Cam Heyward Signs Six Year Extension

6 years per Ed Bouchette.  Cam just tweeted this out:

I love this organization! Very blessed and excited about continuing my career as a Steeler!
#somanythanks #greatday pic.twitter.com/kcil0bsHal

— Cam Heyward (@CamHeyward) July 17, 2015

never know how much it means 2 stay a steeler! I grew up admiring the steelers I bleed black & gold. Iron head is looking down with a smile

— Cam Heyward (@CamHeyward) July 17, 2015

Excellent news though.  I expected it to happen, but I'd be lying if I said our cap issues combined with new contracts for Ben, Bell (soon), and potentially AB should he choose to demand more money at some point didn't let a little bit of doubt creep in.

great news!

I'm guessing 6 yrs/ $75 mil with $28 mil guaranteed.

tony hipchest wrote:

I'm guessing 6 yrs/ $75 mil with $28 mil guaranteed.

worth $59.25 million, don't know about the guaranteed $

hopefully it's front-end loaded...

Hawaii 5-0 wrote:

tony hipchest wrote:

I'm guessing 6 yrs/ $75 mil with $28 mil guaranteed.

worth $59.25 million, don't know about the guaranteed $

hopefully it's front-end loaded...

is that what's reported? If so, I say that is a very fortunate deal for the steelers that winds up looking like Antonio Brown's in 3 years.

Good deal. He has become a leader for us and I'm glad he'll be around to set the standard for our young guys.

Think what he would have made if Keisel hadn't stunted his growth.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Think what he would have made if Keisel hadn't stunted his growth.  

now that's funny!

ahhh, the memories...

Great news! Cam will help to solidify and anchor this defense going forward. He'll be part of a nice foundation to rebuild the Steelers D back into a feared powerhouse.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Think what he would have made if Keisel hadn't stunted his growth.  

he should have started over Ziggy hood last year. I think in 3 years this deal will prove to be a hell of a bargain. He is a lifer much like polamalu, Ward, Smith, Hampton, keisel, Ike, Miller, Ben, etc...

Oh and Max Starks.

tony hipchest wrote:

Oh and Max Starks.

So he is gonna get fat and released, but sit on the sofa eating chips until the Steelers call, because they only have Cam Thomas as a reserve if Tuitt and Walton go down??

I think Heyward is better than that.

Excellent signing by the Steelers. Next up... Beachum and DeCastro.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Think what he would have made if Keisel hadn't stunted his growth.  

This is a great signing as a leader on and off the field. That money is a bargain for the player I think he is going to be for the next 6-7 years.

here comes a pulled hamstring.

great signing for a hard playing Steeler.

Very good deal imo, really happy about it

Pittsburgh Steelers: Extension for DE Cam Heyward was a Must

By Dave Holcomb
July 17, 2015



The Pittsburgh Steelers have made a habit of extending contracts for franchise players before their current deals run out. Pittsburgh did that for James Harrison back in 2009, Ben Roethlisberger a couple times and even for their head coaches.

Thursday night, defensive end Cameron Heyward joined this group, signing a six-year deal worth $59.25 million according to NFL.com reporter Ian Rapoport.

Before the new deal, Heyward had one year left on his contract and was set to make $6.969 million in 2015. With the new contract in place, Heyward will make an average-annual salary of $9.86 million, which makes him the 11th-highest paid defensive end in the NFL and the second-highest paid player on the Steelers.

On the surface, that sounds a bit high, but the Pittsburgh Steelers had little choice but to retain Heyward's services.

to read rest of article:

http://www.footballnation.com/content/pittsburgh-steelers-extension-for-de-cam-heyward-was-must/33830/

Glad to see this. Cam is great.

Front Seven Excited About Defensive Changes

Aug 02, 2015
Jim Wexell
Publisher SteelCityInsider.net

The Steelers have the pieces to make the Mike Tomlin/Keith Butler changes work.

LATROBE -- In one of the early camp practices, Ben Roethlisberger stepped up past some traffic, rolled right to avoid even more of it, and heaved a ball downfield to fullback Will Johnson, who was running a dig route.

