Monday’s “First Call” includes the latest former Pittsburgh Steeler to take a swat at Ben Roethlisberger. The Los Angeles Chargers are bringing two familiar names with Pittsburgh backgrounds onto their coaching staff.
And Sidney Crosby wasn’t the only player with Pittsburgh Penguins ties on the scoresheet in the Olympic hockey game between Canada and France on Sunday.
Piling on
The latest ex-Steeler to take a swing at Ben Roethlisberger is former cornerback Steven Nelson. During his “The Corner Suite” podcast, Nelson went after Roethlisberger in a different way.
He didn’t question Roethlisberger as a teammate or a person like Joey Porter did. Rather, Nelson used Roethlisberger as a way to call out the organization for letting him go after the 2020 season.
It’s Nelson’s contention that keeping Roethlisberger late in his career instead of retaining defensive talent ended up costing the Steelers in the long run.
“From 2019 to 2021, Ben consistently carried $41-$45 million in cap hits. Heavy boy years. Restructures that pushed money forward. The Steelers were paying elite quarterback money for a limited-mobility, declining-arm-strength, short-passing offense,” Nelson said. “That cap squeeze mattered because it meant letting defensive depth walk. Losing corners like… Steven Nelson, hello! Relying on rookies and cheap contracts in the secondary, you can’t pay a declining quarterback top-tier money and maintain elite defense.”
Nelson wasn’t done.
“The team did not look out for the team’s best interest,” Nelson said. “Moving forward, the team was more interested in appeasing Big Ben and doing whatever Big Ben wanted. To me, that was just selfish and negligent. You had a good young team right there, a great team that was meshing really well, and you sabotaged the whole thing for one person. They let one guy sabotage the entire organization.”
A couple of things about Nelson’s rant:
• To clarify, according to OverTheCap.com, Roethlisberger’s largest cap hit at the start of any season was $26.2 million in 2019. He cost $45 million in cash that year. So, yes, the Steelers had to frequently restructure Roethlisberger’s money. But he never counted $41 million at the start of any season.
• After the 2020 season, Roethlisberger renegotiated down to a $25.9 million cap hit, taking a $5 million pay cut for 2021 ($14 million cash).
• Nelson referenced that defense as being “great” during the podcast. It allowed 28.6 points and 332.5 yards per contest over its last six games of the season.
The Steelers tried to trade and eventually released Nelson in 2021. He’s clearly still angry over that decision.
Keep that in mind when evaluating his comments.
Harbaugh’s house
Former Steelers outside linebackers coach Denzel Martin has a new job. He’ll be heading to the Los Angeles Chargers with Jim Harbaugh, holding an assistant OLB job title.
That’s according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Sources: The #Chargers are hiring former #Steelers OLBs coach Denzel Martin as assistant OLBs coach on Jim Harbaugh’s staff.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) February 15, 2026
Martin was in Pittsburgh since 2016 and has worked with the likes of TJ Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, among others. He now joins the Chargers with… pic.twitter.com/V3PwTyrqOl
Martin had been on Mike Tomlin’s staff since 2016. C.J. Ah You replaced Martin on Mike McCarthy’s new staff as OLB coach in Pittsburgh.
The Chargers have a new defensive coordinator. It’s Chris O’Leary. He fills the job vacated by Jesse Minter. He went to Baltimore as the Ravens’ new head coach.
While we are out there …
The Chargers will have another new defensive assistant with Steelers ties. Former Steelers linebacker Sean Spence will coach the inside linebackers.
Again, that’s according to Schultz.
Sources: The #Chargers are hiring Sean Spence as their new inside linebackers coach.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) February 13, 2026
Spence, a former NFL player, most recently coached at Western Michigan and at the Senior Bowl. Under his guidance, Nadame Tucker led the country in sacks and TFLs this past season. pic.twitter.com/4cvRHR4umr
The Miami Hurricanes alum was with the Steelers from 2012-15. He suffered a serious knee injury during the preseason of his rookie year that hampered his development, but he stayed in the NFL until the end of the 2017 season. That was after a second stint in Pittsburgh.
In between runs with the Steelers, Spence was a member of the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts.
This is Spence’s first NFL coaching gig. He had been at Western Michigan in the college ranks for the past three seasons as a special teams analyst and linebackers/edges coach.
Lost in the loss
Team Canada pounced on France during Olympic hockey play Sunday. Sidney Crosby and company dropkicked the French team 10-2.
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain had a goal and two assists. Crosby now has six points in three games.
But on the French side, Justin Adamo picked up assists on both French goals.
Canada and France combine for THREE goals in one minute in a wild start at Milano Santagiulia Arena. ???? pic.twitter.com/zwerijrLSj
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 15, 2026
The native of Clermont-Ferrand played college hockey at Robert Morris for three years, racking up 22 goals and 27 assists. He also played a year at RPI before becoming a member of the Wheeling Nailers and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins from 2022-24.
Adamo now plays in the Finnish Elite League (Liiga) with Jukurit. Another former RMU Colonial, Daniel Mantenuto, is playing with the Italian team. Neither team won a game in group play.
In the one-game qualification round, the French play the Germans and the Italians play Switzerland. Those games are Tuesday.
On Wednesday, in the quarterfinals, Canada will either play Czechia or Denmark. Team USA gets Sweden or Latvia.
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