Asked and Answered: July 4

KEITH MILLER FROM CANTON, OH: About Cam Sutton: Do you believe the Steelers knew in advance if he was going to be suspended, or how long he was going to be suspended if he were suspended? If Sutton is suspended, is that going to be a suspension without pay? Does he count against the 53-man roster during any potential suspension? How does a potential suspension affect the salary cap?
ANSWER: I believe if the NFL had decided on a suspension and then a length of a suspension for any player, the league would announce the decision rather than have it leak out, as it inevitably would. Since there has been no announcement means to me that there has been no decision, and therefore the Steelers couldn’t know anything “in advance.” As for your housekeeping questions: A player does not get paid for the games he misses as a result of a suspension; he does not count on the 53-man roster for the duration of the suspension; and the team is credited for his lost salary on its salary cap during the suspension.

JACK SIMS FROM MACOMB, MI: Watching a replay of Steelers-Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, I was thinking about all the great LB groups in Steelers’ history. The 2008 group of James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley, Larry Foote, and James Farrior was awesome. So was the 1995 group of Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene, Chad Brown, and Levon Kirkland. I think these were the Steelers’ 2 best groups since the switch to the 3-4. Curious what your take is on which group was better?
ANSWER: The way I look at an issue such as this is putting the performance of each group in the context of the era in which it played. The 1995 group was effective vs. the style of offense at that time because it could sit in the box and stop the run or attack the backfield in a variety of ways. Imagine that 1995 defense if Rod Woodson wasn’t injured in the regular season opener. It was a different style of offense the 2008 group had to face, and James Farrior was the key to that defense finishing the season…