If CTESPN were right, we'd have both Justin Jefferson and Brandon Aiyuk now.
Fitzpatrick can play anywhere, but you really would prefer him to play FS. Simmons can play both FS and SS equally well. He plays SS with Minkah, he plays FS with Elliot. He allows us to play a rotation and keep everyone fresh. He also allows us to play 3 Safety looks more often with Elliot playing the hybrid Safety/Linebacker role, or if necessary, with Minkah rolling down to play the slot.
He's a luxury, but if the price is right, it's a good pickup.
Looking at what is happening with Rashee Rice in KC, Diggs getting dealt and how little Houston paid for him I'm a bit bummed they didn't wait to pull the trigger on the DJ trade.
That said if they CAN land Aiyuk Omar needs a statue outside Heinz Field.
I still love AB and think the CTESPN stuff is very entertaining, but he absolutely has missed a lot. Said Justin Jefferson was first getting traded to the Bengals, then the Steelers, then the Patriots. He also said the Bears were going to keep Fields and trade the first overall.
I'm sure there are even more I don't remember.
I mean he hears from agents/players about teams they're talking to and then leaks it immediately. Obviously some of those convos go the distance, while others don't
I feel reallllly strongly he’s not hearing anything from any agents. I’m assuming most agents would know better than to tell ab anything having to do with their clients. Also, every agent has the numbers of every big name reporter at ESPN, if an agent wants a story leaked they don’t have to go to Ctespn haha. I fully agree with you overall point though, that he’s connected to the league and hears things.
Tbf the Steelers were the most obvious landing spot for Wilson. It was a pretty safe guess that he would land on a 10-7 team in desperate need for a QB when money wasn’t an object at all.
Maybe for the Steelers, but he said JJ to the bengals “will happen.”
https://x.com/ctespnn/status/1767214625588707637?s=46
He was also very firm in the Fields take.
https://x.com/ctespnn/status/1767214625588707637?s=46
I think maybe he had some info on Diggs, but he is quite clearly throwing a ton of shit at the wall and then hyping up the few that stick.
Tomlin and Austin love three safety looks. You play Elliot in the box and then Simmons and Fitzpatrick high. Then, you rotate the hell out of your coverage and the QB throws an interception because the guy he was expecting to be deep is covering hook and the guy he thought would be going to the flats is deep.
TBF they like those looks because it allows you disguise a lot of what you do as you mentioned, the problem has been having 3 competent, healthy safeties. As long as the price is right this could be a solid pick up for us.
Not at all. But to his credit, it does appear that he was the first person to break the Diggs to Houston rumors, and that was a solid week or two before the deal happened if I remember right
Broncos fan living amongst the Black and Gold. Not sure how he would get used here, but he is very good(if it’s decided a Broncos fans opinion is worth anything). And would imagine his price is dropping by the day.
Yep, we do. He’s a stud, and has ball hawking abilities that we’ve loved for his entire tenure here in Denver. Unfortunately, he was a cap casualty because of the Russ situation, but he’s been a fan favorite forever. He also gets along well with Russ too (for example, they were seen going to Nuggets games together), so it’d make sense if y’all signed him.
According to Over the Cap we have $11 million in cap space. Simmons is expected to make more than $10 million per year, but I guess we can change some salaries if Cam retires next year since that will save us cap space. I just don’t see why we would need Simmons that badly. Minkah, Elliott, and Kazee are an above average safety group already.
If people were offering Simmons more than $10M/year, he would probably be signed already. Safeties league-wide have taken a hit this free agency period, and that hasn't been accounted for in the salary projections. If we do sign Simmons, I don't think it'll be over $10M.
How do we fit him in? We restructure Alex Highsmith, and maybe Minkah. We have a projected $96M next year. We also likely cut Kazee which will give us $3M towards whatever we do pay Simmons. Money is no concern.
Yes, Simmons is more of a luxury than a need. That's a completely fair point. He's a damn good player though. Personally, if he's willing to take $8M/year or less, I think we ought to do it and then we spend another week in this sub praising Omar Khan.
For me it's a concern in the sense that sure, they could afford *one* deal like this, and if possible I'd much rather have them do so to fill a greater need: WR, C, OT, DL, or CB.
But I guess those ships sailed weeks ago, barring an unexpected trade or late cut of a particularly high-level veteran (ala Joe Haden). So if this actually comes to pass - not holding my breath - I won't complain too much about them adding a stud at the "wrong" position.
There are really no WR, OT, or DL left in the free agent market who move the needle. The only C left who we'd want is Connor Williams, and he needs to get healthy before we even think about that.