Johnson thought for sure he was running under a touchdown pass as it spiraled down to earth, but a linebacker got a finger on it just in time to break up what should've been a 50-yard completion.

A linebacker?

"Yeah, Shazier," Johnson said of last year's first-round draft pick, Ryan Shazier.

That's not supposed to happen against linebackers, is it?

"No," Johnson said. "But Shazier, he's fast."

Johnson said Shazier's "about five yards" faster than the typical inside linebacker. "Yeah, he's pretty quick. Quick to burst," Johnson said. "He covers a lot of ground, believe it or not."

It was seen. And believed. That's the type of inside linebacker the Pittsburgh Steelers envisioned when they drafted Shazier in the first round last year.

If they considered Lawrence Timmons to be the next Derrick Brooks, when Mike Tomlin made Timmons his first ever draft pick in 2007, what did the Steelers consider Shazier?

"Rare air," Tomlin said on draft day.

Speed and rare speed. That's what the Steeler have inside this season, and that's part of the reason they'll be running more cover-2 looks this year.

Tomlin has stepped up daily to coach his secondary on the nuances of cover-2, and new defensive coordinator Keith Butler has confirmed with reporters that he plans to call "much more cover-2."

Under Dick LeBeau, the Steelers primarily used cover-3 with the large cushions on the edges to give them a three-deep look. However, that was a departure from the 1970s when Chuck Noll and Bud Carson preached cover-2 and Tony Dungy soaked it up, added his special touches and re-emerged with the "Tampa 2" that Tomlin learned so well on the way to a 2002 championship.

The defense has come full circle back to Pittsburgh, and like Jack Lambert before them, Shazier and Timmons are key to the coverage because of their ability to drop deep to make up for the fact the Steelers have two deep safeties instead of three.

Once the coaching staff feels comfortable that this Steelers secondary understands the nuances, they'll use more cover-2, but with an odd front. And that will allow both Shazier and Timmons to use their speed in coverage down the middle.

"I'll go back, sometimes Lawrence goes back," Shazier said. "It just depends on how the coaches feel, what they want to call."

There will be a difference in the style of play up front as well. But it has nothing to do with alignment, but instead about philosophy. Instead of two-gapping and reading to react, the front will penetrate and disrupt.

"We're learning like a whole different scheme," said second-year defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt. "We'll still control our gap and we still want our linebackers free to be able to make plays, but the defensive line is being taught to play that 3-technique and be dominant."

Three-technique defensive tackles penetrate and, theoretically, dominate. Those are the kinds of players the Steelers have up front in Tuitt and Cameron Heyward, so an alteration in style only makes sense.

"It's hybrids," said Heyward. "That's what I love about Coach Butts; he's open to anything."

As former Steelers safety Ryan Clark pointed out a day after sitting in a team meeting, the Steelers didn't sign Heyward to a $59.3 million contract extension to take on blockers and free up linebackers. These front seven players will be penetrating more this season.

"We're definitely putting more emphasis on it," Heyward said. "But when we do go cover-2 against pass protection, we've got to get home more."

Heyward "got home" 7.5 times last season to tie former linebacker Jason Worilds for the team lead in sacks. It was the most by a Steelers defensive lineman since Aaron Smith had eight in 2004.

With an increased emphasis on getting to the quarterback this season, perhaps Heyward has loftier statistical goals in mind.

"There's going to be more expected," he said, "but who's to say they're not going to counter and double me and open up other guys? That's when we have to take advantage of those."

Will Heyward feel pressure to put up numbers this season?

"If there is, there is. But I put my own pressure on myself," he said. "That's how I feel. If I'm not reaching my goals, screw the other goals. I've got to hit my goals and my goals are to win as many games as possible by any means necessary.

"If we go 16-0, why would I complain if I only have five sacks? You've got to put your individual goals aside because you want the team to win."

to read rest of article:

http://www.scout.com/nfl/steelers/story/1569342-front-seven-excited-about-defensive-changes

I'm old school Steelers fan liked the Steelers cover 2 and the Tampa 2 defenses now I'll watch cover 2 with a 3-4 dline in front of it.