The Steelers have used their Transition Tag on Jason Worilds. Basically, he's been tendered an offer and the Steelers have the right to match any contract offered by another team. In the meantime, Worilds will count for $9.754 million against the cap.

That's a lot of money.

The Steelers, despite having restructured Heath Miller's contract (to some degree), are still in cap trouble. With the mammoth salaries owed to guys like Ike Taylor, LaMarr Woodley, and [mysteriously] Levi Brown, coupled with this big deal for Worilds, the Steelers are going to have to make some more moves before March 11. We know Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Troy Polamalu probably aren't going anywhere, but guys like Taylor and Woodley could be in trouble. Which spells more trouble.

If they cut Woodley:
The Steelers would go into the season with Jarvis Jones and Jason Worilds as the starting OLBs. That's not a good position to be in. It would probably be necessary to invest another high pick in an outside linebacker, but with no third round pick in this draft, they'll have to be spent wisely.

If they cut Taylor:
Now you have like $20 million invested in two linebackers, one who has like one good game on his resume, and the other hasn't made a play since 2010. And the starting CB tandem would be... uh... William Gay and, umm... Cortez Allen I guess? That is also a recipe for disaster, and would basically force the Steelers to draft a CB in round 1 and probably rely on him to start right away.

Things are getting really tight for the Steelers. Free agency is coming up, but it doesn't look like Colbert has a lot of freedom here.

The NFL Scouting Combine is getting underway and Kevin Colbert and his staff will begin evaluating prospects in depth for the next month and a half. Colbert had a few things to say on the subject this morning:

“[The 2014 draft] is as deep across the board as any draft I’ve seen in 30 years and it’s a record number of underclassmen who obviously enhanced it from a talent standpoint.... We’re also concerned about how many of those players came out prematurely and won’t be ready for this next challenge.”

There are obviously some concerns about the maturity level of underclassmen this year. I'm inclined to agree; jumping from college to the NFL is an enormous leap, especially when you consider how a lot of football players are constructed psychologically. Most of them are about 22 years old, which pretty much qualifies them as idiots (I know, because I am 22, and I don't know anything about anything important). Couple that with the fact that they've been handed so much, especially at the college level where they're highly recruited, don't pay tuition, and don't have to go to class (that last bit is based on my personal observations living next door to a bunch of football players at Pitt), it can be pretty jarring to suddenly be on the bottom rung of the professional ladder.

Obviously this is speculation because I'm not an NFL player (although I'm draft-eligible this year!) but the fact that Colbert is concerned about these players mentally says a lot. The Steelers have traditionally not started rookies and let them ease into the NFL gradually, a luxury that was afforded them by years of good drafting and few immediate needs on the field. That's not a luxury the Steelers have right now, and more rookies might be expected to step in and contribute. Colbert doesn't want to throw a player into the fire that's too young to handle it.

By the way, considering how much Colbert talked up the depth and talent of this draft, one bright reporter asked him how he felt about trading this year's 3rd to the Browns for the pick used for Shamarko Thomas last year. Predictably, Colbert said he'd make the same trade again in a heartbeat. Now, it's not like he's going to say he regrets it and wishes Thomas weren't on the team, but it's a little extra pressure for Thomas to step in and be a difference maker, probably as Ryan Clark's replacement.

The Steelers' roster has worn thin over the past few years. The 2014 draft will have to be a good one to push the team back into long-term contention. And by the sounds of it, Colbert is going to target and older player.

Let's do a quick rundown of the Cleveland Browns in 2014.

First, they fired Rob Chudzinski after a single year as the head coach. This followed a series of two-year tenures by guys like Eric Mangini and Pat Shurmur, and the general feel around the NFL seemed to be that no one in their right mind would take this job.

General Manager Michael Lombardi apparently finally convinced Mike Pettine, formerly the defensive coordinator in Buffalo, to be their next scapegoat for the 2014 season. So with management's like, 6th choice of coach, the Browns were prepared to head into the 2014 draft with their brain trust in place.

And today, owner Jimmy Haslam announced that Lombardi would be leaving the team and CEO Joe Banner would be stepping down. Assistant GM Ray Farmer is being promoted to fill Lombardi's position. Notably, Farmer wasn't in on head coaching interviews when Pettine was hired.