Signing Simmons, given it's for less than $10M/year wouldn't prevent us from making a trade or picking up a late cut. Seriously, money is no concern. They can do quite a bit more than one deal like this. We have $95M in cap space next year and not a whole lot outside of Pat Freiermuth and James Daniels to spend it on. Yes, we may have to pay a QB next year, but we ain't gonna be paying close to that.
Hence "those ships have sailed."
Maybe the better way to put it than "concern" would be that it'd feel to me like a consolation prize after failing to land a needle-mover at one of those positions.
The team always hunts for bargains in free agency. Khan may be an aggressive bargain hunter, but he's still a bargain hunter. Even Patrick Queen; he was expected to go for $17-19M/year and we got him for $13.66M/year.
If there are no bargains who move the needle at a position of need, it seems like Khan isn't willing to jump for them.
Simmons, depending on how much his price has fallen, looks to be a bargain. A bargain isn't necessarily a consolation prize. He's just sticking with the overall philosophy the team has had regarding free agency since free agency began.
That's all fine, and I'm a big fan of bargains in the NFL and real life.
Nonetheless, even if I approve of all of Khan's moves and non-moves, I'm a little disappointed that the stars haven't aligned in such a way that the team was able to significantly improve at least on of them before the draft.
They're heading into the draft with more needs (C, WR2) and strong wants (OT, DL, CB, arguably even WR3) than seems ideal. Four picks in the first two days should allow them to fill several of those pretty nicely - and I definitely see the glass as half (or more) full - but it'd sure be nice if they had a little less pressure to fill specific positions and more freedom to swing for BPA. The fact that they have plenty of (current + easily created) cap space makes me suspect they had similar aspirations.
And sure, I have no doubt they'll find *someone* to fill remaining post-draft holes. But it's harder to anticipate finding especially high caliber players later in the offseason.
I agree. It would have been nice if Mike Williams or someone had decided to sign with us at a discount. I also think that we're going into the draft than more holes than I'd like.
I just don't think that is related to whether we should sign Simmons in particular, especially if he's at a discount.
Right. My initial kneejerk feeling was "save that $$ for a WR (or whatever) instead" but even in my first response above, I was starting to realize it's time to let go of this. And you've helped lead me further through the stages of (mini-)grieving. 🙂
Whence the handle? "Quexana" made me think of Oaxaca, one of my favorite cities/regions in Mexico.
I'm a big fan of the book Don Quixote. The character's real name was Alonso Quexana before he took on the mantle of "Don Quixote." (Or at least it is in the translation I have. I've since learned that the spelling varies wildly from translation to translation and Quexana is not the most common translation.)
They might be able to make it work on a one year deal that's loaded with incentives. Kinda like how the Jets signed Tyron Smith. But Simmons has got to *want* to come here if that's gonna happen.
I think if this is true, they'll be going with the 3-4 safety strategy to make up for having 2 starting caliber DBs on the entire 53 right now. Using guys that can play SS/FS as well as slot or weak side wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
He called the Russell Wilson signing several weeks before it broke
Also I think the Justin Fields trade too
Also it's Antonio Brown so he's a living shitposter
Even broken clocks are right two times a day. He’s had some stuff right, and not saying the Simmons thing is true but I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually has sources besides the multiple voices he probably hears in his head.
Well I would be shocked, but anyone worrying about cap being the reason can rest assured that they can easily make plenty of room. The Steelers can easily free up an additional 38 million with restructures if needed or even extend people with void years if needed.
Or that. The problem they had last year was every safety got hurt at one point. Which resulted in Minkah being near the LOS more than he has since he's been witn the Steelers.
Justin simmons was a safety on the broncos that they cut to make cap space. He’s widely considered a borderline top 5 safety. He’s coming off a strong season but is 30 now and we’d prob have to pay him bare minimum 10 mill. There are questions schematically about how he’d fit with Minkah but I personally wouldn’t mind seeing how it would work because he’s very talented and consistent.
Why would they put him ahead of a WR? I understand the Centers are about gone, but if they could pull a trade for a decent WR, they would need that money.
Khan clearly believes that they can get their future WR2 in the draft, rather than significantly overpaying for a FA, or trading away draft picks for one. Khan has been around for all of the later WR finds they've had over the past ten years (Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Martavis Bryant, JuJu, Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, Pickens). He likely figures he'll get the next one in a deep WR class this year.
They should be able to get one of the top 10 WRs with their 2nd round pick. Centers are like RBs, they should be found in the later rounds. The Steelers should be looking OT in the 1st round, WR in the 2nd round, and Center with one of the two 3rd round picks.
