all this is to say you really go to as Hines Ward would say take your hat off and hand it to Kevin Beach him for the NFL career that he has put together and if Spencer Anderson's career path goes the path of Kelvin beum what a find you know and even half the career that beum is had Beach him has 149 career starts if you would have told me after that first or second preseason game that that was going to be the outcome I would not have believed you uh with him it just goes to show you that that that players can develop and and and you know players can become better players than what you initially see right out of a preseason slate you know what is the record for most starts by seventh round pick in in history I I'm G to try to look that up right now all right well while you do that you know he kind of pointed to you know uh Spencer Anderson's versatility and will you know we we've talked uh when when Spencer Anderson was drafted about all the positions he played along the offensive line in college at Maryland uh I think the thing that we noted here most more recently when it was looking like uh Anderson will be the starting left guard here is that he actually did not play a lot of those snaps uh in college at left guard and on top of that you know so far at least this past preseason did not play a lot of snaps at left guard this is a very important game uh against the Falcons to find out you know where you know how how versatile he is if he puts up a good showing here against the Falcons at left guard it'll give this team a lot of confidence moving forward potentially about that position flexibility even after Isaac sealo uh comes back because once again you've got a guy that let let's face it he could probably technically play all five spots in a pitch along the offensive line uh should you need him to uh you don't want to get in that uh position but you never know POS you know uh position flexibility can come in huge so this is a big game for Spencer Anderson at left guard and I I like what I saw top to bottom from Spencer Anderson uh outside of that one sack that he gave up uh during the preseason this year and I think you even kind of noted coming out of training camp that uh Spencer Anderson did everything that you would ask for out of a out of a secondy year player yeah he had a really good camp he was I think one of the winners of training camp just based on his play Then injuries really open up the opportunity for him it'll be a big test for him and Zack Frasier to see Grady Jarrett uh in week one not easy but it's going to be a great litmus test for both of those guys answer most starts by seventh round pick in NFL history it's a tie the top between former Falcon speaking of Atlanta Todd McClure and Max Montoya played for the Raiders and the Bengals 195 starts each other notable names on this list Tom nen with 188 Shannon sharp 169 Hall of Famer Larry Wilson 163 and Donald Driver didn't know he was a seventh round pick with 155 but there are 26 guy seventh round picks that have had at least 149 career starts a short list and beum is on there all right uh we'll definitely be keeping our eye on Spencer Anderson this week uh what did you think about Mike tomlin's answer to where do you see this offense do you believe it has more Firepower than it did the last few years and Mike tommen said I'm not interested in making you comfortable today to be quite honest with you those are just words and really at the end of the day it's somewhat meaningless we'll have an opportunity to put some tape out this weekend that's kind of reflective of that discussion I'm more of a doer than a talker talking glowingly particularly when you're uh uh when you're undefeated this time of year is easy and I'm not attracted to easy uh we're just going to work and we'll put tape out there that's reflective of our intentions in other words we'll wait and see yeah I can appreciate the honesty there and basically saying listen the words don't matter we can talk up this offense and talk about how great we think it's going to be none of that matters once the ball is kicked off Sunday which is the absolute truth results have to occur you can talk up this offense last year didn't work out talk is cheap so I'm good with the answer that Tomlin gave more glowing uh words out of Mike tomlin's mouth for rookie Payton Wilson uh he says he's a talented guy he's quick and eager learner he doesn't make a lot of mistakes twice he's got a skill set that might allow him to contribute particularly in some passing circumstances he's an easy Runner just like you Alex you're an easy Runner me and pton same uh he can cover people unlike Alex uh we'll just continue to carve out a role for him but make no mistake we're excited about about the prospects and his talent level yeah could certainly see him in some nickel packages the way they showed it briefly in the preseason was in base it was Queen and Roberts and nickel Queen and Wilson then of course Queen and dime packages so we'll see how things get distributed but that could be a realistic scenario in week one what about Mike tommen on Russell Wilson's ability to throw the Deep ball and hit it right in your shirt pocket D yeah uh is that is that true is deep is great I mean and I think people get wowed by just pure arm strength how far can you throw the football but accuracy matters so much in those situations and those are so difficult to to place well for the receiver but yeah I think Wilson and Fields to his credit as well both have excellent deep ball accuracy all right uh kind of winding down was asked about the distribution of running back reps uh how