It can argued that Heath Miller is one of the most underrated players in the NFL.
After signing a six-year deal with the Steelers Wednesday, we doubt you’ll be able to argue he’s one of the most underpaid.
Steelers.com broke the news of Miller’s deal, so terms are not yet available. But Miller’s wage is likely to be competitive with the best at his position.
Unlike Antonio Gates and Tony Gonzalez, Miller doesn’t put up eye-popping receiving totals. But he’s great red-zone threat with fantastic hands, and he is among the best blocking tight ends in football.
Miller has missed only two games in his four-year career, and he has proven more valuable than usual in the playoffs. He has 348 receiving yards in seven playoff starts.
Now that Miller will be in Pittsburgh for the long haul, he’ll have plenty of chances to add to that total.
Rooneys strike again!!!!! This guy will retire as a Steeler as he should!!! Blue collar to the bone! Congrats Heath!!!
STEE-RIIIIKEEE TWO!
Leave the funny’s too Florio
Good for him. He has flown under the radar.
but can he catch a slick ball from…
Although I hate the Steelers, Health Miller is one of the most under-rated players in the NFL.
Great signing for the Steelers.
If there was ONE guy they had to resign, this was the guy. Tremendous signing. He may not have the flashiest stats, but Steelers fans know this guy is one of the best. Vastly underrated. A great set of hands, and one of the best blocking TEs in the league.
Just shows, as usual, the Steelers front office is one of the best in the league. When they resign a guy, it’s with good reason, and when they let a player sign elsewhere, he wasn’t worth the money he was getting.
How did they do it? Prior to releasing Larry Foote, they were right up against the cap. Then they had to sign all of their rookies. Doesn’t make sense. Who restructured?
They need to draft Virgin Tebow next year and cut meathead Rothlesburger. What shame he has wrought upon this mighty franchise.
Hey, what happened to the Turd Watch standings NBC?
From salary cap casualty to 6-year deal in about two weeks….
Good he deserves it. He seems like a good guy . without him we couldn’t have one those close games.
If you don’t know how much the deal is for how can you offer the statement you did about what he’ll make?
While I’m not disappointed with the Eagles taking Mike Patterson with the pick right after Heath, I was pissed at the time that we almost got our hands on such a tough, physical TE that we needed. He’s the man.
6 year deal huh? Not bad for a cap casualty!
It appears 6RINGS is extended also!
Fantastic!!!!! A Steeler through and through!!!!
Good for you Heath.
Thatta boy Heath!!!
I thought the Steelers were out of cap space 4 signings ago?
hey florio, little late on it, eh? were you unable to get wi-fi on your stake out in missisippi? or did you load up the bus-formerly-known-as-the-maddencruiser, and drive to the newz to report on team by team denials of interest?
funny that you take a jab at steelers.com for breaking a story on a player you had such a keen personal interest in, that you were speculating just recently that he might be a camp casualty. funnier that you find it regrettable that they did not report the exact terms. funniest that someone who was really wired in, and had connections everywhere, who loved screaming first! like a roving blog commenter, wouldn’t seek out that info from their doubtless legion of sources.
35.3 mil/ 12.5 mil bonus
i remember jets were suppose to take him in the draft.
instead they decided to trade down to get the kicker- nugent and got jolley from the raiders
the jets ladies and gentlemen.
Can’t stand the prick because he plays for the Squealers, but gotta tell you I have a ton of respect for him. He plays hard, plays clean (unlike Hines Ward) and seems to be an all around good guy. Kudos to the Squealers for keeping their good players. Like the Ravens with Suggs, the Pittsburgh franchise identifies their core players and doesn’t let them go. That is why they win consistently and why the Steeler – Raven rivalry was rated on a couple of sites as the best rivalry in the NFL.
Very good news. I’m glad they got this one done.
IStateYourName
You are a complete idiot. How does it feel to wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and see stupid staring back at you?
I always thought this guy was solid, and this signing confirms that. But I was really confused by the last article about Miller that was posted on this site. Why were there rumors three weeks ago that he could be cut?
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/07/08/heath-miller-isnt-going-anywhere-for-now/
Great move by the Rooney’s. They couldn’t have afforded to let this guy walk.
Pay him his money down.
YESSS! The NFL’s best all around TE IMHO & def. the most under-rated…Congrats Heath, Miller Time INDEED!!!
What is wrong with all of you??
