NFC NORTH

CHICAGO

Mike Ditka is distraught that the Bears might abandon the City of Chicago.  Grey Papke of Larry Brown Sports:

The Chicago Bears are eyeing possibilities for a new stadium which could see them leave the city of Chicago to head to the suburbs. That’s not something that the team’s legendary coach is a big fan of.

The Bears have confirmed that they are submitting a bid for the site of a racecourse in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Park with an eye on building a new stadium there. That would take the team out of downtown Chicago where Soldier Field is located.

The plan is somewhat controversial, including to longtime coach Mike Ditka, who is not on board.

“The Chicago Bears belong in the city of Chicago,” Ditka told Jim O’Donnell of the Daily Herald. “That’s it. Call me an old-timer, call me a traditionalist, whatever. They’re a Chicago institution, and that should be the end of it.”

Some fans will certainly agree with Ditka. Others will be more excited by the possibility of a new state-of-the-art stadium, even if it’s in the suburbs. The team is probably expecting the backlash, though some of it has been pretty brutal.

GREEN BAY

QB AARON RODGERS is apparently not going to use the nucleaur option of pleading a fear of COVID to guarantee $18 million.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

One of the most surprising stories of the first slow week of the NFL offseason came courtesy of the 2021 opt-out rules. The agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association gives Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers the ability to sit out all of the coming season, with zero financial obligations to the team for not playing this year.

His $11.5 million in signing bonus allocation for this year would not be subject to forfeiture. His $6.8 million roster bonus, earned in March, most likely would still be paid out weekly during the regular season — putting him in a much better position than many of the players who are actually playing. Then, after the season, he’d presumably be traded.

The problem, as one source with knowledge of the dynamics explained it, is this: With a deadline of July 2 and with the decision irrevocable, Rodgers won’t be ready to give up on playing this year in just five days.

So what of the fact that, if he eventually chooses to stay away, he potentially loses $18.3 million, a number that bumps to $20.3 million when factoring in the daily fines for skipping training camp? As the source explained it, there’s confidence that Rodgers will be able to avoid playing without ever having to pay back any money to the Packers.

Although the training-camp fines are not waivable, the Packers wouldn’t be able to easily remove those amounts from his game checks, if he never gets another one. And while the $6.8 million roster bonus payments will be due to Rodgers on a weekly basis, they won’t pay that money if he’s not there.

Ultimately, the question is whether the Packers would get the $11.5 million signing bonus allocation and/or the $2 million in fines. Again, there’s confidence that Rodgers never will be forced to write a check back to the Packers.

One potential strategy comes from the possibility of a retirement due to a football injury. The thinking is that a pre-camp retirement would extinguish all rights that the Packers would have to any type of fine or forfeiture, and that it would even still leave the team on the hook for the $6.8 million roster bonus. As the source put it, it would be very easy for a 16-year veteran who has had multiple surgeries to retire citing an accumulation of wear and tear from playing the game. Then, come 2022, he could just unretire, explaining that the year off has left him feeling rejuvenated, healthy, etc.

All that said, Rodgers has done nothing to set up a potential “I’m just too banged up” excuse. It would be easy for him to pepper that mindset through his scant media appearances. The closest he’s come to doing that happened during the interview for the upcoming golf match with Tom Brady, Phil Mickelson, and Bryson DeChambeau, when Rodgers joked with Mickelson that the quarterback wants to intimidate the golfer with impressive calf muscles, but that one of Rodgers’ calf muscles no longer looks so impressive after the injuries to it.

Then there’s this simple fact: None of this is about the money for Rodgers. If he doesn’t want to play, he’s not going to play. If that comes with a seven- or eight-figure expense, so be it.

Bottom line? The thinking is that the opt out deadline comes too quickly, and that it’s consequences are too permanent, for Rodgers to go that route in 2021. Thus, the beautiful mystery will continue until late July at the earliest, when Rodgers does or doesn’t show up for training camp — and when he possibly retires for a season before unretiring in after it.

MINNESOTA

S HARRISON SMITH is hoping for an extension.  Ben Goessling of the MinneapolisStar-Tribune:

When the Vikings released Kyle Rudolph this spring after 10 seasons in Minnesota, it meant his former college teammate at Notre Dame succeeded him as the Vikings’ longest-tenured player.

