Joe Rutter stories, Page 125

The Pittsburgh Steelers have started conversations about extending quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s contract, team president Art Rooney II said Wednesday afternoon. In a 20-minute conference call with Steelers Nation Unite members, Rooney said negotiations have started with Roethlisberger and his agent, Ryan Tollner. Roethlisberger has one year left on his contract,...

For the second year in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers are facing the prospect of playing a season without one of their star playmakers. While it’s too early to know what life will be like without wide receiver Antonio Brown in 2019, team president Art Rooney II liked the way...

A conversation Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II had with Mike Munchak in December may have been a clue into his offensive line coach’s future plans. Munchak left the Steelers last week after five seasons to accept the same job with the Denver Broncos. Munchak cited family reasons; his daughter...

After telling reporters it was “nonsense” that the Pittsburgh Steelers are an organization in disarray, team president Art Rooney II doubled down on his beliefs Friday. Rooney made the morning talk-show rounds, appearing on 102.5 FM and 93.7 FM to discuss the state of the Steelers three weeks after they...

Add outside linebacker T.J. Watt to the list of Pittsburgh Steelers players selected to participate in the Pro Bowl. Watt was added as an injury replacement Thursday. He will take the spot of Houston Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, who withdrew from the game because of injury. In his second NFL...

The Pittsburgh Steelers are turning to the college ranks for their new running backs coach. Eddie Faulker, who was Steelers rookie Jaylen Samuels’ position coach at N.C. State, will be hired to coach the team’s running backs, the NFL Network reported Wednesday. The position became available when James Saxon’s contract...

Ben Roethlisberger will celebrate his 37th birthday in March, right about the time he could receive a contract extension from the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 15-year veteran quarterback has one year left on his deal and historically has received an extension before the new NFL calendar begins. This year, the new...

Ryan Shazier still wants to resume his NFL career, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to figure out how to keep him on their payroll. Shazier will be a free agent in March but isn’t ready to resume football activities after missing the 2018 season with a spinal cord injury....

Antonio Brown will remain property of the Pittsburgh Steelers for at least the next two months — until the new NFL season begins. Beyond that? Steelers president Art Rooney isn’t optimistic that Brown’s nine-year career with the organization will extend past mid-March. “There aren’t many signs out there that that...

Art Rooney II is open to the Pittsburgh Steelers delegating an assistant coach to handle replay challenges and clock management issues for coach Mike Tomlin. Tomlin has not won a replay challenge in two seasons and he has come under criticism for use of timeouts and clock strategy in the...

A 1980 game-worn jersey sported by Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann is among the items up for auction at Lelands.com. A portion of the auction house’s Classic Auction Winter 2019 collection are 32 Steelers-related items, headed by the Swann jersey and a 2000 game-worn jersey by...

The eighth annual NFLPA Collegiate Bowl game will be well represented with players from district colleges. The all-star game, which consists of college seniors, will be played Jan. 19 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. It will include six players from Western Pennsylvania schools among the 112 participants on...

Guard David DeCastro became the second Pittsburgh Steelers player to withdraw from the Pro Bowl because of an undisclosed injury when he was replaced in the all-star game Thursday by Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio. Wide receiver Antonio Brown pulled out of the Pro Bowl last week with an injury....

With two tight ends set to hit free agency in March, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed former Pine-Richland and Youngstown State tight end Kevin Rader to a futures contract Wednesday. Rader was an undrafted free agent in 2018 and spent last summer in the Green Bay Packers’ training camp. Rader began...

It looks like Mike Munchak will be staying around to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line. Munchak was a finalist for the Denver Broncos’ coaching vacancy, but ESPN and NFL Network reported Wednesday afternoon that Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will get the job. Munchak, 58, has coached the...

Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a 12-part series breaking down the Pittsburgh Steelers at each position in the offseason. All salary cap information courtesy spotrac.com. Maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers would have run the ball more frequently — and perhaps more effectively — if Le’Veon Bell had reported for...

Citing an injury, wide receiver Antonio Brown will not play in the Pro Bowl, opening the door for teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster to replace him in the all-star contest, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced Monday. Brown missed the season finale against Cincinnati with what the Steelers said was a knee injury. But...

Running backs coach James Saxon became the second Steelers assistant to lose his job when coach Mike Tomlin announced Monday that he wasn’t renewing his contract. Saxon had been with the Steelers for five years. Outside linebackers coach Joey Porter didn’t have his contract renewed by Tomlin last week. Saxon...

The agent for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is ready to see what the offseason brings for his client. With Brown’s future with the organization up in the air, Drew Rosenhaus spoke about Brown on Sunday during an appearance on 7 Sports Xtra, a Miami-based sports show. “I’m just...

The number of Pittsburgh Steelers players entering unrestricted free agency reads like a laundry list, ranging from a player who was on the field for every snap (Ramon Foster) to one who didn’t play a down (Le’Veon Bell). In between, there are 12 players with varying degrees of experience and...

By skipping the walkthrough last Saturday and a meeting at the team hotel later that night, did Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown violate the terms of his contract, giving the team a chance to withhold his game check and possibly recoup a portion of his signing bonus? A retired...

A 22-year-old linebacker and a journeyman 26-year-old wide receiver are the latest players the Pittsburgh Steelers signed to futures contracts on Friday. The new additions are linebacker Tegray Scales, a first-year linebacker who spent the final two weeks of the 2018 season on the Indianapolis Colts practice squad, and wide...

Coach Mike Tomlin promised changes after the Pittsburgh Steelers missed the playoffs with a 9-6-1 record, and outside linebackers coach Joey Porter became the first casualty. Tomlin announced Friday he is not renewing Porter’s contract. Porter, 41, had just completed his fifth year on Tomlin’s staff. “These are difficult decisions...

Time will tell if the Steelers decide to part ways with All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown after nine seasons. At least two months’ time, to be precise. If the Steelers have decided enough is enough in the wake of Brown’s recent absences from practice and team functions, they can explore...

The Pittsburgh Steelers have announced their first player signings from outside the organization Thursday when quarterback Brogan Roback and wide receiver Ka’Raun White were signed to futures contracts. Roback, 24, spent last summer with the Cleveland Browns and was one of the players featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” He is...