Steelers football blog

Hampton wants multi-year deal

The Steelers want Casey Hampton, an unrestricted free agent, to return to the team. The Pro Bowl nose tackle wants to stay in Pittsburgh.

How the two sides arrive at that common ground is where it gets a little complicated and potentially messy.

Hampton said Friday "it will be a problem" if the Steelers use a franchise tag and offer him a one-year contract instead of signing the accomplished veteran to a multi-year deal.

"You say we're family, and you'll take care of me. All I've done for this organization, and I feel like that's a slap in my face if you franchise me," Hampton told the Tribune-Review following a Pro Bowl practice at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. "That's not right. You don't do business like that. I want to be treated fair, and I think franchising me is not fair." Continue

Steelers hire new O-line coach

The Steelers moved quickly to hire a new offensive line coach Wednesday with the addition of former Buffalo Bills assistant Sean Kugler, according to NFL.com.

Kugler, who was released last week along with the rest of Buffalo's staff, spent two years with the Bills. He was an assistant with Detroit from 2001-2005.

Kugler replaces Larry Zierlein, who was fired last week.

Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler, considered the likely replacement for legendary defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau when he retires, was granted permission to speak with the Miami Dolphins about that team's defensive coordinator opening, according to South Florida media reports. Continue

Arians will return for 2010

The Steelers might not be done making changes in their coaching staff, but the biggest development yesterday was the one they didn't make.

After a long and what was termed "productive" meeting with coach Mike Tomlin, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians was told he will return as offensive coordinator in 2010, putting to rest his status after reports surfaced he would be fired.

Arians, who has one year remaining on his contract, was retained after a season in which the Steelers had a 4,000-yard quarterback (Ben Roethlisberger), two 1,000-yard receivers (Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Rashard Mendenhall) for the first time in franchise history.

No playoffs for Steelers

The Steelers took care of their part of the playoff equation and defeated the Miami Dolphins, 30-24, here today and now await a long-shot parlay of results of later games to see if they will play on.

The victory raised their record to 9-7 but they need losses by Baltimore, Denver and the New York Jets in order to make the playoffs. If any of those three win, the Steelers season will end. Baltimore is at Oakland, Denver at home to Kansas City and the Jets at home against the Cincinnati Bengals.

That three-team ticket was made necessary when Houston beat New England 34-27. Had the Patriots, who blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead, won, the Steelers would have needed only a loss by either the Jets or Ravens to get into the playoffs. Continue

Big Ben is selected team MVP

The only surprising thing about Ben Roethlisberger earning the Steelers' MVP award yesterday is that it is the quarterback's first such honor.

Roethlisberger returns Sunday to the place where it all began for him, in Miami in 2004 in a hurricane's wake. It was his first start in a remarkable season that was like no other; he became the only rookie quarterback in history to win all 13 starts.

And it only got better: two Super Bowl victories, one in which he took over on the winning last-minute drive, and most every Steelers passing record within his grasp. Many of those were set this season when he became the first Steelers quarterback to pass for 500 yards in a game and the first to pass for 4,000 yards in a season. Continue