“People ask me how long I’ve been in the league, and I say, ‘This is my 10th,’ ” safety Harrison Smith said. “It kind of catches me off guard sometimes because you’re just always in the flow of trying to make plays and get better, and it just flies by. Sometimes it feels like I’m just a couple years in, and then other times I look around, and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m a lot older than most of these guys,’ so it’s kind of back and forth.”

Smith saw his streak of five consecutive Pro Bowl appearances end last season, as the Vikings’ secondary went through a tumultuous year that at times seemed to have the safety working to cover for inexperienced teammates in the defensive backfield.

That should change this year. Though he has been in Minnesota longer than any player on the Vikings’ roster, he’ll play in a secondary where one of his new teammates (Patrick Peterson) has been in the NFL a year longer than him. Another Vikings acquisition (Mackensie Alexander) started his career with four years in Minnesota, and the team replaced Anthony Harris with former Cowboys safety Xavier Woods, who has started 44 games the past three seasons.

The bet, for Smith and for the Vikings, is that added experience will prevent a repeat of a year ago, when only three teams gave up more points than Minnesota did and only two averaged more net yards per passing attempt.

When the Vikings start the season on Sept. 12, it’s possible Smith will line up with four defensive backs — Woods, Peterson, Alexander and Bashaud Breeland — who weren’t on the roster last year. A pivotal year, for both the safety and the team, appears to be on a different course than last season.

“We were pretty young at corner last year. A lot of good players but just young,” Smith said during minicamp this month. “There’s not a ton of guys like Pat out there, but having a guy like that come in at corner is big, not only his play, which is top notch, but just his presence and his knowledge, he can pass on to the young guys. Obviously safeties, corners, we’re always working together, so having vets on the outside and deep and young guys, it’s a good mix and we can learn a lot from each other.”

NFC EAST

NEW YORK GIANTS

Paul Schwartz of the New York Post sees DC Patrick Graham as someone’s head coach in the near future.

The more the Giants do, the more likely he’s gone.

It is a trade-off the organization must be willing to make, even though parting ways with Patrick Graham is so painful to consider for those on the inside who get to see him work every day. If losing their defensive coordinator to a head-coaching position elsewhere is the required penance for the franchise getting reacquainted with the elusive art of winning, it is a price that has to be paid.

The Giants went 6-10 in 2020 and the meager success achieved was mostly the by-product of a vastly improved defense. This attracted some notice. What comes next will determine the next line on Graham’s résumé.

“If the Giants’ guy, and I’m sure he’s a really good coach and a good person, if he has any success his name will be bantered around,’’ an NFL source fully versed in the hiring cycles of head coaches told The Post. “Plus, he’s in New York. If you’re in New York and you can’t get press, something’s wrong. If it isn’t a good year he’s dead, because you can’t write stupid things.’’

No, you cannot write stupid things attempting to inflate the worthiness of a candidate coming off a bad year. Thus far, everything written or said about Graham is fodder that stokes any career-advancement aspirations he might quietly harbor.

Lest we forget, Steve Spagnuolo was on the scene for only two years in his first go-round as Giants defensive coordinator before landing the Rams’ head coaching job. Of course, that he made it out of Year 1 with the Giants was an upset, given that it was his surging defense that led to the toppling of Tom Brady and the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl 42.

It is not going to take that sort of historic achievement to pry Graham away from the Giants. Everything about the Giants’ defense in 2020 was an uptick or an upheaval from the previous season, and Graham’s handiwork, doing more with less, attracted attention. The Jets after last season called, seeking an interview for their vacant head-coaching position, but Graham declined, much to the great relief of his bosses. Seeing Graham in green would have made the men in blue queasy. That the Giants anteed up and sweetened Graham’s contract — boosting him toward the NFL’s highest-paid coordinators — did not hurt the relationship.