If there's one thing that's true about sports management, it's that people want to work with their own people. Ray Farmer didn't hire Mike Pettine, and unless he guides the Browns to the AFC North title (spoiler: he won't), he'll be out the door this time next year so the new GM can bring in his own guy. Or his 7th or 8th guy, since no one worth their salt is going to take on the burden of that awful position.

The Browns have a little bit of talent and are in good position heading into the 2014 draft, drafting 4th and 26th overall in the first round. But even with a semblance of stability being possible on the field, the constant management shakeups are going to continue handicapping this team for years to come.

Ryan Clark sure has made waves in the past week or two. It seems that every time anyone has a thought, Ryan Clark is coming in to give his opinion on the subject. And it really looks like not only is his Steeler career over, but he might be working his way out of the NFL overall.

Let's start with the marijuana de-penalization the NFL is considering. With the United States finally starting to catch up to the year 2014, our Dear Leader has claimed that the league would consider marijuana for medicinal usage to help him save face in the wake of a massive lawsuit over the NFL's handling of brain injuries.

Clark doesn't seem to think there's any need for that, as players are going to smoke pot anyway. Now, I'm quite certain NFL players use marijuana to deal with the crippling pain their profession burdens them with, and we all sort of know that, right? But in case you were on the fence, there's Ryan Clark to just let everyone know, right out in the open.

Specifically, Clark says he has teammates who use it. That's narrowing it down to a list of 60 or so guys that he's essentially outing as pot smokers. I can't imagine this would be well-received by those teammates. It just isn't a thing you go out and publicly say about people you maintain close relationships with.

Or how about Michael Sam, the Missouri senior linebacker who outed himself as gay and will become the NFL's first openly gay player next season? In a perfect world, this wouldn't even be a story because sexual orientation has as much to do with your ability to play football as whether you have brown or blue eyes. Cut to Clark, though:

What are the things you can do and say around him that won’t make him uncomfortable?  That won’t make him feel that he’s being ostracized?  Or that won’t make him feel like he’s being harassed or quote, unquote bullied?

It's not that difficult, Ryan, to not be a dickhead. But this isn't about Ryan Clark's homophobiaphobia. Stu White at Fansided did a plenty good enough job of that. The point here is that Clark is giving and taking media bait. Marijuana and sexual orientation are still controversial subjects because it's still 1932 for some people. Clark is jumping in on these subjects and making remarks about them, something active players just don't do.

It's no secret that Clark has a studio job waiting for him at ESPN when he retires. The 12 year veteran is a pending free agent and appears to have played his last game in black and gold (unless he signs with the Saints or something, but that's a technicality, shut up). His remarks about the Steelers' marijuana use have paved his road out of Pittsburgh, and his incendiary remarks about Michael Sam suggest that he already has his feet in the water as far as his media gig is concerned. He's also weighed in on the Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito saga, but that's getting to the level where I don't even want to research it to form an opinion anymore.

So what's the impact of all of this? Not much, honestly. If Clark is going to be a media personality next year, this is what he's going to do. If he plays in the NFL, he'll have to win over a new locker room, not just slide back into place with the Steelers.

As for the Steelers, well, you don't trade up and draft Shamarko Thomas if you're expecting your free safety to hang around for a few more years. The Steelers are going to move on.

Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Fans Voices program and have been provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product.

Really, the Verizon reps I've been working with this football season are great. Just last week, they hooked us sports bloggers up with another fancy new toy: The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2!

It's pretty much exactly like my Droid Maxx, but bigger. Honestly I haven't played with it too much yet, as I had more pressing concerns this weekend, but so far it's the same thing except I can be better at Draw Something with this much real estate on screen. Video quality is superb (I streamed the last Pens game while the Olympic ceremonies were on TV) and the rest of the functionality seems to be identical to my kick-awesome phone.

I'm very excited about it, and I'll certainly share more thoughts as I get used to in the coming weeks. But if you're interested in a new tablet, good news, everyone!

Verizon has a deal going on through February 17th (that's a week from today) where you can get a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 for $99.99 (that's the same one I got!) or an Ellipsis 7 for free, each with a two-year contract.

In the meantime, I'm going to find some better games to play and things to watch now that I have this expansive new screen to explore. Exciting times!

Yours truly attended the Dapper Dan Dinner & Auction last night. It was pretty nice. A lowly blogger like myself tends to feel out of place surrounded by people in sportcoats and whatnot, but it was neat and I took away a few things I figured I might as well share, because I have a website so I can do stuff like this.

