Rookie Kendall Simmons came to a contract agreement with the Steelers last night, and, along with Aaron Smith's signing earlier in the day, became the last players to crack the steel wheel of fortune and put to rest the highest spending spree in their history.
Simmons will report to training camp today after his agent, Eric Metz, and Steelers negotiator Omar Khan agreed to terms just before midnight.
Smith, who grew up living in a mobile home with his single mother, cashed in yesterday when he signed a contract worth $25 million over the next six years that included a first payment of $5.5 million in the form of a signing bonus. The deal was polished off early enough for him to make the players' mandatory reporting time of 6 p.m. at St. Vincent College.
Simmons will receive a signing bonus in the neighborhood of $3 million, and that will push the Steelers' total cash payouts in signing bonuses since March to more than $40 million.
They already have issued checks for $36.55 million in signing bonuses to veterans this year as they signed 13 players whose contracts were up, had one year to run or were free agents from other teams.
Two, though, apparently will be left out in the cold. Safety Lee Flowers and offensive tackle Wayne Gandy are the only starters who will enter this season on the final year of their contracts. And the Steelers have no intention of signing either of them to new deals. When Simmons signs his contract today, they'll put the key to the vault back in the drawer and be done with contract negotiations until next year.
"I guess you could say it like that," Colbert said.
"There are players that are up next year. We're aware of that, they're aware of it, but, as we said all along, we can't sign everybody."
They've done such a good job of getting most of their starters signed to long-term contracts that they are not just talking about making a push for the Super Bowl this season, but one that could last awhile.
"I think we feel good ... securing a good bit of this team for more than one season and more than one run," Colbert said.
Dan Rooney, the Steelers' president who no longer has to worry about anyone calling him cheap, felt good about the position the Steelers put themselves in, not just for 2002, but also for the long run.
"People talk about a window of opportunity," Rooney said. "This window should be open a lot longer."
Rooney said the team has taken precautions so as not to fall into a predicament where they have to shave players and their salaries in order to get under the salary cap the next several years.
"A lot of people are saying we'll be in the same shape as Jacksonville or Dallas," Rooney said. "But we've signed the guys who are young and can play, not unknowns. We should be all right.
"The only way we can get into trouble is if there are injuries or if these players do not play the way our people think they can."
Smith's $5.5 million signing bonus was the third-highest this season after linebacker Jason Gildon ($6.5 million) and guard Alan Faneca ($6 million). The others: Joey Porter $5 million, Kimo von Oelhoffen $3.5 million, Mark Bruener, $3 million, Amos Zereoue $2.15 million, James Farrior $1.7 million, Deshea Townsend $925,000, Oliver Ross $600,000, Todd Peterson $600,000, John Fiala $575,000 and Tommy Maddox $500,000.
"You have a lot of youth on this team," Porter said. "Why not lock us all down so we can be here a long time together? That lets us know we can play with each other for a long period of time, at least 3, 4 years apiece. If you get all the young guys signed now and taken care of, they're planning for our future so we can develop some camaraderie and be able to play with each other for a long period of time."
Even though Flowers might not have the long-term commitment from the team, he welcomed all the signings the Steelers have made.
"The good thing about it, we're signing these guys to five-year, six-year deals," Flowers said. "We're not just trying to be a [Baltimore] -- win the Super Bowl one year and then deplete the whole team. Mr. Rooney is trying to do everything by being a strong team the next five, six years. That's the positive thing about it right now."
The Steelers' strategy while putting together their team for the long haul has been to identify their own good, young players and try to sign them to long-term deals before their contracts expire. They have been able to do more of it and pay higher prices for it after moving into Heinz Field last year and receiving higher revenues as a results.
Smith, 26, was an ideal example of the type of player they wanted to keep. They drafted him in the fourth round in 1999 from a small school, Northern Colorado. He did not play much as a rookie, slipped into the starting lineup in 2000 because of an injury and became one of their premier performers last year.
He became a restricted free agent and technically had to sign the Steelers' one-year contract tender of $1,227,000 yesterday before he could sign his new deal. They tore up the one-year contract, then signed him to the six-year deal. He will receive a $450,000 salary this year and earn $12.25 million in the first three years of the deal.
"We wanted to get the deal done, and they wanted to get the deal done, so I always had a good feeling it would get done," Smith said.
Peter Schaffer, his agent, credited Dan Rooney Jr. with getting the negotiations back moving after the appeared to be stuck.
"When things looked bleak, Dan Rooney Jr. found a way to get it done," Schaffer said.
But things don't look bleak for the Steelers now that they have locked up most of the players who helped take them to a 13-3 season in 2001.
"I think we have a great chance to win some championships," Smith said. "Now we just got to do it."
Aaron Smith's signing leaves one to go before vault shuts 
E-mail this story 