The timing was not right for Graham, an Ivy Leaguer who calls his current role “my dream job,’’ working for a friend and confidant in Joe Judge. He received an early indoctrination into the Giants back in 2007 and 2008, when he was a graduate assistant at Notre Dame for head coach Charlie Weis, a former Giants assistant under Bill Parcells (and also a Jets assistant for Parcells). Tim McDonnell, currently the Giants co-director of player personnel, was also at Notre Dame at the time, and the influences of Weis and McDonnell helped Graham develop a yearning to work for the Giants. He got his first crack in 2016 as Ben McAdoo’s defensive line coach but that only lasted two seasons.

“He was very, very, very good,’’ Weis told The Post. “Any time a kid graduates from Yale, you’re expecting a kid with some intellect. That’s almost a given. Pat just did everything the right way. He grinded, he was smart, he was great with the players but he wasn’t trying to be buddy-buddy with the players. He was tough. He did all the right things.’’

Graham, 42, is often self-effacing. When he is asked about playing football at Yale, Graham smiles and says, “I was on the team at Yale.’’ He never refers to his job as orchestrating “my defense’’ and he has become increasingly engaging with the media. He recently lost a great deal of weight, citing better health and diet, but an ancillary benefit could be, if he keeps the weight off, that his appearance will be easier to sell as a leader of a football team as its head coach.

“Do I have a desire?’’ Graham said. “I think about today. I have a desire to do well today. In terms of desire to be head coach, I love coaching football. I love being a teacher that happens to teach football.

“You know, everybody in their profession likes a natural progression. If it comes up one day, it comes up one day. But is it the focus of my life? Absolutely not. The focus is to coach ballplayers, teach, be around these guys, do a good job for my boss, my head coach and whatever I’m doing, I’m making sure I’m making my parents proud and my family proud.’’

Around the Giants, the Patrick Graham Fan Club is so pervasive, and the language used to laud his acumen so superlative-laced that genuine praise at times sounds choreographed.

There are two returning starters at safety, Jabril Peppers and Logan Ryan, and a fully healthy Xavier McKinney, the 2020 second-round draft pick who appears destined to start. Three players for two spots in the lineup? How will that work?

“That’s the beauty of coach Graham, baby,’’ Peppers said. “He makes it make sense.’’

Same question to Ryan, virtually the same response.

“That’s the beauty of Pat Graham,’’ Ryan said. “I think we have good players and I think Pat Graham does a great job of making the defense fit the players.’’

Graham is so ubiquitous, some of his players believe there must be more than one of him.

“One thing I’ve always raved about Pat Graham is just how smart he is in terms of knowing our opponent and knowing his players,’’ defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “You know, we don’t run the same defense every week. It’s like we change our defensive coordinator to who we are playing, what type of schemes we are going to get that week.’’ Williams prior to last season was viewed as an immensely talented player, with a caveat attached to his performance. He got close with the best of them but did not seal the deal with sacks and momentum-turning plays. All that changed in his first year with Graham. Williams established a career high with 11.5 sacks — he had a total of 7.5 sacks in his three previous seasons — and earned a fat ($63 million) new deal from the Giants.

“He’s going to just make sure that I perfect what I am good at instead of changing who I am,’’ Williams said. “He knows players are going to get the job done in different ways. You know, me and Dex [Dexter Lawrence] probably will play the B-gap different ways, but as long as we can control our B-gap and do the job, he’s going to be OK with that.

“I think that goes a long way, because he’s not creating robots out there.’’

The Giants were a wholly different unit, as far as efficiency and production, with Graham calling the shots. The defense in 2019, under the direction of James Bettcher, was 30th in points allowed at 28.2 per game. That improved to No. 9 in the league (22.3 points a game) in 2020. The Giants last season allowed the fifth-fewest passing touchdowns in the NFL, were 12th in yards allowed, 10th in rushing yards allowed and a sterling third in red-zone percentage, as only Denver and Washington were better at preventing red-zone touchdowns. Despite the losses to injury of edge-rushers Lorenzo Carter and Oshane Ximines, Graham brainstormed ways to 40 sacks, tied for 12th in the league, and the Giants’ 64 quarterback knockdowns were seventh in the league.

A stickler for detail, Graham demands proper technique. As a result, his group had only 97 missed tackles, 10th fewest in the NFL. Without a reliable second cornerback, Graham felt obligated to play more zone coverage than he prefers to do. He was unwilling to leave his secondary exposed. As a result, Graham called for blitzes only 25.5 percent of the time, ranking 20th among all defenses.