1. Dan Bylsma bolted early
Disco Dan was introduced to a near-standing ovation on the red carpet. He didn't have any speaking obligations, so it took a little while to notice, but his seat was empty almost the whole night. Maybe he was doing something in the wake of Kris Letang having a stroke (!), or maybe he was spending time with his family before leaving for Russia for three weeks.

2. Franco Harris and Joe Greene were whatev
Harris, being honored for a lifetime achievement award, was introduced by the greatest Steeler of all time, and neither of them had great speeches. Oddly, Mean Joe came closer to the "Franco Harris is a crazy person when it comes to Joe Paterno" thing than Harris did.

3. I would run through a wall for Clint Hurdle
Maybe Greene and Harris only felt lackluster because their speeches followed Hurdle's. Hurdle was funny, he was genuine, and he made all of us proud to be Pirate fans. Tears were shed in the crowd, goosebumps were raised, and I came away from Hurdle's speech with the overwhelming desire to buy Pirate tickets. Hard to ask for much more in a speech from the Sportsman of the Year.

The Seattle Seahawks claimed their franchise's first Super Bowl title on Sunday, beating the Denver Broncos soundly by a score of 43-8. It was awesome.

A lot of people were disappointed with the blowout. They wanted to see lots of pretty passes and last-second touchdowns and probably a 38-35 final. That didn't happen. In fact, the game was effectively over at halftime. And I think it was great for football.

The Seahawks' very construction is everything I think a football team should be. Their offense focuses on a physical running game first, and their passing game is secondary, featuring handsy receivers who appear to take pride in downfield blocking.

Sound familiar?

Russell Wilson succeeded without being the focal point of the offense. He made the plays he needed to on the ground and in the air to put his team in the best position to win. The offense is a total team effort without one superstar taking all the credit.

On the flip side, the Seahawks' defense was suffocating all year. Their physical secondary takes receivers out of a game and their pass rush generates pressure. They got in Peyton Manning's face early and often on Sunday and it ruined him. They forced two interceptions (one for a touchdown) and recovered two fumbles. They also benefitted from a safety on the game's opening play, so really, even if the Seattle offense didn't even show up for the game, the defense would have won the game 10-8 by themselves. Throw in Percy Harvin's kick return in the second half, and the 'Hawks could have won handily without an offense.

Fittingly, the MVP was awarded to Malcolm Smith, a depth linebacker taken late in the draft. It's rare for a defensive player to receive any accolades because the media hates them, but Smith's selection exemplifies the Seahawks defense because it's not about any one player. It's about a unit, as any good defense is. There wasn't a superstar to point to, so I feel that choosing a depth player who was in the right place to take advantage of mistakes his teammates caused is as good a choice as any. I don't know that you could say there was a true "most valuable player," but the Seahawks' defense as a whole is what won the Super Bowl.

So maybe the game wasn't terribly exciting. That's okay. We've been spoiled with Super Bowls lately. What did happen was a team that plays football [what I consider to be] the right way absolutely destroyed a team that was all about offense and not really about defense. A team that drafted an developed good all-around players, especially on defense, dominated a team that made the biggest free agent signing of the modern era in Peyton Manning. Defense trumped offense. It was a beautiful moment for the memory of old-school football.

So in this age of "receiving" tight ends, loud-mouth receivers, and the worst of both worlds, Rob Gronkowski, it's awesome to see a team with Seattle's style not only win, but completely dominate.

It's the biggest day of the year. Peyton Manning looks to cement his legacy as the greatest quarterback of all time (if he isn't already) while the fiesty young Seattle Seahawks look to bring home their franchise's first ever Vince Lombardi Trophy.

The Broncos have not only the #1 offense in the NFL this year, but the most prolific offense of all time. The Seahawks bring the NFL's best defense to the table. In a 1-vs-1 clash like that, you can bet I'm favoring the defense, because come on, have you met me? Manning and the Broncos bring it to the next level though, and it's going to be a hell of a matchup.

I'll confess: I like both of these teams. Peyton Manning is awesome. I'll have no problems if Manning takes home another Super Bowl victory, but I've cast my lot with the Seahawks today. I had to go through some bizarre logic to find a jersey to wear today because I don't have a Seahawks jersey, so I'm rolling with Henry Hynoski of the New York Giants because the Giants beat the Broncos in '86 so it makes enough sense. Plus, a thick, Polish fullback from Pitt is pretty much the best thing in sports.

It all comes down to this. Let's see who football's ultimate champion will be this year.