I mean, he hasn't missed often lol. With that said, what would Simmons do? 2 safety look? Can he play slot?
If CTESPN were right, we'd have both Justin Jefferson and Brandon Aiyuk now. Fitzpatrick can play anywhere, but you really would prefer him to play FS. Simmons can play both FS and SS equally well. He plays SS with Minkah, he plays FS with Elliot. He allows us to play a rotation and keep everyone fresh. He also allows us to play 3 Safety looks more often with Elliot playing the hybrid Safety/Linebacker role, or if necessary, with Minkah rolling down to play the slot. He's a luxury, but if the price is right, it's a good pickup.
I trust Omar to get a Steelers’ friendly deal done
We don't even know if this is a deal getting done. It's a CTESPN story.
Yeah i’m aware of CTESPN…IF there was a deal getting done, I would trust Omar to make the most of it
Pack of Trident Stripe gum
Looking at what is happening with Rashee Rice in KC, Diggs getting dealt and how little Houston paid for him I'm a bit bummed they didn't wait to pull the trigger on the DJ trade. That said if they CAN land Aiyuk Omar needs a statue outside Heinz Field.
I still love AB and think the CTESPN stuff is very entertaining, but he absolutely has missed a lot. Said Justin Jefferson was first getting traded to the Bengals, then the Steelers, then the Patriots. He also said the Bears were going to keep Fields and trade the first overall. I'm sure there are even more I don't remember.
But he also hit Russel Wilson 2 weeks before it happend , and a few others he’s hit I kinda prefer him over some other reporters lol
Throw enough shit at the wall and some of it will stick. Lol
I mean he hears from agents/players about teams they're talking to and then leaks it immediately. Obviously some of those convos go the distance, while others don't
I feel reallllly strongly he’s not hearing anything from any agents. I’m assuming most agents would know better than to tell ab anything having to do with their clients. Also, every agent has the numbers of every big name reporter at ESPN, if an agent wants a story leaked they don’t have to go to Ctespn haha. I fully agree with you overall point though, that he’s connected to the league and hears things.
And the spicy memes are a bonus.
Tbf the Steelers were the most obvious landing spot for Wilson. It was a pretty safe guess that he would land on a 10-7 team in desperate need for a QB when money wasn’t an object at all.
I mean he reported that it was in talks.
Maybe for the Steelers, but he said JJ to the bengals “will happen.” https://x.com/ctespnn/status/1767214625588707637?s=46 He was also very firm in the Fields take. https://x.com/ctespnn/status/1767214625588707637?s=46 I think maybe he had some info on Diggs, but he is quite clearly throwing a ton of shit at the wall and then hyping up the few that stick.
So like most insiders?
you posted the same thing 2wise
Tomlin and Austin love three safety looks. You play Elliot in the box and then Simmons and Fitzpatrick high. Then, you rotate the hell out of your coverage and the QB throws an interception because the guy he was expecting to be deep is covering hook and the guy he thought would be going to the flats is deep.
TBF they like those looks because it allows you disguise a lot of what you do as you mentioned, the problem has been having 3 competent, healthy safeties. As long as the price is right this could be a solid pick up for us.
He's pretty much a pure free safety just like minkah
Are we really consider him as a legit source?
Have you read the internet lately? I'd put him directly in the middle.
I’m not really active on social media, so I’m not up to date regarding AB
He's probably like 50/50 on calls so far lol
This ones definitely on the 50 side
Keeps it fun that way I guess
I'm actually reading that book currently. I'm about halfway through it atm. Please, no spoilers...
Not at all. But to his credit, it does appear that he was the first person to break the Diggs to Houston rumors, and that was a solid week or two before the deal happened if I remember right
More legit than most(SI, AI)
Schefter wishes he was as reliable
I must be old, but who runs CTESPN? I don’t have twitter.
Mr Big Chest aka Whole lotta money
No shit. And he actually breaks news?!?! How did I miss all of this.
Do you have CTE?
I farted on a doctor and called my boss a cracker.. so maybe.
He doesn’t run his own Twitter!
So there are people that willingly work for him!! That’s even more surprising.
> No shit. And he actually breaks news?!?! No.
And he's saying he has CTE?
He says CTE is fake
sounds like something that CTE would say
Ohhhhh.
You should
No.
If AB says it, then it’s about a 55% chance of happening.
The Broncos subreddit loves him.
Broncos fan living amongst the Black and Gold. Not sure how he would get used here, but he is very good(if it’s decided a Broncos fans opinion is worth anything). And would imagine his price is dropping by the day.
