Let's get to it:
HOWARD BURG FROM FLUSHING, NY: How can Jared Allen get elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame? L.C. Greenwood is left out in the cold again, and he was 20-times better than Jared Allen.
ANSWER: Regular readers of this feature know that I'm a proponent of L.C. Greenwood being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, because in simple terms he was the second-best player on one of the iconic defensive lines in NFL History, and all of those other iconic defensive lines have had more than one of its members elected. But that has nothing to do with Jared Allen's worthiness. I offer now something written by Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com about Allen after the Class of 2025 was announced:
"A four-time first-team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl pass rusher, Allen has parlayed a 12-year career filled with sack (celebrations) and eccentric hairdos into a gold jacket. The defensive end secured the honor in his fifth year of eligibility and as a finalist. Allen started his career in Kansas City … After an NFL-best 15.5-sack, 19-TFL season earned him an All-Pro nod in 2007, Allen was traded to the Vikings for a haul and then extended with what was at the time the richest contract for a defensive player. He more than lived up to the deal. Allen racked up at least 11 sacks in each of his six seasons in Minnesota and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2011 after tallying 22 sacks, still the second most in NFL history behind Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt's 22.5. After finishing his career in Chicago and Carolina -- coming up just short of a Super Bowl title -- Allen enters the Hall with 136 career sacks (12th all time) in 187 games played. Though he came up short of the single-season sack mark, Allen does have the distinction of being tied for the most safeties in NFL history (4), a quirky milestone for one of the 21st century's most outlandish characters."
And one other detail worth noting: Allen was voted into the Hall of Fame as a Modern-Era candidate, while Greenwood now is eligible for election only as a Seniors Candidate, and it's "easier" to get the necessary votes as a Modern-Era candidate.
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KEN WAMSLEY FROM BIDWELL, OH: Do you think the Steelers will draft a wide receiver with their first-round pick? And will Najee Harris be back next season?
ANSWER: During this offseason, I believe wide receiver is an area the Steelers need to address this offseason, and address it in a way that adds some top of the depth chart type talent. But in my opinion, defensive line is another area that needs the same kind of attention/addition. The question then becomes how the team decides to approach those two areas of "need." The way it typically works during the NFL Draft is that a premium – beyond the quarterback position – is placed on the big guys. Hall of Fame General Manager George Young used to call that "The Planet Theory," in that there are only so many men on the planet who have the required skills to go along with the size to make them difference-makers on either side of an NFL line of scrimmage. As for Najee Harris' potential return, I don't know whether he might want to see what his services command on the open market, and what those numbers might be. That's not possible for me to predict, and if it's to come down to a guess, yours is as good as mine.
MARK DiGIOVANNA FROM LIBERTY HILL, CA: Were you a fan of the new kickoff changes this year? ( I was not.) Do you believe there is any chance the league will go back to the previous format after reviewing things this offseason?
ANSWER: Let me put it to you this way: I understand why the league made the changes to what's referred to as the "dynamic kickoff," and since the NFL reported a drop in the number of concussions over the course of the whole season, I don't foresee the rules going back to the way they were. Add in the fact there were 7 kickoffs returned for touchdowns last season, and my guess is that outside of the potential for minor tweaks, kickoffs are not going back to the previous format.
NORM BRENNAN FROM CHACHAGUI, COLOMBIA: It's a small sample size, but I like what I've seen of Spencer Anderson at guard and as an overall player. What are your thoughts on his play? Development?
ANSWER: Spencer Anderson is still a young (he'll turn 25 in June), developing player who has versatility going for him. As a third-year pro, Anderson has two more seasons on the contract he signed as a seventh-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and that aforementioned versatility gives him a chance to become the kind of player who earns a second NFL contract.
NATHAN COOPER FROM HANOVER, PA: I know that Art Rooney II said that signing a quarterback would be a priority this offseason. But when should we see that signing?
ANSWER: The best case scenario for the team, I believe, would be to have identified and signed the better of the Russell Wilson-Justin Fields options, because having that settled sets up the rest of the offseason in terms of allocating cap space and draft capital toward dealing with the other roster issues that need to be addressed.
LORI STULMANIS FROM FEASTERVILLE, PA: If the Steelers don't re-sign Justin Fields or Russell Wilson, do you think they would consider Sam Darnold? Do you still think he'd be a good fit in Pittsburgh?
ANSWER: I explained in the above question what I saw as the best case scenario for the team, and if that doesn't work out and the Steelers go into free agency with nobody signed for the top of the depth chart at quarterback, my opinion is there wouldn't be much that would be OFF the table in terms of addressing that situation.
DAVID POLLARD FROM WARRINGTON, UK: I recently came across a podcast about Doug Williams, referring to him as the first black quarterback to play in the Super Bowl. It made me think of Joe Gilliam, and I wondered if he took any snaps in Super Bowls IX and X?
ANSWER: According to the NFL Game Summaries for Super Bowls IX and X, Joe Gilliam did not play in either of those games.
LARRY HALL FROM AUSTIN, TX: Although it's very unlikely the team would be able to bring back both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, but if they both saw it as a legitimate opportunity to revive their careers – Russell a la Kurt Warner and Justin a la Baker Mayfield – would you be in favor of bringing each of them back on a 2-year deal?
ANSWER: Art Rooney II said back in January that in his view both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields see themselves as NFL starting quarterbacks, and so bringing them both back isn't going to happen because they both can't be starters if they're on the same team.
LEE JOHNSON FROM MIDLAND, VA: When is Ben eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
ANSWER: Ben Roethlisberger will be eligible to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2027.
MARC ROSZLER FROM TUCSON, AZ: Does the salary cap include just players and coaches, or does it include the entirety of the organization including support staff?
ANSWER: Only players are covered by the rules of the salary cap. Everyone else is in addition to that.