There are hard workers galore in the building; no one puts more into it than Graham. The higher-ups value above all else his ability to communicate complex ideas to one and all, be it the mega-experienced Ryan or a rookie such as cornerback Darnay Holmes.

The competition is hot and heavy for nomination as president of the Patrick Graham Fan Club. Inside linebacker Blake Martinez is the top candidate. He wears the helmet with the radio transmitter inside, receiving the defensive calls directly from Graham before each snap. They operate like lifelong dance partners, in lockstep.

“There’s a lot of words that come to mind, but I think, in my eyes, I think genius,’’ Martinez told The Post. “I think a guy that’s able to explain things, able to allow anybody no matter who you are, understand exactly what he’s looking for, caring enough to take you aside and put that extra work in for you. Also relentless in his pursuit of being great.’’

That Graham did not take the Jets interview produced exhales galore.

“He’s a hell of a coach, man,’’ Peppers said. “Everybody has to do what’s best for him and I’m happy we got him back. We’re not done yet. I don’t think we touched the tip of the iceberg.’’

Having a top-10 defense will elevate Graham, but nothing raises a profile more than winning.

“In New York if he can do what Spagnuolo did and have a raging defense I think he’s on his way,’’ the NFL source said. “Minus that, then he’s just like anybody else, he just gets lost in the wash.

“If you’re a last-place finisher or third I think you’re dead in the water. If you’re not in that round of eight it’s hard to get a head job. Or you better last year have been in the round of eight and then had a good season.’’

There it is. If the Giants are a legitimate winning team in 2021, Graham will likely be gone in 2022.

“He has all the makings of a head coach,’’ Weis said. “This is no disrespect to the Jets, I think staying with the Giants at least in the short term is a much better move for him right now. I think he’s putting himself in a perfect position to be a head coach. I don’t think he has to be in a rush.’’

Graham is in no rush. They could come calling for him soon enough.

Unsaid by Schwartz in the article is that Graham is African-American.

NFC SOUTH

NEW ORLEANS

DE CAMERON JORDAN says he is feeling good.  Jelani Scott of NFL.com:

Cameron Jordan is entering his 11th NFL season in a unique position.

With the retirement of Drew Brees and departure of Thomas Morstead this offseason, Jordan is now the longest-tenured member on the Saints’ roster. Already a team captain for most of his career, the dominant defensive end will also be a key figure for the club as it moves on from the Brees era.

Jordan, who turns 32 in July, is treating his next chapter as a warm-up rather than a cool-down.

“Year [11] is really Year 1 starting back up again,” he said last week, per ESPN. “Ten years behind me, ten years ahead of me. … I’m more rejuvenated than ever before.”

When Jordan arrived in 2011, the first-rounder joined a team two seasons removed from winning Super Bowl XLIV. His breakout third season in which he earned 12.5 sacks and his first of multiple Pro Bowl selections positioned him as a defensive pillar. That role would increase in importance during the offseason after the club parted ways with key veterans such as Jonathan Vilma, Roman Harper and Malcolm Jenkins.

Over the next seven seasons, Jordan compiled 73 sacks, 144 QB hits and 369 tackles, becoming one of the NFL’s best pass rushers in the process. The outspoken defender believes that experience was necessary to his growth as a professional.

“This has been my same role the last seven years since we had that big excavation back in ’14,” Jordan said. “Guys were looking up to me, and then I didn’t know how to truly handle it. I was just young enough where I was trying to figure out my own way as well.

“But then the last seven years, it’s been the young bucks coming in … and they’re looking to learn and take everything from you in terms of the knowledge that you have to give. You have to be able to disperse that knowledge and you have to be able to push them.”

The 2021 offseason saw the Saints undergo another phase of notable change. Aside from saying bye to Brees, the team moved on from Sheldon Rankins, 2020 sacks leader Trey Hendrickson and Malcom Brown, who were all instrumental to New Orleans’ smothering defense of the last few years alongside Jordan.