would Jaylen Warren's injury affect that the main takeaway here is health and uh game plan it's probably going to dictate where the work how the workload gets distributed between the running backs yeah it wasn't much of an answer but I I think it'll be pretty similar to last year there'll be EVs and flows I think you Arthur Smith might ride the hot hand more than you know past years in Pittsburgh I think Jaylen Warren could see some more goal line carries but I don't believe the distribution will be dramatically different than last year I agree all right was there any anything out what you think about George pickin's growth yeah it's kind of I mean it's one of those like you have to say that you're confident in George to to handle adversity but you're just kind of holding on this season so we'll see something will come up hopefully it's more minor overall there'll be some frustration over the course of the season but Tomlin has always stood by George Pickins publicly and I think it's done intentionally to make sure that that Pickins knows that there's someone in his corner and in fighting for him because I know Pickins can get a lot of critique and criticism online some of it deserve last year there was you he made waves and put himself in headlines for all the wrong reasons but I think Tomlin wants to know that they have his back all right uh anything any other uh huge takeaways from Mike tomlin's press no that was it overall let's just go back to one salary cap situation thing and we'll just spend a minute on this but I talked about after the Au situation got resolved okay The Saga there ended but there's going to be more sagas upcoming when it comes to wide receivers George next summer pay him or not also on Debo Samuel maybe you would get some trade discussions this year if the ners were were happen happening to have a poor season but the ners restructured his contract and so it would seem like unlikely to be traded even more so during the season correct yeah yeah the fact that they restructured and it sounds like it was almost a full or or was a full restructure on Debo that the 49ers just did you don't do that with the intentions of of creating more dead money out in front of you just to trade away a player in a few months from now you know would it be harder to trade him in the off season uh it it sounds like it you know but do we think they're going to keep both auk and Nebo for 2025 I I've always kind of felt that was an unlikely scenario I think most would uh but it seems a lot more likely now man they have restructured so many contracts and they have so much cap space uh uh available even now after doing the iuk deal and and and redoing the Trent Williams thing contract uh just yesterday uh they still have this huge amount of cat space that they're going to roll over to uh whatever's left they're going to roll over to to to 2025 and yeah they'll have the Brock pry contract to do but typically the first year is as far as cap space goes is a little easier to deal with with a uh Mega contract like one he's probably going to end up getting it feels to me Alex the way they have managed their cap situation uh this off seon this feels like a three-year plan for them uh or at the very least a a uh this year and next year plan of try to keep this thing together as long as they can and try to see if they they can win a couple of championships so uh from where I sit right now you know I mean obviously a lot of things can can can change because of the play of a player on the field but I I would be a bit surprised if if Debo Samuels not a 49er in 2025 all right fair enough we shall see but at the least there it should really eliminate any trade talk in season and maybe Quiet Things in the offseason which I'm all for right all right last thing I want to talk about here Dave wrote an article this morning giving Arthur Smith some tangible goals if Arthur Smith came to me as I'm sure he would love to and say Alex what should be the goal for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense to have a successful first season as OC in Pittsburgh I want to just lay out some metrics this is not the ideal this is not what I would love if I could wave a magic wand but this is to me realistic goals this team can achieve that would be success for the offense and likely for the team overall knowing how good they could be defensively points per game as you always say as Matt Canada always said score more points I think at least 21 points per game should be the bar that should get them to at least about average you can buy an average scoring offense which would be a dramatic Improvement in Pittsburgh where they've been below average the last three years with a top five scoring defense that's a recipe to get you back into the playoffs yeah if you if this defense is as good as they think and we hope and we think that it might be uh increasing your point Point per game by what almost three right yeah basically be which I know doesn't sound like much but you know it's going to matter in in tight games and listen I would love it to be a top 10 offense if they are fantastic but in terms of what's realistic and what would be a leap for them comparatively even 21 points per game I think is enough all right I like it second one don't get outscored in the first quarter last year under Matt Canada prior to his firing Pittsburgh was outscored 60 to 21 in the first quarter and even by the end of the season where things got better if you include the playoff game they were outscored 84 to 54 so I know there's a defensive component to don't get out scor that's not all on Arthur Smith but if the