By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ryan Clark will become an unrestricted free agent on Friday after he and the Steelers failed to come to a contract agreement.

Clark, the team's starting free safety the past four years, said consistently that he wanted to remain with the Steelers but the two sides never came close in contract negotiations.

He was one of three players football operations director Kevin Colbert identified as a priority to sign before free agency. They locked up the other two by signing nose tackle Casey Hampton to a three-year contract and making kicker Jeff Reed the franchise player.

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By Scott Brown, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Director of football operations Kevin Colbert said it will "be business as usual" for the Steelers when the new NFL year starts Friday.

That means the Steelers will almost certainly stay on the sideline during the first week of free agency as others court the marquee players that hit the open market tomorrow at 12:01 a.m.

History shows that the Steelers eschew the bidding wars that take place in early March. It offers no such guide for the rest of the NFL once the new signing period starts.

With no collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the players and owners, the NFL will go to an uncapped year for the first time since unfettered free agency started in 1993. That means teams are free to spend as much as they want on player salaries.
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By Ed Bouchette and Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Steelers and nose tackle Casey Hampton have come to a three-year contract agreement worth $21.3 million this morning. The deal includes a signing bonus of $6.5 million.

The deal comes ahead of today's 4 p.m. deadline in which the Steelers planned to make Hampton their franchise player.

The team also placed the franchise tag on kicker Jeff Reed, meaning he will earn $2,814,000 in 2010 -- the average of the top five kickers in the NFL.

"It was very important for our organization to have a player of Casey's caliber signed for what we hope is the rest of his career," director of football operations Kevin Colbert said today at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. "Casey has been a big part of our success and we think he has a lot of football left. Plus, we think he's one of our true leaders, and to get this free-agency period kicked off early by getting him locked up, means a lot to our organization."
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By Ken Laird, 1250 ESPN

Recently, a pair of Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno's glasses sold for $9,000 in an auction to Nittany Lion fans Kevin and Michelle Copola in an online bid.

This genius bit of memorabilia purchase got me thinking about what images from Steelers history are the most recognizable?

Here's my Top 15 list (just couldn't get it paired down to a Top Ten)

15. Frenchy Fuqua's Outfits

Known as one of the NFL's flashiest dressers (ever), Fuqua was known to sport platform shoes with clear heels that contained live fish from his aquarium to match his outfits. "The French Count" was one of a kind and remains unmatched league-wide in bizarre taste in apparel.
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By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Steelers might be concerned about having an unhappy Pro Bowl nose tackle on their roster next season. But, apparently, they are more concerned about making sure they at least have a nose tackle.

The Steelers are trying to work out a long-term deal to keep Casey Hampton from becoming an unrestricted free agent, but they will use the franchise tag on the five-time Pro Bowl selection if they can't, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has learned.

The Steelers have until Thursday to place the franchise tag on Hampton, a designation that would keep him with the team for at least one more season and guarantee him the average salary of the top five defensive tackles in the National Football League. In 2009, that average was $7,003,000, according to the NFL Players Association -- a figure not much more than the $6,652,000 Hampton counted against the salary cap last year.
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