First Call: James Harrison's revealing quotes about Mike Tomlin; a T.J. Watt contract update; potential NHL CBA details

Friday’s “First Call” has an interesting assessment of Mike Tomlin’s coaching style from former Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison. There’s a new slant on T.J. Watt’s contract situation. We have a preview of the upcoming Pirates-Mets series.

And some details are leaking out about what could be in the next NHL collective bargaining agreement.

Double-edged sword

Former Steeler James Harrison appeared on the “Nightcap” video stream with former AFC North Rival T.J. Houshmandzadeh this week.

Houshmandzadeh asked Harrison about the similarities, differences and preferences he had between playing for Bill Cowher and then Mike Tomlin.

Harrison’s response (at 4:07 of the video) was very revealing.

“With Mike, the biggest thing that I like about him is he is a player’s coach,” Harrison said. “And the thing that I dislike about him is he is a player’s coach to the point of; sometimes, it can disrupt because it goes maybe a little too far with allowing certain things with certain players. And then it becomes an issue with that player.”

Harrison could’ve been talking about any number of players. Antonio Brown, Ben Roethlisberger, Martavis Bryant, Le’Veon Bell — or all of the above.

He could’ve even been talking about himself to an extent, with the actions he took (which included falling asleep in meetings and leaving games early when he didn’t dress) to force himself off the roster in 2017.

“Toward the end of my career, the biggest thing was, you ask the tough question, you get the tough answer,” Harrison said. “Well, I was asking tough questions, and I wasn’t getting the answer. I was getting told things that weren’t the answer — the true answer.”

Regardless, Harrison’s first quote echoes what a lot of fans and media members have said when complaining about Tomlin in the past. But it carries more weight when a standout former player says it.

Not to mention, a former player who was never fond of feeding or playing along with any media narrative he didn’t want to support.

T.J. talk

Bleacher Report’s James Palmer is saying T.J. Watt may get more money in his upcoming contract than Cleveland’s Myles Garrett.

“I’m hearing there’s a chance Watt gets past $40 million (per season),” Palmer said Tuesday at the 7:27 mark of his latest NFL Insider Notebook posted below. “He has every right to ask for it. I’ve talked on here a lot about the comparisons between him and Myles Garrett. The numbers are almost identical in every aspect in terms of superlatives and in terms of numbers, and they came in the same draft class. I mean, he has the right to try to get that.”

Yeah. Sure. I don’t think anyone is disputing that. Obviously, Watt has the right to ask. Don’t the Steelers have the right to say “No” as well?

I think that’s the part that has kinda been lost in the conversation. Just because Cleveland felt OK giving $160 million to a pass rusher who is about to turn 30 doesn’t mean the Steelers have to feel the same way about a guy soon turning 31.

That goes for Dallas and Cincinnati in their respective contract negotiations with Micah Parsons and Trey Hendrickson.

Actually, the Steelers have the “right” to make Watt play out his contract and franchise him if they want, but I don’t see a lot of national reporters bringing that prospect up with the same level of enthusiasm.

The national media has gotten very player-friendly when it comes to contract coverage. But it’s still important to remember that this is a two-way street, and the Steelers don’t have to feel obligated to meet the market value if they feel the market is inflated.

Especially for a player who is in his 30s and has had significant injury concerns in recent years.

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• Don't expect Penguins president Kyle Dubas to use all his draft picks

Meet the Mets

After a prolonged funk, the New York Mets appear to have stabilized themselves just in time to visit Pittsburgh for a three-game weekend.

They shut out the Atlanta Braves, 4-0, on Thursday to split a four-game series against their division rivals. With that victory, they are back atop the National League East standings with a 48-34 record and a half-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies for first place.

For the Pirates’ sake, let’s hope this isn’t the start of another extended run for the Mets. They are as streaky as you are going to find of late. The two wins over Atlanta to close out that series halted a streak for the Mets where they lost 10 times in 11 games.

Prior to that tumble, New York had just finished winning 15 of 18 from May 24 to June 12.

Despite their issues leading into that series versus Atlanta, New York maintains the best team ERA in baseball at 3.21, and their 299 runs allowed are the fewest in the National League. The only pitching staff with a better batting-average-against than the Mets (.231) is San Diego (.227).

Mets hitters also have 107 home runs, fourth-most in the N.L. Juan Soto has 19 to lead the team. Pete Alonso has 18. He was 3 for 4 in the win Thursday.

Let’s see the CBA

According to The Daily Faceoff, The NHL and NHL Players’ Association are close to announcing a four-year extension to the collective bargaining agreement — perhaps as early as Friday.

Here are some key details:

• The NHL will move to an 84-game regular season. That’ll start in 2026-27. The preseason will be shortened to (likely) four games per team. Any player with 100-plus career games played can only play in two of those games.

• Eight-year contracts for players will stop after this upcoming season. Starting in 2026-27, contracts will be capped at seven years for players re-signing with their current club and six years for players on the free agent market.

• Tweaks to the playoff salary cap, which will essentially close the LTIR loophole.

• The revenue split will remain 50/50 between owners and players. No changes to the definitions of what constitutes hockey-related revenue are expected.

• The death of the EBUG. There will be an establishment of a “full-time” Emergency Backup Goalie position within organizations. So, no more crazy stories of Zamboni drivers, beer league goalies and arena workers getting to suit up as NHL EBUGs for a night.

• The next three seasons of the salary cap’s upper limit will be $95.5 million, $104 million and $113 million.

Listen: This week’s Fantasy sports podcast with Jeff Erickson of RotoWire.