Pittsburgh Steelers: Latest Combine News and Rumors

The NFL Scouting Combine began on Wednesday in Indianapolis, with players reporting to get weighed and evaluated and head coaches and general managers meeting with the media to apprise them—in a calculated manner, of course—of their teams' offseason plans.

This means the beginning of the NFL rumor mill churning in earnest about free agents and potential draft targets. The Pittsburgh Steelers are not immune to this process, which is as much about transparency as it is misdirection. 

Here are the major rumors that are swirling around the Steelers as the combine begins. 

Combine Warriors Don't Impress the Steelers

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Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert spoke with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Mark Kaboly on Monday, discussing what the team looks for at the combine and how much the event influences their draft picks.

It turns out that the combine, while a piece of the Steelers' evaluation process, carries far less weight than their season-long film evaluation.

Colbert said, "The amount of work that the scouts did throughout the fall really sets the table for the combine. The combine just verifies a lot of that information from a physical standpoint [and] a workout standpoint." He added, "You want to verify your beliefs from the film evaluations."

The combine will not make or break his evaluations. Players who didn't look good on film, but who work out well at the combine, or vice versa, won't see their draft stock in Pittsburgh change.

Colbert said, "If you don't like the guy as a player and he works out good, you just know that he works out good. ... Whatever the reason is, if you like a guy and he doesn't work out good, you should probably still like him."

So while there may be players whose draft stocks appear to rise or fall based on their combine performance, that won't impact the Steelers' decisions in April's draft. Their impressions of these players are mostly set before the event even begins.

Don't Expect the Veteran Combine to Interest the Steelers

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The Steelers appear to be focused exclusively on evaluating the talents of the incoming class of NFL rookies. The combine in Indianapolis is the only combine that interests the Steelers this year. The veteran combine, scheduled for March 22, doesn't appear to be on the Steelers' radar.

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Mark Kaboly last week that he is "not really interested" in next month's event.

"Personally what [the veterans] do once they get into the league on film, we already know how big and fast they are. To me they're not going to get any faster. I think you're naive to think that a player that ran a 4.4 three years later is still going to run a 4.4. You better base it on what he did in the league," Colbert said.

He added, "They've been veterans. They've been practice squad players or they've been active players. So what they do in a workout I’m not really interested in. I just want to see what they did when they did have their chance to be NFL players."

So, game film trumps every other form of evaluation for the Steelers, whether it comes to rookies or veterans.

No Updates on Defensive Veterans

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Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert was not very forthcoming about the futures of the team's older defensive veterans in his press conference with the media on Wednesday at the combine.

Personnel meetings last week addressed, in part, the futures of linebacker James Harrison, defensive end Brett Keisel, safety Troy Polamalu and cornerback Ike Taylor. Taylor and Harrison are unrestricted free agents, while Keisel has one year left on his contract and Polamalu has two.

It has been expected that all four players will not return in 2015, but if that is the case, the Steelers and Colbert are not tipping their hands just yet. When asked about last week's meetings, Colbert only offered that they "went well," according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Mark Kaboly.

The Steelers will no doubt be looking closely at a number of defensive players at the combine in the coming days. But who they might replace this year is yet to be determined—publicly, at least.

Ben Roethlisberger Contract Talks Progressing?

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One of the Steelers' highest offseason priorities is to sign quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to an extension that would likely lock him up in Pittsburgh for the duration of his career. He currently has one year left on an eight-year, $102 million contract that he signed in 2008.

Roethlisberger is coming off the best statistical season of his career, in which he threw for 4,952 yards and had 32 touchdowns to nine interceptions. He has a great supporting cast around him, including a healthy and cohesive offensive line and young skill-position weapons such as Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell, Markus Wheaton and Martavis Bryant.

General manager Kevin Colbert (via Sporting News' Ron Clements) said on Wednesday that contract talks between the team and Roethlisberger's camp are "progressing and ongoing."

He added, "We'll continue to work on it and hopefully get something done sooner rather than later."

CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora also met with Colbert on Wednesday and noted that Colbert was "very confident a Big Ben deal can be worked out in a traditional cap structure."

The combine is traditionally a time for agents and teams to discuss contract extensions in earnest, with all decision-making parties in the same place at the same time. It would not be surprising if the skeleton of a Roethlisberger extension gets hammered out in Indianapolis and finalized in the weeks to follow.

Steelers to Let LB Jason Worilds Test Free Agency?

Among the Steelers' impending free agents, none may be as high a priority as outside linebacker Jason Worilds. Worilds, who played the 2014 season on the transition tag, earning $9.754 million for the season, was the Steelers' fifth-leading tackler in 2014, with 59, and tied Cameron Heyward for the team's most sacks, at 7.5.

Still, re-signing Worilds this offseason could be an expensive proposition—and giving him the franchise tag or transition tag would be even more costly. The transition tag should be around $12 million in 2014, and the franchise tag at least $1 million more.

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert seems more open to allowing Worilds to test the free-agency market than tagging him.

On Wednesday, he said (via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), "[Worilds] understands that if he doesn't get tagged, which we could still do, he will explore the market and see what is out there. We will stay in communication. Maybe he comes back. Maybe he moves on. But he's been a good player for us and we would love to have him back if it all fits."

Financially, the Steelers may be in a bind with Worilds. OvertheCap.com has the Steelers just over a projected $142 million salary cap for 2015, and they still need to sign quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to an extension and eventually pay their rookie class. Restructures, yet again, will be needed to bail the Steelers out enough just to get those done.

However, that puts strain on the Steelers' defense. Without Worilds, the Steelers have only Jarvis Jones on the active roster to realistically start at outside linebacker in 2015—Arthur Moats and James Harrison are both unrestricted free agents.

So, either the Steelers and Worilds will have to come to an agreement or Pittsburgh is going to have to get significantly younger at one of its most crucial defensive positions.