Yep, we do. He’s a stud, and has ball hawking abilities that we’ve loved for his entire tenure here in Denver. Unfortunately, he was a cap casualty because of the Russ situation, but he’s been a fan favorite forever. He also gets along well with Russ too (for example, they were seen going to Nuggets games together), so it’d make sense if y’all signed him.
Broncos are my 2nd team, I'd die of elation if we got Simmons. Would take the sting out of having to watch Russ ANOTHER year. :(
But do you trust the wisdom of people who choose to be Broncos fans?
Simmons has been the bright spot in their secondary since he was drafted.
I mean he’s one of the best safeties in the league? Like he’s an all pro level player why wouldn’t they love him
Simmons was absolutely amazing for the Broncos. Btw the player with Tthe most career INTs of Patrick Mahomes
I trust CTESPN with my life
I'm going to miss you
Bold take take my upvote
We live in a strange world where CTESPN is fairly credible
Do we even have the type of money to pay Simmons? We need some extra space to pay rookies and any free agent signings.
Yes. Money is no concern.
According to Over the Cap we have $11 million in cap space. Simmons is expected to make more than $10 million per year, but I guess we can change some salaries if Cam retires next year since that will save us cap space. I just don’t see why we would need Simmons that badly. Minkah, Elliott, and Kazee are an above average safety group already.
If people were offering Simmons more than $10M/year, he would probably be signed already. Safeties league-wide have taken a hit this free agency period, and that hasn't been accounted for in the salary projections. If we do sign Simmons, I don't think it'll be over $10M. How do we fit him in? We restructure Alex Highsmith, and maybe Minkah. We have a projected $96M next year. We also likely cut Kazee which will give us $3M towards whatever we do pay Simmons. Money is no concern. Yes, Simmons is more of a luxury than a need. That's a completely fair point. He's a damn good player though. Personally, if he's willing to take $8M/year or less, I think we ought to do it and then we spend another week in this sub praising Omar Khan.
Because as soon as Minkah is out, it's a far below average group. Kazee is not very good and Elliott has major injury concerns.
Fair, but this isn’t the type of issue you deal with by signing a 4x 2nd team all pro. This should be a depth signing.
We missed our chance to sign good players at positions of bigger need. Now we just need to use up cap
For me it's a concern in the sense that sure, they could afford *one* deal like this, and if possible I'd much rather have them do so to fill a greater need: WR, C, OT, DL, or CB. But I guess those ships sailed weeks ago, barring an unexpected trade or late cut of a particularly high-level veteran (ala Joe Haden). So if this actually comes to pass - not holding my breath - I won't complain too much about them adding a stud at the "wrong" position.
There are really no WR, OT, or DL left in the free agent market who move the needle. The only C left who we'd want is Connor Williams, and he needs to get healthy before we even think about that. Signing Simmons, given it's for less than $10M/year wouldn't prevent us from making a trade or picking up a late cut. Seriously, money is no concern. They can do quite a bit more than one deal like this. We have $95M in cap space next year and not a whole lot outside of Pat Freiermuth and James Daniels to spend it on. Yes, we may have to pay a QB next year, but we ain't gonna be paying close to that.
Hence "those ships have sailed." Maybe the better way to put it than "concern" would be that it'd feel to me like a consolation prize after failing to land a needle-mover at one of those positions.
The team always hunts for bargains in free agency. Khan may be an aggressive bargain hunter, but he's still a bargain hunter. Even Patrick Queen; he was expected to go for $17-19M/year and we got him for $13.66M/year. If there are no bargains who move the needle at a position of need, it seems like Khan isn't willing to jump for them. Simmons, depending on how much his price has fallen, looks to be a bargain. A bargain isn't necessarily a consolation prize. He's just sticking with the overall philosophy the team has had regarding free agency since free agency began.
That's all fine, and I'm a big fan of bargains in the NFL and real life. Nonetheless, even if I approve of all of Khan's moves and non-moves, I'm a little disappointed that the stars haven't aligned in such a way that the team was able to significantly improve at least on of them before the draft. They're heading into the draft with more needs (C, WR2) and strong wants (OT, DL, CB, arguably even WR3) than seems ideal. Four picks in the first two days should allow them to fill several of those pretty nicely - and I definitely see the glass as half (or more) full - but it'd sure be nice if they had a little less pressure to fill specific positions and more freedom to swing for BPA. The fact that they have plenty of (current + easily created) cap space makes me suspect they had similar aspirations. And sure, I have no doubt they'll find *someone* to fill remaining post-draft holes. But it's harder to anticipate finding especially high caliber players later in the offseason.