Young guns David Onyemata, 2018 first-rounder Marcus Davenport and Shy Tuttle , an undrafted prospect in 2019, will be asked to pick up the slack. In addition to the increased attention he’ll receive as both a mentor and leader, Jordan will look to bounce back from recording his fewest sacks in a season (7.5) since 2016.

Now one of the elder statesmen in the locker room, Jordan cited the careers of Calais Campbell and Brandon Graham, as well as Hall of Famers Bruce Smith and Michael Strahan, as examples of players he studied that continued to dominate the sport after turning 30.

Only time will tell if Jordan, a player who’s only missed game came during his rookie season, will follow in their footsteps.

AFC NORTH

PITTSBURGH

Adam Rank of NFL.com with some thoughts on the 2021 Steelers:

Members of the Steelers organization, Steelers fans around the world and those who understand just how great Primanti Brothers can be:

This feels like the last hurrah in Pittsburgh. Well, not the last hurrah for the franchise, obvs, but the last hurrah of the Ben Roethlisberger era. With Big Ben under center for the bulk of this millennium, the Steelers have enjoyed so much success, allowing this passionate fan base to grow accustomed to contending for the Super Bowl on a near-annual basis. OK, so the final years have come off like the final years of the Undertaker in the WWE. I mean, sure, we popped for the music, the pageantry and the history of the Deadman character, but it had been a long time since he was truly in the MAIN EVENT picture. The Steelers are kind of like that right now. Looking for one more run at a title before that tombstone is set.

How the Steelers got here

Let’s take a quick look back at the highs and lows of the 2020 season.

The highs:

Going unbeaten through Week 12. The Steelers had the best record in football through the first weekend of December. And if you wanted to make a Moneyball-like movie for the 2020 season, you’d just stop right after that 11-0 start.

Managing to sweep the Baltimore Ravens. As I predicted (and was laughed at for predicting). Any time you can beat your arch rivals twice, you have to enjoy that.

Earning a come-from-behind victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 16 to clinch the AFC North. Down 24-7 midway through the third quarter, Pittsburgh scored the final 21 points of the game to win, 28-24.

The low:

Losing three consecutive games and four of the final five in the regular season. That three-game losing skid, following the 11-0 start, made many question the validity of the Steelers. The first loss against the Football Team had some concerning aspects, but it should be noted that the setback followed a win over the Ravens on a Wednesday. The Steelers had to endure some pandemic-related scheduling delays to get games in. Not saying that was the reason why they lost, but it needs to be acknowledged.

Falling to the Browns at home on Super Wild Card Weekend. I’m not here to pronounce that it was a complete changing of the guard in the AFC North. But it was an embarrassing loss. The Steelers fell behind 28-0 in the first quarter. And despite some cosmetic touchdowns in the second half, this was a blowout.

2021 VIPs

Head coach: Mike Tomlin. Is there any way to retroactively give Tomlin an award for all of the great work he’s done over the past decade? I kind of bring this up because Le’Veon Bell recently said he would never play for Andy Reid again. Which comes off a lot like the kid at the birthday party who doesn’t like ice cream cake. As in, I’m sure you’re not the only one, but it is still surprising to hear it. And to think, Tomlin somehow managed to win games with Bell, Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger on the roster at the same time? I don’t know. It’s like reading about the manager of Mötley Crüe in The Dirt and wondering how he was able to keep that band together long enough to produce so many legendary hits. It’s staggering.

What I guess I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry if I’ve underestimated you over the years, coach. You’ve done an amazing job. And it feels like you need to go back to the well once again in 2021. The front office has worked hard to put together a pretty decent roster, and the Steelers still have talent, but the franchise lost some big names to free agency and retirement. So they are going to need some more of that Tomlin magic.

Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger. He’s done it. Roethlisberger has outlasted both Eli Manning and Philip Rivers from the famed 2004 NFL Draft class. (Many might forget Matt Schaub was also part of that class — and he, too, retired during the offseason.) Roethlisberger needs a Roethlisberger-like season to reach some nice career milestones. He is 3,093 passing yards away from passing Rivers for fifth all time in passing yards. He needs 29 touchdown passes to join Tom Brady (581), Drew Brees (571), Peyton Manning (539) and Brett Favre (508) as the only quarterbacks with at least 425 passing touchdowns. (Broncos quarterback Aaron Rodgers needs just 13. Oh wait, is he not the Broncos’ quarterback yet?)

