Sep 1, 2015 3 min read

PITTSBURGH – Sometimes a change of scenery can be a good thing. At least that’s what new Steelers placekicker Josh Scobee hopes.

The Steelers traded a sixth-round draft pick to Jacksonville Monday to acquire the 11-year NFL veteran, who spent the first 10 years of his career with the Jaguars and is their all-time leading scorer with 1,022.

“Sometimes you can get a little too comfortable with where you are,” said Scobee. “So, it’s good to have a change of scenery and a change of pace to get to refresh myself.”

It also doesn’t hurt going from a team that hasn’t had a winning season since 2007 to one that hasn’t had a losing record since 2003.

“That’s the excitement I feel. Coach Tomlin talks about winning a championship,” Scobee said. “To hear those things being said is a shock to me. It’s not fun to lose, but I wish Jacksonville nothing but the best. They’re going in the right direction and have great people in charge. To be here, however, I’m truly excited.”

Scobee will be the Steelers’ third placekicker since training camp began July 25. Incumbent Shaun Suisham suffered a torn ACL in the preseason opener, and his replacement, Garrett Hartley, injured his hamstring last Saturday against Buffalo.

Both have been placed on injured reserve and are out for the season.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said the need at the position outweighed any concerns about giving up a future draft pick.

“You get an opportunity to get a unique and established guy like that, and what he did for over a decade in one place, his résumé is his résumé. It speaks for itself,” Tomlin said. “You get an opportunity to do that, it is something you should strongly consider. We did that. Obviously, we felt good about it.

The Steelers restructured the contracts of Suisham, tight end Heath Miller and wide receiver Antonio Brown to free up nearly $6 million in salary cap space.

The restructures for Miller and Suisham simply turned signing bonus into base salary, a move the Steelers have typically made in the past to free cap space.

Brown, however, had $2 million of his base salary in 2016 turned into signing bonus, raising his 2015 pay to $8 million.

He is now scheduled to earn $6.25 million in 2016, though the team could choose to renegotiate his contract in the offseason.

Rumors surfaced in the offseason that Brown was unhappy with his contract after leading the league in receptions (129) and yards (1,698). That was exasperated by contracts given to Julio Jones, Dez Bryant and T.Y. Hilton recently that made Brown’s deal, which runs through 2017, pale in comparison.

Brown did not miss any offseason workouts or training camp days.

“I am extremely humbled and honored that Art Rooney II and Mr. (Dan) Rooney were able to do that for me,” Brown said. “I am extremely grateful. There are a lot of great players that have been around here. I tip my hat to those guys.”

Tomlin said established starters would see little to no playing time in Thursday’s preseason finale against Carolina at Heinz Field. … Rookie Tyler Murphy, who is attempting to make the transition from college quarterback to wide receiver, will play strictly at wideout against the Panthers. Tomlin hinted last week that Murphy might see some time at quarterback. … NFL teams must trim their rosters to 53 players by 4 p.m. Saturday.