offense is able to have you know put up 80 points offensively in the first quarter this year 90 points odds are they'll achieve this goal well how far do they fall in in the week one game to the 49ers what was what was that after the first quarter do you remember I want to say it was like 10 nothing I'll double check here I mean they were it was you know they they scored that late second quarter touchdown let me pull up the uh the box score from this one 30 to7 loss it was 10 nothing Niners first after the first quarter all and at halftime it was 20 nothing or no it was late fire touchdown yeah yeah so Pittsburgh has really gotten good at digging themselves some holes which also ties into my next point about first drive success they want them to be top 10 in scoring drives on opening possessions and at least top half in touchdowns over the Matt Canada era they were 27th in scoring drives they were uh tied 28th in punts as in having among the most punts in in football on opening possessions so you like to get off to some faster starts kind of the takeaway here yeah the last thing we need to be talking about again with this offense is it's been x amount of games since the Steelers had an opening drive touchdown right right uh I'm I'm I'm done with that uh uh look is it going to happen every game that you take the ball and go down the field and get a touchdown no uh but let's let's not go five six seven eight games without that exactly exactly all right next one Red Zone work under Matt Canada they finished below 55% and ranked in the 20s in red zone offense every single season so my goal is to get at least 60% Red Zone efficiency in terms of touchdowns that should leave the 20s again would love to be higher but if you're in the % range you should be at least average potentially even top 10 depending on the season and finishing some of those strives offs with touchdowns instead of field goals uh can really be the difference between winning and losing Paramount Paramount especially when you get down there in the low Red Zone uh you got to bury those drives and I think Russell Wilson uh even going you know uh last year we saw some good things out of him and Denver on the tape when it comes to that what what were what was Denver uh Red Zone with Russell Wilson last year I can check I don't have it uh obviously he was not those last few games so they were 20th at 51% in Red Zone scoring last year okay uh wonder what they were in the FI in those final games without him yeah I'm not sure I wonder what the in other words I wonder what the offset I mean overall you wouldn't think it was going to shift dramatically so uh uh even even that number at its core if you're at a couple percent still doesn't add add up to the 60 that you're looking for yeah so Improvement I think all around but that should be the goal for this team in terms of 20 plus yard completions be at least average I don't expect this team to be so explosive especially without that second receiver to finish top five top 10 but they were 27th last year with 41 completions of 20 plus yards with you know I think a better scheme and most in the quarterback with that Moon ball hopefully can be at least average in in the explosive pass plays oh speak to me take your watch off Alex uh continue to speak to the congregation here keep going and then finally last one passing touchdowns my kind of poetic number is to have as many touchdowns in 2024 as Pittsburgh's had the last two years which would be 25 they had 12 and 13 in 2022 2023 do that in one year get to 25 that's going to feel really good for Pittsburgh so I think that is a very achievable feat that's not even one and a half per game I think this offense should normalize and Russell Wilson he threw 26 touchdowns last year if he can do that again I take that all day all right I'm gonna play a little game with you I just created in my head I I love the list I don't think anybody's I don't think you're gonna get any push back on this what one of these one two three four five what six things you have right uh what one of these six things would you be willing to give up if you could achieve the other five and then I want you to rank these from one through six the most important to the least important and obviously you'll be telling us what the least important is with your first answer uh a as we went over in our pre-production meting meeting to have you prepared for for this question today but I I think it I think I think this is a good tag on here yeah no I'm play ball here um I mean I think obviously when you talk about the 20 plus yard completions to finish at least average there for a run- minded team maybe you could accept being a little bit worse there um so when I do that would I do first drive success I mean I think I'll say the one that matters the least is first drive success just because as much as you like to start early it doesn't Define you um and it doesn't always mean about how the season went overall how how one particular game went so I'll say the first drive success is the least important one okay and now rank them as far as importance from the most important to what you just said the least important um man top of my head I'll say most important I'll say Red Zone work I think finishing drives off is so critical and there's the obvious correlation between that and points um I'll just say flat out obviously points per game next to get to that at least 21 points per game Barry if you don't do that if you're at 19 20 again just a hard road to to win especially given the schedule so I'll put that second uh what should be next uh I mean just kind of some