But let’s be honest: Roethlisberger did not take a pay cut and a one-year deal to reach some personal milestones. He wants that third ring. Look, he’s going to the Hall of Fame. Probably. Just kidding — he’s in! The only reason to come back is to chase that third ring. Get a seventh Lombardi Trophy for the organization. And honestly, he couldn’t have that Browns game in the playoffs be the last performance of his career. Even Johnny Unitas: Chargers Edition thought that was bad. (Google it, kids.) And it’s not like Roethlisberger wasn’t OK last year. Sure, he faded down the stretch. Even so, why not try to go for it?

Projected 2021 MVP: T.J. Watt, edge rusher. Watt is still playing under his rookie contract, proving to be quite a deal for the Steelers. Watt has become one of the best defensive players on the planet, deserving of DPOY status after leading the league with 15 sacks last season. Having talent like this still on a rookie deal (though he’s poised to earn a big payday at some point in the near future) allows Pittsburgh to continue to have solid players across the board. But he’s going to need to be even better in the coming season, since Bud Dupree walked this spring. But how much of Dupree’s success stemmed from playing with Watt? Kinda feel like the Titans signed this year’s Robert Quinn.

2021 breakout star: Cameron Sutton, cornerback. Sutton is expected to be a starting cornerback for Pittsburgh this season. Fulfilling an annual tradition of the Steelers, where they lose some stud and yet somehow have a more-than-capable replacement waiting in the wings. Like the way they find no shortage of people to play Batman. And while I thought Hollywood could never replace Michael Keaton on this front, numerous guys have stepped up. Yes, even you, Ben Affleck. Sutton has also earned praise from Minkah Fitzpatrick, who said that in a reserve role, “Cam last year was everything for our secondary.”

New face to know: Pat Freiermuth, tight end. I know, this wasn’t the Pittsburgh rookie you expected in this spot. Don’t worry, I discuss the first-round pick in a bit. But I really liked this second-rounder for the Steelers, and it shows why GM Kevin Colbert is one of the best in the business. They had a need on the offensive line, sure, but Freiermuth projects as a two-way tight end who can help out both as a run blocker and receiver. And I know this might take a year or two, because the transition for tight end is tough, but this was a really nice selection. Also, take note if you play dynasty in fantasy football.

2021 roadmap

The competitive urgency index is: HIGH. Big Ben’s 39 years old. The sands are flying through the hourglass.

Will the Steelers be able to …

Look more like the 11-0 Steelers and not the team that stumbled down the stretch? Pittsburgh had a +129 point differential through the first 12 weeks of last season. And then the unpleasantness happened as they lost five of their last six games (including the postseason). It was not just last year, either. The Steelers have a 6-11 record in December/January over the last three seasons and need to start finishing strong. To make matters worse, Pittsburgh has the toughest schedule based on opponent records from last year. The good news I can say for the Steelers is that there is a lot of new blood on this team. And despite having an aging quarterback, there is some youth that can help keep them competitive down the stretch — and possibly in the playoffs, where the Steelers have traditionally done very well. Then again, the roster lost a bunch of key cogs at a critical spot …

Replace four longtime starters on the offensive line? Despite the retirement of Maurkice Pouncey and the free agency departures of Matt Feiler and Alejandro Villanueva, I still trusted the Steelers to cobble together a viable offensive line. But will the sudden release of David DeCastro be the straw that broke the camel’s back? That’s four starters from last year’s O-line. FOUR. And I’d say DeCastro and Feiler are the two that hurt the worst. Yes, Trai Turner joining the squad is a good thing. But it just feels like a lot to ask, for an essentially brand new line to come together so quickly. Especially playing in front of Ben Roethlisberger, who is tough as nails … but gets hurt all the time. And he’s nearly 40. A few weeks ago, I was bullish on Najee Harris on the fantasy front. Now? I don’t really know. This is a pretty talented, dude, though. Allow me to expand:

