Salary cap a concern for Steelers in offseason

Steelers coach Bill Cowher appears to be pondering what his team -- and his salary cap -- would look like without running back Jerome Bettis.

Speaking at his annual season-ending news conference Tuesday, Cowher said the fates of Bettis, backup quarterback Kordell Stewart and three starters who can become unrestricted free agents this year -- offensive tackle Wayne Gandy, strong safety Lee Flowers and tight end Jerame Tuman -- have yet to be determined.

"I think what we need to do is look at the roster, look at our (salary) cap," Cowher said, "and we are going to have to talk about the direction and the options that we have in regards to these players.

"I think it would be really unfair at this point for me to discuss any of those decisions."

Stewart's time in Pittsburgh is certainly finished, and the Steelers may be willing to part with veterans Gandy and Flowers, who are 32 and 30 years old, respectively. Tuman, 27, could be the most likely of the group to return after he replaced Mark Bruener in the starting lineup for the final six weeks of the season.

Asked if Bettis would return next season, Cowher offered no guarantees.

"I am not going to speculate on anything, and I'm not going to discuss anything in regards to that," he said. "There are a lot of questions that people have in regards to not just whether they come back, but the roles they will play."

Bettis, who was phased out of the starting lineup by a knee injury and the team's reliance on the pass, said he wants to return, and he hopes surgery Jan. 27 will allow that happen.

"I'll have (the knee) cleaned up, and I'll be ready for next year," he said.

But the Steelers appear to be burdened by the six-year, $30 million contract that Bettis signed with a $6 million bonus in March 2001. Bettis has fulfilled only two years of that deal, and he had his worst season of seven with the Steelers in 2002. He tore the MCL and cartilage in his left knee at midseason, lost his starting job to Amos Zereoue and finished with only 666 yards rushing.

The Steelers came out of the season nearly at the limit of the $71.9 million cap, and they may be looking for money that could fix a leaky secondary and sign a backup quarterback, among other needs. Cowher said he is almost afraid to look at his team's current cap situation.

"How much bad do you want to look at right after the (playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans)• Can we have a couple of days?" he said.

If Stewart is cut or traded, the Steelers would count only $1.6 million against the cap, instead of the scheduled $7.9 million. Likewise, releasing Bettis after June 1 would save the Steelers money this year and next.

The team could take the remaining $4 million from Bettis' pro-rated signing bonus and count $1 million this year and $3 million in 2004. While not liable for his $2.75 million base salary, the team would eliminate all but $1 million of his $3.89 million cap charge this year. If Bettis remains on the team, the cap charge for next year is $4.757 million.

If Bettis is let go before June 1 or traded -- both unlikely scenarios -- the entire $4 million would accelerate into this year's cap, which would be nearly the same as keeping him.

Bettis, who climbed into 10th place on the NFL's all-time rushing list this season, has plenty of wear and tear on his body from 2,873 career rushing attempts and 11,542 yards in 10 seasons. He will have arthroscopic surgery on his knee Jan. 27 -- a procedure that was purposely planned for the day after the Super Bowl -- and the Steelers will closely monitor his recovery.

"Certainly, when Jerome was healthy, he ran well," Cowher said.

But Cowher also said he was pleased with Zereoue, who led the team with 762 yards rushing, and Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, when he was healthy.

"We have to look back at what we did, and we have to make decisions on some of those players," he said.

Zereoue signed a four-year contract extension in June that paid him a $2.15 million signing bonus, and he will count nearly $2 million under the cap. Fuamatu-Ma'afala is entering the last year of his contract at a $921,786 cap charge. One of the three probably will go, and it probably won't be Zereoue, who turned into the Steelers' workhorse back at the end of the season.

Cowher said the overall running game didn't live up to the standard set in 2001 when Bettis ran for 1,072 yards in only 11 games and the team was ranked No. 1 in the NFL. It fell to ninth this season.

"I don't know if we were as consistent this year," Cowher said. "That is something we have to look at in the off-season."

Plus, the Steelers became more of a passing team in 2002.

"We probably threw the ball a little more by design, as opposed to having to throw the ball," he said. "We were a more open offense this year than we had in years past."