U mad, bro?: Pittsburgh fans launch opinions on Steelers' trade, Sidney Crosby's legacy, Oneil Cruz's focus

When the Pittsburgh Steelers are involved in one of the NFL’s biggest player-for-player trades in 20 years, you know people are going to have opinions.

When Sidney Crosby is rumored as a trade chip on draft night, you know Penguins fans are going to react.

And you know that whenever Oneil Cruz makes a mental mistake, some Pirates fans are going to melt down.

If it weren’t for “U mad, bro?,” where could you go to get all that rage in one bite-sized serving?

Here is this week’s edition.

John raises an interesting point about the Steelers swapping out Minkah Fitzpatrick for Jalen Ramsey and the corresponding theory that this will allow the Steelers’ defensive coaches to get creative in their formations this year.

Not to mention what Jonnu Smith may provide on offense.

Do you think the HC, DC, and OC are innovative enough to create mismatches with these formations?

— John Veltri (@veltri_john) June 30, 2025

They weren’t with Minkah for the past few years, were they?

Nope.

— John Veltri (@veltri_john) June 30, 2025

Hmmm.

This guy has some thoughts on the trade.

Maybe makes steelers little better. Seems like trading one player past his prime for another one.

— RB7501 (@RB75012) June 30, 2025

Agreed. Except that when you said “seems like,” I think you meant “clearly is.”

Thomas didn’t like an article he read (not one of mine for a change) that said the Steelers have the best defensive line in the NFL.

”This writer must be a moron.”

Agreed, Thomas. I don’t care what PFF season-long grades were attached to that Steelers defense. I know what I saw over the last month of the season. And I also know it couldn’t be all Larry Ogunjobi’s fault.

As much as I would like to say it was.

So, replacing him with rookie Derrick Harmon is unlikely to fix everything. Even if you count the OLBs as “DLine” as he appears to do, there’s no way that unit could be considered the best at anything after the last five weeks of the season.

Unless you are looking for the defensive line that was the best in the league at allowing opposing offenses to extend drives.

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Craig chimes in on the heat that Oneil Cruz took in last week’s “U mad, bro?” 

”Can ya really blame Cruz for not paying attention and/or caring? No one else does in that organization, so why should he?”

Actually, I do think Don Kelly cares. Maybe that’ll rub off on him.

Eh, who am I kidding?

Honestly, I don’t care if Cruz cares. If he doesn’t give a crap but still performs, that’d be fine too.

But being mentally checked out and underperforming isn’t good. If he needs team results to stay individually invested, then this recent hot streak that the team has been on better carry forward.

David had this reaction to this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast — or maybe just to its headline.

What does retiring with one team do? Is his legacy not cemented enough already?

— David Palus Jr (@HighClass71) June 30, 2025

Who is saying he has to? And who is saying his legacy isn’t? That really wasn’t the substance of the conversation.

Although I will say — to your point, actually — Crosby’s legacy should feel “cemented” enough in Pittsburgh and everywhere else that the international media shouldn’t feel obligated to push him toward a better Stanley Cup contender just to chase another title as if he needs one to prove any additional point.

Finally, after the Steelers-Dolphins trade, I discussed some narratives about the Steelers that I felt were “spoken into existence.” Steve has some thoughts on that turn of phrase.

”Spoken into existence? Hey Tim, I’ve got a great example of ‘spoken into existence’ and that’s the fantasy that JPJ is an upper-echelon cornerback in the NFL. But don’t take my word for it, watch the game and try to forget about who Daddy is! He holds on EVERY play. If by some chance he neglects to hold, he gets beat. As always, I enjoy your writing. And remember, the standard is the standard: 1) 10-7 regular season, 2) squashed like a stink bug in the wild card game, and 3) 2 year extension for Coach Tomlin.”

To your final point, Steve. Yes, that seems like a safe prediction. Maybe a little high at 10-7. But in that range.

Also, I understand your critique of Joey Porter Jr. But we may want to shift gears from “spoken into existence” to “building a strawman.”

I’m not sure that there have been a lot of people who have called JPJ an “upper echelon cornerback in the NFL.” There were plenty — myself included — who said he had an intriguing rookie season and that there is reason for optimism. But there haven’t exactly been a ton of people campaigning for an All-Pro nomination or anything.

That said, if you are building a strawman, I’m sure that the strawman could draw at least three DPI penalties on Porter if you put a Tee Higgins jersey on it.