of these go hand inand obviously passing touchdowns you get to 25 that means you're probably finishing some drives off your scoring points per game I'll put that third I'll put the first quarter stats fourth don't get outscored first quarter that's a larger chunk than the first drive you don't want to be behind or have to constantly uh trying to play catchup I'll put that next and so that would lead the first drive success and the 20 plus yard completion so I have the first drive success last so that means 20 yard completions would come next like I mentioned for a runmind a team that may matter a little bit less and then again the first drive success will uh bring up the rear all right what would be fun is for you to revisit this after the first four games yeah I plan to do it at least after the season but I think we'll check in periodically throughout the year and see how on Pace they are for these goals which I think are all very realistic and not Pie in the Sky all right I like it all right anything else here to talk about if not we can get us some Ros and close out Today's Show all right uh tell people while I search here what we're hoping to do on Friday's show yeah hopefully have a guest on um don't want to always promise these things you never know what could happen in the last second but I think we're going to have the Orlando lead better who's been covering the Falcons for a long long time great guest and I think he was one of the few people really in the country to believe that the Falcons could and would draft Michael penck Jr I think he had called that back even a couple weeks before the draft began and so he is as plugged in and as knowledgeable as as any beat writer that you're going to find and right now we do have a tentative agreement to talk with him on Friday and Dave and I are really excited about that for a long time listeners to the podcast he was on I a decade ago so I think it's once every 10 years he's a fun guy to talk to too I'm hoping this one comes through with him yeah so that is that is scheduled and hopefully it goes through and that'll be on the Friday show and we'll be doing our predictions and all like that right for the season for the game yeah all those things will come so big Friday show on tap all right uh Jason Chadwell writes in hi David Alex looking forward to the start of the NFL season and thank you for all the great content to get us through this offseason without turning this into 49 Depot hey it's been 49ers it's been 49ers Brandon iuk Depot for since about March it does seem like we apologize for that and not to put you on the spot Dave but could you quickly speak to how the 49ers are able to have all these high price contracts on the books Warner mcaffrey Debo Trent Williams and of course iuk knowing that pretty has per party has yet to be paid as always appreciate the cap contract knowledge uh Jason we got a hit on that earlier uh in the show here this team man you look at the restructures that this team has done uh this off seon I thought I had it pulled up somewhere uh in here as far as restructured go uh let me see if I can pull up a list real quick uh on the 49ers here uh I know they did hardgrave earlier the off season I know they did Warner KD uh they just did Debo Samuel they did oh man who else did they do Alex uh yeah I mean Nick Bosa they did they did earlier in the off season uh they they they they did they did some finagling with mcaffrey they obviously signed I they obviously oh they even redid Kyle juck's contract uh did they do Leonard Floyd's as well too I I don't remember I don't remember that one but uh what what they are doing is they're just they're restructuring these things creating a lot of cap space for this year uh with the idea of rolling a lot of that cap space over over into next year to obviously help them accommodate uh all the all the all the moved forward uh cap cap kicking if you will and then Brock P's contract here so uh they are they're obviously doing a you know with restructures though you're not spending additional cash but obviously with the amount of cash they have on the books both this year and next year they are they are going out and spending the cash and they are kicking the can down the road as far as these restructures go to enable them to keep as much of this team together as possible for as long as possible so you know we Alex and I talk a lot a lot about you know cap space and how easy it is to massage these contracts and create cap space and and those kind of things and that's what they're doing here but at some point you know like the Rams did a couple of years ago you can't you can't keep these super teams together forever but it does appear as though that they're at the very least trying to keep the core of this 49ers team together not only through this year but next year as well too and probably a a a smattering of them through 2026 and oh yeah they got to pay Brock pury next year and fit all that into what should be a giant contract there hey one thing I forgot to talk about Ste wise and I kind of forgot because it was so expected Pittsburgh announced their team captains earlier this week and they are Russell Wilson offensively defensively TJ watt Kim Hayward and Miles KBW as the Special Teams Captain so those were all expected all chalk I think Wilson his 12th straight year of his NFL career named captain for cam get his 10th year in Pittsburgh KB Bru's gotten a couple of them you know watt so all welld deserved all expected but but kudos to those guys all right we got one from brother Mark from Arlington Virginia writes in given your extensive football knowledge