This is what happens when teams don't draft well. It's bitten the Steelers before, back in the 1980s before the salary cap made it even more critical to steadily replenish the roster .
The Steelers assembled a nucleus of talent that was good enough to get to the Super Bowl three times in six years.
But players get old or get hurt or get too expensive, and they go away. Hines Ward, Aaron Smith, James Farrior, Santonio Holmes, Alan Faneca, Willie Parker and James Harrison are among the talented players who have departed.
How many have the Steelers adequately replaced? The double whammy of the salary cap and poor drafting have hit hard.
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--Dire (or Dwyer) circumstances
Jonathan Dwyer's return illustrates the curious nature of recent decisions.
GM Kevin Colbert said after last season that the running backs on the roster weren't good enough. The Steelers addressed that by spending their second round draft pick on Le'Veon Bell.
Bell got hurt in training camp, which left the Steelers with the backs who weren't good enough. They traded for failed No. 1 draft pick Felix Jones, and immediately decided he was a better option than Dwyer, who was then cut.
Jones barely got on the field last week because he doesn't know the offense yet. LaRod Stephens-Howling was injured in the opener, so the Steelers brought back Dwyer.
Mike Tomlin said they were "fortunate" to re-sign a back they twice judged to be inadequate in the last six months.
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--Pitching a fit
A.J. Burnett took to Twitter to emphasize he was not aiming his hissy fit at teammate Clint Barmes the other day in Texas.
He was unhappy with the defensive shift that had been called from the bench and not with Barmes' play on a ball that went for a two-run single.
So he was throwing the manager and the coaching staff under the bus rather than the shortstop. Does that make anything better?
Doesn't matter who made him angry, Burnett's reaction sent the message, "Hey, this isn't my fault." It wasn't a good thing to do, just as Burnett probably wouldn't appreciate one of his outfielders throwing his arms up in disgust as a home run ball sailed over the fence.
Have a problem with the shifts? Strike out the batter.
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--Non-reality show
It's been a while since the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, but they remain champions of media manipulation.
The TV stations were all over Sidney Crosby delivering season tickets to a long-time customer last week.
When this gimmick started, it still had at least a scintilla of spontaneity. People answer the door and, whoa, there's Sid!
Now it's terribly obvious the recipients have been thoroughly vetted. Or else it's just happy coincidence that most of their relatives and half of the neighborhood stopped by on a weekday morning with piles of memorabilia to be signed.
One good thing about it -- given the market value of Crosby autographs, the lucky fans have a chance to make back some of the big bucks they're dropping on those tickets. As long as the TV cameras keep following the parade, there will be video evidence the signatures are authentic.
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