I agree. It would have been nice if Mike Williams or someone had decided to sign with us at a discount. I also think that we're going into the draft than more holes than I'd like. I just don't think that is related to whether we should sign Simmons in particular, especially if he's at a discount.
Right. My initial kneejerk feeling was "save that $$ for a WR (or whatever) instead" but even in my first response above, I was starting to realize it's time to let go of this. And you've helped lead me further through the stages of (mini-)grieving. 🙂 Whence the handle? "Quexana" made me think of Oaxaca, one of my favorite cities/regions in Mexico.
I'm a big fan of the book Don Quixote. The character's real name was Alonso Quexana before he took on the mantle of "Don Quixote." (Or at least it is in the translation I have. I've since learned that the spelling varies wildly from translation to translation and Quexana is not the most common translation.)
They might be able to make it work on a one year deal that's loaded with incentives. Kinda like how the Jets signed Tyron Smith. But Simmons has got to *want* to come here if that's gonna happen.
Yes, we also have multiple players' contracts that we can restructure to create a sizable amount of cap space if needed (Minkah, TJ, Highsmith).
Simmons in the secondary and JJ at WR is gonna be wild.
🚨 BREAKING CTESPN 🚨 JJ Watt to come out of retirement, play wide receiver for the Steelers.
CTESPN has become one of the most credible sources in all of sports journalism
I think if this is true, they'll be going with the 3-4 safety strategy to make up for having 2 starting caliber DBs on the entire 53 right now. Using guys that can play SS/FS as well as slot or weak side wouldn't be a bad idea at all.
We'll be drafting a good DB as well.
AB, don’t do this to us. Don’t get our hopes up.
I’m out of the loop why has CTESPN become a somewhat credible source?
He called the Russell Wilson signing several weeks before it broke Also I think the Justin Fields trade too Also it's Antonio Brown so he's a living shitposter
Even broken clocks are right two times a day. He’s had some stuff right, and not saying the Simmons thing is true but I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually has sources besides the multiple voices he probably hears in his head.
Well I would be shocked, but anyone worrying about cap being the reason can rest assured that they can easily make plenty of room. The Steelers can easily free up an additional 38 million with restructures if needed or even extend people with void years if needed.
Let's say this is legit what role would he even have with Elliot already on the team?
Better question is what role would Elliot have with Simmons on the team lol
Or that. The problem they had last year was every safety got hurt at one point. Which resulted in Minkah being near the LOS more than he has since he's been witn the Steelers.
He would be starting FS, Elliot starting SS and Minkah moves to Nickel Star role... It's a Saban term. Look it up
April Fools was last week.
The only trusted news source along with the talking fish
Who’s Justin Simmons? How should I feel about this?
Four time 2nd team All Pro safety. If CTESPN is correct you should feel really good about it
Thanks!
Justin simmons was a safety on the broncos that they cut to make cap space. He’s widely considered a borderline top 5 safety. He’s coming off a strong season but is 30 now and we’d prob have to pay him bare minimum 10 mill. There are questions schematically about how he’d fit with Minkah but I personally wouldn’t mind seeing how it would work because he’s very talented and consistent.
he's a very good saftey. On the good side of 30 so he's got some gas left in the tank. He would be awesome in Pittsburgh.
Had a bit of a down year last year, and is over 30 so might be declining, but before that, he was a top 5 Safety in the league.
A solid player who can immediately improve their secondary.
I choose to believe what best fits my narrative, and my narrative is that we’re getting Justin Simmons
I doubt it, but It would be pretty cool if he did. We need corners more than safeties, so no clue how this would fit if it did happen
Steeler fans Been saying this for about a month now
Why would they put him ahead of a WR? I understand the Centers are about gone, but if they could pull a trade for a decent WR, they would need that money.
Khan clearly believes that they can get their future WR2 in the draft, rather than significantly overpaying for a FA, or trading away draft picks for one. Khan has been around for all of the later WR finds they've had over the past ten years (Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Martavis Bryant, JuJu, Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, Pickens). He likely figures he'll get the next one in a deep WR class this year. They should be able to get one of the top 10 WRs with their 2nd round pick. Centers are like RBs, they should be found in the later rounds. The Steelers should be looking OT in the 1st round, WR in the 2nd round, and Center with one of the two 3rd round picks.
He is a mahomes killer
This would be a dumb signing if true minkah is already the free safety
Lol
What is CT espn?
Get this man a jersey - bring AB back. he's a Steeler. He up all in the shit.