2026 Offseason Thread

[rossihunter2]

Steve seems really confident in EDC - talks about him (and others) as partners in this decision albeit it was ultimately his decision

Thinks EDC is one of the best GMs in the league - not going to worry about the occasional whiff because he's consistently hitting and is also introspective and constantly self-evaluating

so anyone looking for EDC to be on the hot seat will probably be disappointed

 

[JAAM]

I’m glad Steve called out Dungy’s ass

 

[Tank]

I know a lot of the questions in today's presser will rightfully be centered around the failures of the season and the coaching search, but curious if today is the day we got any tiny bit of clarity on Madubuike.

Nope

 

[rossihunter2]

EDC's evaluation of the 2025 failures:

- lack of consistency play-to-play, week-to-week, half-to-half
- didn't create enough pressure on defence (big issue)
- said the OL issues were a "narrative" but talked about lack of gelling and consistency

 

[Tank]

No more Tomlin in Pburgh.

 

[rossihunter2]

Nope

yep basically a non-answer
and frustratingly, made it sound like they're not even sure about his prognosis which is even more frustrating from a team building perspective

ultimately it's annoying not to know as a fan but i can get over that lol, but more worrying that it seems like they don't have all the information yet either

 

[JAAM]

EDC wants an X’s and O’s HC

 

[JAAM]

Steve said he’d like to extend Lamar before free agency

 

[Tank]

yep basically a non-answer
and frustratingly, made it sound like they're not even sure about his prognosis which is even more frustrating from a team building perspective

ultimately it's annoying not to know as a fan but i can get over that lol, but more worrying that it seems like they don't have all the information yet either

Seems like they are leaving it to Nmamdi to supply any info. Just a feeling, but it doesn’t sound very promising.

 

[rossihunter2]

EDC wants an X’s and O’s HC

also talked about someone who can relate to younger players, someone who can bring some accountability too

 

[JAAM]

Sounds like Loop is staying - hopefully we bring in comp

 

[rossihunter2]

he, mike preston and JLC are the holy trinity of guys who should have their credentials taken away (if they have them)

 

[rossihunter2]

obviously reading between the lines
and to be clear, Steve is going to allow this to be EDC, Sashi et al's decision, but...

i think he really likes the idea of McDaniel, Stefanski, Flores, Saleh type guy

 

[JAAM]

WHAT ELITE DEFENDER DID YOU TRY TO TRADE FOR AT THE DEADLINE EDC

 

[Simba]

WHAT ELITE DEFENDER DID YOU TRY TO TRADE FOR AT THE DEADLINE EDC

Quinnen

 

[rossihunter2]

apparently we tried to trade for an "elite" guy at the trade deadline

 

[rossihunter2]

Quinnen

oh yeah i forgot about that

 

[Simba]

oh yeah i forgot about that

Thanks to Jerry for blowing every other offer they had out of the water

 

[rossihunter2]

Presser kind of falling off the edge at the end with Steve's passionate tirade

but just interesting that he basically admitted that the other guys in the front office all thought it was time to make some significant change, but they were all too close to harbs to make the leap to thinking they had to reset everything including the HC - so i guess good for him for taking that leap and forcing them to look past their relationship himself

also in a back-handed way, he praised the journalists/reporters there for the same reasons that we often criticise them - they're far too easy and deferential to decision makers within the organisation at times

 

[rossihunter2]

idk that it's an amazing free agent market
but interesting that EDC was intimating that they might want to be spenders if they had money to spend

suggests that for the first time in a while, they're not content with some of the options on the roster coming through in certain places

you'd think they'd prioritise Linderbaum first though still