This is a terrible signing. Right player, wrong price. $25M would have been a good signing. They were likely looking at two years of RFA anyway, after which they could have franchised him for much less. This deal makes Miller the highest paid TE in football, by a *wide* margin, and while he’s good, he’s not that good.
ernie cohen……WRONG? It’s called KNOWLEDGE of the game of football & being able to recognize the talents of those that play it, something for which you are obviously CLUELESS to. Afterall, NFL contracts are awarded for accomplishments made on the gridiron, for the purpose of being a vital cog in helping their team attain their ultimate goal, in Heath’s case that would be WINNING 2 NFL Championships in his 4 years in the league while being a key contributor to that end, not for producing fantasy numbers, which too many of those like yourself, put too much emphasis on…Great signing for the Men of Steel!
Yoyo-Why don’t you send YoMama over here to fix my TV?
hey florio now those ink stained wretches are kicking your ass….its damned sad man
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09211/987432-66.stm
I dont even want to think about the Steelers offensive line without HEEEEEEEAAAATTTTTHHHHH!!!
Great blocker (both pass and run), Clutch receiver, and it usually takes 2-3 guys to get him to the ground when he totes the rock.
This leaves the Steelers in a great position going into training camp. The core of the Steelers offense and defense is signed for the long run. And Willie Paker, Rashard Mendenhall, and M. Moore will have to battle it out for touches. The two Super Bowl MVP receivers will be mentoring Limas Sweed and company. There is nothing better than some healthy competition for the 3rd wide receiver position.
Here We Go Steelers!!!!
Miller is not the NFL’s highest paid TE. The Bucs signed Winslow for 6 years 36 million.
Miller is as important to the Steeler’s offense as Winslow is to any offense that primarily uses the TE as a reciever.
SixBurghDude, I don’t care about fantasy numbers. NFL contracts are not awarded for accomplishments (see: Joey Porter); they are determined by the market and the NFL FA rules.
In a salary cap world, teams win by having players outperform their contracts. If there is never again a salary cap, fine, pay him whatever you want to pay him. But with a salary cap, you cannot afford to throw away a bargain (which Miller is) just to “award” his past performance.
The Steelers had Miller this year for about 1.6M. That means that they are paying him 6.6M per year for the following five years.
Moreover, in the absence of a CBA this year, they could have presumably kept him for two more years for high RFA tenders of 2M (plus tender inflation). So they could have had him for 3 years for about 5.6-6M. This means they are effectively paying him about 29-30M for the last three years. (Of course all this assumes that the contract is not back-loaded; we don’t know the actual contract structure yet, other than the gurantee.) Does anybody think they would choose to do this?
Moreover, while Miller is indeed an important part of the PIT O, a players salary is deermined by the market for his services, not the value to his current team, and teams are generaly looking for Winslow-like TEs. I don’t know that he could have even gotten this much from another team if he was a FA today.
I love me some Heath Miller. He is one of the most upstanding players and people in general. It’s great to know that our team has this type of player on board. He alsways seems to step up right when he is needed. Maybe 7 is n our future yet!!!!!
ernie cohen……Pay attention, the Steelers organization certainly has proven that they reward a player for his contributions, and know when to cut ties with a player who is past their prime, moreso than most, if not all other franchises. You might question it as a business decision, but it’s proven to be a rather successful way of doing business for the Rooney’s!
Yeah he had 6 red zone catches last year. LJ Smith had 7.
Vox,
Based on % of catches made which resulted in either 1st down or TD…all numbers are career avg. (min. of 2.5 rec./game).
Heath Miller……74.4%
Clark……74.2%
Cooley……69.1%
Daniels……72.5%
Gates……82.2%
Gonzalez……73.5%
Scheffler……57.7%
Shockey……67.2%
Winslow……62.6%
Witten……62.9%
Z.Miller……66.0% (only 2 yr. avg.)
Olsen……61.3 (only 2 yr. avg.)
Boss……88.1% (only 1.5 rec./game)
Fasano……71.0% (only 1.3 rec./game)
Graham……70.5% (only 1.9 rec./game)
Kleinsasser……49.4% (only 1.2 rec./game)
B.Miller……66.0% (only 1.8 rec./game)
Scaiffe……78.5% (only 2.4 rec./game)
By my count Heath Miller ranks, at least in the top handful in QUALITY grabs & is undoubtedly a SUPERIOR blocker to all but a handful of the 17 TE’s analyzed.
SixBurghDude, the problem is that PIT has had to let good players go even when they are not past their prime, because of the salary cap (e.g. Chris Hope). And they will have to do so in the future. That’s why this contact, which would be a good signing if Miller was already a UFA, is not so good given how cheaply they could have had him for the next three years.
Ryan Clark is an upgrade over Chris Hope at this point, didn’t think so at first, but now that he & Troy have that chemistry that Troy & C. Hope shared, it’s apparent that Clark is better, plus he’s got the Steel City pedigree as a human missle.