Feb 16, 2016 3 min read

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Kevin Colbert said today that the Steelers are in better cap shape than they have been in recent years. This refutes the Post-Gazette report that the team is at least $2 million over the projected salary cap.

Colbert said that the Steelers don’t really have to make any major moves to get in compliance with the cap, but did note that if they wanted to do something on the open market in free agency, they would have to make a cooresponing roster move or two to make that happen.

That jibes more with the thought that the team is $5-8 million under the cap.

• Colbert said the team won’t necessarily rule out selecting a 4-3 defensive end in the draft because the team now plays 75 percent of its defensive snaps in a nickel defense.

That would be a change of pace, but an edge rusher is an edge rusher.

I advocated for this to happen last year and perhaps the team looked at it. But if you’re going to play that many snaps in the nickel, why not bring in an end?

• Colbert said he expects to get at least one compensatory pick this year – though it will be a low-rounder. That will help recoup the two picks they traded away to acquire Brandon Boykin and Josh Scobee. The Steelers already got one back with the trade of Brad Wing, so they would go into the draft with seven picks, with three of them likely being seventh-round selections.

The team also considers cornerback Senquez Golson, last year’s second-round pick who missed the entire season, a second-round pick this year.

That’s all well and good except for the fact he’s a second-round pick with one less year of contract control.

• Speaking of Boykin, Colbert confirmed today that Boykin’s playing time didn’t come down so much to him or Antwon Blake, it came down to Boykin against Ross Cockrell.

Colbert admitted when he made the trade for Boykin after the team found out Golson would miss the season, he had no idea Cockrell would become available. And the Steelers really liked Cockrell coming out of the draft the year before.

Then, when it appeared Boykin might play early in the season, he tweaked his hamstring, opening the door for Cockrell to get onto the field.

That said, Colbert did say he appreciated Boykin’s professionalism and that the corner had helped the team down the stretch. He said the Steelers would have no problem bringing Boykin back, though he also said the same thing about William Gay and Blake.

• According to Colbert, the depth in this year’s draft is in the defensive secondary. Perhaps not coincidentally, that also happens to be a big need for the Steelers.

• Colbert rebutted the theory by some that the Steelers have ignored addressing the cornerback position in the draft under his watch, pointing out that Ike Taylor, Bryant McFadden, Cortez Allen and Curtis Brown were taken high under his watch – in addition to Golson and Doran Grant last season.

Taylor and McFadden were key players on a pair of Super Bowl teams, while injuries have derailed Allen’s career. Colbert did admit that Brown was pretty much a bust, taking the blame for that one.

“That’s how it broke over the years,” Colbert said. “We never neglected drafting in the secondary intentionally. That’s how it broke.”