After an 0-4 start to the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers rebounded rather nicely, considering that most had them written off for dead. Heading into the final week of the NFL season this Sunday, with a lot needing to happen including them taking care of their own business against the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers have a small chance of seeing the postseason with an 8-8 finish.
Still, there’s probably an even better chance that this team misses the playoffs for the second year in a row, and then you’d have to look at the future of this organization, and a major overhaul coming its way.
When that happens, that usually means that some big name veterans end up moving on in their careers. In Pittsburgh, aside from Ben Roethlisberger, there’s probably no bigger name than that of veteran safety Troy Polamalu.
Recently, Polamalu spoke to TribLive.com where he addressed some possible scenarios, should the worst happen for the team this Sunday and it ultimately ends up becoming the last game of their year.
First off, he really didn’t care to discuss whether or not Sunday could be his last game in a black and yellow uniform:
"“I don’t know,” the seven-time Pro Bowl safety said Thursday about his future in Pittsburgh. “My intention is to play on Sunday, and we’ll see what happens from there on.”"
He also didn’t want to address any talk of retirement, not yet at least:
"“I want to play this game as long and as good as I can play it. Whenever that (retirement) time comes, it will come. I’m not sure when it will come, though.”"
Then, there’s the always-important money situation. If the Steelers were to cut Polamalu next season, they would free themselves up over $8 million in cap space, which they could desperately use.