could you coach football and if so at what level of football or which positions look I love the game I've studied the game for a long long time now at this point and there's still so much that I think that I know and stuff that I don't know that I don't know uh I would I if I were to get get into coaching and I'm not so everybody everybody relax Alex is still young maybe Alex uh will go that route I kind of doubt it though but uh I would like to start at the high school position uh or or level and what position would I like that would I think that I would like to kind of Coach uh you know me I I have three favorite positions that I love scouting ahead of the draft tight ends you got your guards yep what's the other one that you Ed rushers Edge rushers yeah and I think of those three if I was to start at at the high school level I think I would like Edge rusher okay being an outside linebackers coach I got you all right I I'll put I'll drop your resume around we'll see if any uh local local high schools are hiring I I think it'll be a lot of those uh don't call us we'll call you uh uh what about you Alex no I don't think I mean not not today the a as you said so much to learn I don't have any credibility as somebody without any formal uh background and even like things because coaching is not just about X's and O's it's about you know running a drill and I don't have any drills to put together so you'd have to work your way up you know the way that you would in college as almost a ga type of thing where you're really just kind of doing go for work and that kind of stuff and and go from there that that would be the path for me which uh is not something I'm I plan on ever doing I would like to be the quality control guy that sits there and cuts up all the film and and and and puts it into different classifications because you would learn a lot doing that uh along the way and all and hyperfocus in situational ball and yeah I I could I I could do handle that end of it what let's say you were a high school coach what position would you like to to to focus on special teams that' be my cup of tea I think that's that's fun so me and my inner Danny Smith I think would come out all right U I'll add uh bubblegum to the shopping list for Christmas for you uh let's see here one last one here Nolan McAdams questions about the future dear David Ox just want to start off by saying I love the show listen to each and every episode thank you Nolan uh my questions all relate to the quarterback position if for some reason both Wilson and Phils don't have the year that the team is hoping for I.E they are losing games they should win Etc can either of you give me an idea of how quarterback friendly of a system Arthur Smith runs I asked because we all know this team doesn't have a quarterback under contract after this season and as a fan of sustainable success I want the team to draft a quarterback and develop him obviously we have to see how the 2024 season plays out but I am just curious what say you so from an Arthur Smith perspective saying let's say the quart neither of these quarterbacks backs work out end up being the Future Past this year uh how how friendly is the Arthur Smith System to even let's say a highly drafted rookie quarterback coming in or uh a guy with 12 years in the leag yeah I mean that's hard to really couch and quantify what do you mean by friendly you know how do you define that best and really every system should be quarterback friendly if you're a you even half decent coach because that's how you build your whole offense around that I think it's friendly from the aspect of it it demands less out of the position it focuses on a good ground game and ball control and play action I think schematically it helps get Skies open so I think those things are more inherently quarterback friendly and so I think it is a friendly system so to speak we're still getting to kind of learn about some of those things too this year will be telling and I don't know it's hard to really Define what would be an unfriendly system to a quarterback but I think one where it asks the quarterback to not do everything uh lends itself to being friendlier and obviously Arthur's been around the block a few times uh I've enjoyed his coaching tapes I know you have yeah that's learned a lot from his one Clinic when he first got hired in Atlanta about his Run game philosophy which was I think really important to me to to learn about you know how he thinks and how he acts and what he'll bring to Pittsburgh all right good question Nolan appreciate you uh don't be a stranger all right anything else You' like to add before we get out of here uh as soon as we get out the pat fire mov will break yeah and if something does break today I think we'll probably do another emergency podcast to cover those details but I think you've covered it pretty well about what to expect on that but nope no nothing else to add again injury report practice today come back on Friday and go from there all right in the meantime you can follow me on Twitter SLX steers Depot follow Alex alexor Kazar follow the show terrible podcast email the show the terrible podcast gmail.com if you like what we do want to donate steers depo.com hit the Donate button up right navigational bar also if you like an adree version of the site Steelers deo.com hit the adree button follow the directions that way appreciate everybody listening uh to the show reading the site interacting on social media love everybody thank you for the support So until maybe Friday maybe sooner as always thanks for listening to the terrible podcast with Dave and Alex a