Is Najee Harris the next great Steelers running back? Pittsburgh averaged the fewest rushing yards per game (84.4) in the NFL last year, and second-lowest total in club history (78 rush ypg in 1966 is the low). And honestly, it was worse than that down the stretch, as the Steelers rushed for 573 yards in their final 10 games of the season. I think Derrick Henry got that in two games against the Texans. (Holy smokes — I just looked that up and I wasn’t far off.) So while draft nerds say you shouldn’t draft a running back in the first round, the Steelers don’t listen to that noise. The Steelers have used early — well, relatively early, in some cases — picks on James Conner, Le’Veon Bell and Rashard Mendenhall during the Mike Tomlin era. Each player had at least 1,200 scrimmage yards and eight touchdowns in his first season as a starter. Harris reminds me of Matt Forte and has a knack for making defenders miss. He forced 93 missed tackles last year, per Pro Football Focus, the most in FBS. But with four new starters up front on the O-line, Harris might have to make a lot of people miss if he wants to thrive. Can his multi-faceted skill set overcome the significant attrition in the road-grader department?

One storyline …

… people are overlooking: The Steelers are LOADED at receiver. In his last two healthy seasons, Ben Roethlisberger has thrown 33 and 34 touchdown passes — the two highest totals of his career. This is a testament to the quality receivers Pittsburgh continues to bestow upon its aging quarterback. The 2021 season will be no different. I mean, when JuJu Smith-Schuster is a luxury, you know you’re doing pretty well. (And apparently, he took less money than he could’ve received on the open market to stay with the team.) Pittsburgh wideouts had 30 receiving touchdowns last year, which led the NFL. They had 297 receptions and 3,096 receiving yards by receivers 24 years old or younger, which again topped the NFL. And I hate to be the guy who keeps repeating himself (not really), but the Steelers rarely miss when they draft wide receivers. Or just about any position. But especially wideouts. Diontae Johnson, the Steelers’ target leader from last year, has more receptions than a lot of his more-heralded receivers from his 2019 draft class, including Terry McLaurin, DK Metcalf and A.J. Brown. And what’s funny is people are asking if Chase Claypool can break out this year. As if he didn’t score 11 touchdowns last season. This WR unit’s scary good.

… people are also overlooking: Getting away with just having Mason Rudolph as the backup. And maybe I’m just overthinking this. Because Roethlisberger has started at least 14 games in four of his last five seasons. The only blemish was 2019, when he played in just two games. Maybe it only seems like Big Ben is always injured. Or maybe Roethlisberger just talks about it a lot. But this dude has 17 seasons of NFL wear, so I’m a little surprised they didn’t go for one of the top backups in the league this offseason. Like bring in Mitchell Trubisky. Or maybe make a deal for Nick Foles. (OK, my bitter Bears fan is showing.) It just seems a little risky to put your entire hopes on Roethlisberger to make it through an entire season when he’s knocking on the door of 40 years old. The Steelers were 7-0 before he hurt both knees in the Week 8 win over the Cowboys. While Ben didn’t miss any time until Week 17 — when he sat, because the Steelers had already clinched the division — Pittsburgh obviously sputtered down the stretch.

… people are overthinking: JuJu’s dancing. Way to go, fellow old people. Way to take the joy out of the game for JuJu Smith-Schuster. You’re all the living embodiment of that Steve Buscemi meme (“How do you do, fellow kids?”). Let JuJu do his thing. His TikTok is not for you to understand. Just understand that JuJu tied the NFL lead with eight touchdown receptions from the slot, according to Next Gen Stats. His 32 receptions on third down trailed only Keenan Allen (33). Don’t worry about whether you approve of his pregame routine or not. Dude delivers.

For 2021 to be a success, the Steelers MUST:

Win a seventh Super Bowl. The Steelers have not had a losing season since 2003, the longest active streak in the league. The Steelers are 179-92-1 since drafting Roethlisberger. But even having a winning season isn’t enough in Pittsburgh — not with Big Ben in his final days. Anything less than a Super Bowl will be a disappointment.

In closing

At some point, the Undertaker was finally used to put over some younger talent at WrestleMania. Well, not Brock Lesnar. But Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XXXIII. And I have to wonder if last year’s playoff loss to the Browns was the beginning of a new normal in the AFC North. But again, every time we write off the Steelers, Mike Tomlin has them back in the playoffs again. The only question is, can they reach the top of the mountain with Big Ben one last time?

