Steelers' offseason roster moves can, should be made with Super Bowl in mind

Jason Fitzgerald

Steelers' offseason roster moves can, should be made with Super Bowl in mind image

The Steelers continued their string of playoff improvement with a run to the AFC championship game after the 2016 season. Their next goal has to be the Super Bowl, an accomplishment much easier said than done.

Since 2009, 50 percent of the teams that lost in the conference title game have failed to advance to the playoffs the following year, while just over 20 percent have advanced to a Super Bowl.

WATCH: Steelers' top 10 plays of 2016

Here we look at some of the offseason questions Pittsburgh will face as they try to regroup for 2017 and become part of that 20 percent.

Steelers salary cap status

Traditionally, the Steelers have always had difficulties with the salary cap, but a commitment to younger talent in recent years has changed their fortunes. They should be right in the middle of the NFL with about $35 million in cap room before they begin to sign extensions and free agents.

That is a far cry from the days when the Steelers would spend the next three weeks restructuring player contracts for cap relief at the expense of future cap flexibility.

Ben Roethlisberger retirement question

Big Ben somewhat stunned the football world when he insinuated he might walk away from the NFL. His leaving the Steelers would completely change the dynamic of the team, but the likelihood of that should be slim.

Roethlisberger agreed a contract extension with the Steelers in 2015 that paid him a $31 million signing bonus. Per NFL rules, the Steelers would have the right if Roethlisberger retired to recover any portion of that bonus not yet accounted for on the salary cap. That number is $18.6 million, or about $850,000 more than Roethlisberger made last year.

So while Roethlisberger maybe is about to embark on the Brett Favre phase of his career, during which he publicly talks retirement every season, there is no reason to think he will actually retire. The Steelers should be able to consider him a lock at starter for the next two years.

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Le’Veon Bell free agency: To franchise tag or extend RB?

The biggest question for the Steelers moving forward is what to do with Le’Veon Bell. When he’s healthy, Bell is the best running back in the NFL, and his impact on the Steelers is gigantic.

When Bell was injured early in the AFC championship game, the Steelers’ offense simply did not function the same. But Bell also has massive red flags surrounding him. He already has had two knee injuries in a four-year career. He is ridden into the ground by the coaching staff. He has been dinged for drug test failure. That combination generally is a disaster once a running back is signed to a long-term contract.

The Steelers will have two options. They can use the franchise tag on Bell and commit around $12.5 million on the cap to him for 2017 … or they can sign him to a long-term contract with a much lower cap charge.

Because of the way the Steelers do contracts, which contain only signing bonuses as guarantees, their protection levels in the event of drug suspensions or even injury are much lower than other teams. That can make any contract risky. The NFL market for runners has shrunk in recent years, but Bell should command around $10 million a season and close to a $20 million signing bonus.

Either decision is a risk, but the Steelers generally keep players like Bell on long-term contracts.

WATCH: Bell's top 10 plays of 2016

Antonio Brown’s contract demands

Antonio Brown continues to be unhappy with the contract he signed in 2012. That deal, worth $8.4 million a year, has become one of the best bargains in the NFL. (Although, in reality, it was the Steelers who took on a great deal of risk since Brown was unproven at the time of signing.)

Brown since he signed the deal has been the most productive receiver in the NFL, and he and Roethlisberger make a great pairing. There were rumors after a social media blowup and other incidents that the Steelers could be open to trading Brown. But that would be counterproductive.

Brown likely will look to become the highest paid receiver in the league, which would mean a contract in excess of $15 million a season. The Steelers already are very leveraged in the Brown contract due to multiple restructures, which will lock them into nearly $9 million in cap charges before they do anything.

Given that Brown should receive at least $15 million in the form of a signing bonus, it’s likely that his cap charge of $13.6 million will slightly increase. If the Steelers fail to rework Brown’s contract, it should be a given that he will hold out.

Other free agency decisions

The other big free agent on whom the Steelers must decide is Lawrence Timmons. The Steelers allowed his contract to play out rather than extending him for cap relief the way they did other older stars of the past like Heath Miller. That probably signals that the Steelers are prepared to walk away from Timmons, who led the team in tackles.

Still, for a contending team, it is hard to come up with a way to replace Timmons’ snaps and production in the near term … even if the long term is better off without him. The market for players like Timmons generally is around $7 million a season, with around $10 million in guarantees. Is Timmons worth that for the Steelers?

Other free agents include James Harrison, who is 39 but led the team in sacks, injured receiver Markus Wheaton and backup runner DeAngelo Williams. All could be back next season.

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Steelers can improve in free agency

The Steelers have never been big players in free agency, and even with additional cap room, that probably won’t change this year. The Steelers generally max out in the $5 million range in free agency, which, depending on position, means second- and third-tier players.

So to expect them to sign a big-name pass-rusher or cornerback probably is a mistake. Their cap room more likely affords them the ability to sign two or three of those mid-grade players rather than just one.

Pittsburgh then will hope those players, along with its draft picks, will be enough to make the leap to the Super Bowl.

Jason Fitzgerald

Jason Fitzgerald is an NFL salary expert and contributor for Sporting News. Read more of his writing at OverTheCap.com and follow him on Twitter: @Jason_OTC.