THIS AND THAT

IDENTIFYING THE MYSTERY TEAM

QB TOM BRADY was profanely incredulous that a mystery team preferred their incumbent over him prior to his signing with the Buccaneers.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com initially tabbed the 49ers and JIMMY GAROPPOLO as the situation that Brady scoffed at.  We doubted that and threw out some other options, including the Raiders.  Seems like we are not the only ones to think that DEREK CARR was the guy.  Florio:

The first slow week of the NFL offseason also featured Tom Brady dusting off his 2020 free-agency tour by pointing out that an unnamed team that wasn’t interested “at the very end” of the process was instead “sticking with that motherf–ker.” Whether Brady meant to do it or not, it sparked a protracted guessing game as to which team it may have been.

And, like everything else in our modern society, it’s impossible to reach a consensus on which team it was. Some believe it was the 49ers. Some think it was the Bears. Some insist it was the Titans. Others are still on the Chargers and/or the Colts.

In league circles, there’s one team that hasn’t been deeply thrust into the conversation, but perhaps should be: The Raiders. Multiple people with deep connections to the NFL’s matrix have reached out in the past 24 hours to express a belief that the unnamed team was the Raiders. Which, obviously, would make Derek Carr the unnamed “motherf–ker.”

As both sources explained it, the Raiders dropped out late in the process. As one source explained it, the Raiders thought Brady’s requests for extra things was over the top.

Then there’s this: Brady’s comment (which came to light on Friday night, when the full episode of The Shop: Uninterrupted debuted) that he ultimately would not have chosen the mystery team. That makes it not the 49ers; they were his first choice.

“When I look back I’m like, there’s no f–king way I would’ve went to that team,” Brady said. “But they said they didn’t want me. I know what that means, I know what that feels like. And I’m gonna go f–k you up because of that.”

Indeed he did, if it was the Raiders. In Week Seven, Brady completed 33 of 45 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns (good for a 127.0 passer rating) in a 45-20 blowout of the Raiders. The only saving grace for Vegas was that the game was flexed out of prime-time due to a COVID issue, allowing the embarrassment to not be nationally televised.

Brady’s comments have now been nationally televised, and repeatedly discussed. Whatever the truth may be, some people in the league believe it was the Raiders.

What about Miami?  More from Florio:

Before Tom Brady made his first foray into free agency, the Patriots feared one potential destination about all others.

The Dolphins.

Imagine Brady, staying in the division, reuniting with former New England assistant Brian Flores, and tormenting the Pats for the next two or three years, or longer. Yes, the Patriots had very real concerns that would happen — especially in light of Brady’s relationship with Dolphins minority owner Bruce Beal.

By early February, prevailing reports from Miami maintained that Brady was more likely to become a minority owner of the Dolphins in the somewhat distant future than to become the team’s quarterback of the immediate future. Just a few days before hosting Super Bowl LIV, team owner Stephen Ross wondered aloud why Brady would have any interest in the Dolphins, given that the team was rebuilding.

Thereafter, there was never any real sense that the Dolphins would be a Brady destination, or that the Dolphins were pursuing him. Ross wanted a long-term franchise quarterback, and Ross was focused on getting one in the draft. (At the time, he coveted Joe Burrow, and Ross eventually would try to trade up to get Burrow.)

The background is important for assessing speculation from Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the Dolphins are the team to which Brady was referring when crafting a not-so-beautiful mystery regarding a team that dropped out of the picture late because, per Brady, it was “sticking with that motherf–ker” at quarterback.

The Dolphins simply don’t fit. Although, in that scenario, the team had a veteran quarterback with whom it was “sticking,” the marching orders were to get a rookie with the fifth overall pick, or higher. The Dolphins, put simply, wanted a quarterback roughly half Brady’s age. There was never any reporting or any sense that Miami was a feasible destination for Brady.

But the situation invites speculation, because of what Brady said. And reasonable minds differ on which team it was. Based on what we’ve heard from people inside the league, the Raiders would be the betting favorite.

And we’d know the answer, if Brady would ever tell the truth about it. As we now know, he rarely does.