FanHouse HinesWard

Clay Travis is a Titans fan. Ryan Wilson is a Steelers fan. With Tennessee and Pittsburgh kicking off the 2009 season tonight, they decided to mock each other over e-mail.

Ryan: First off, congratulations on Patrick Ramsey making the 53-man roster. Pretty good chance he'll play before Week 6, and, really, the road to Miami goes through a former Tulane graduate who Steve Spurrier once pegged as the Redskins' future.

Yesterday, the Ravens re-signed Terrell Suggs for six more years, and it only cost them $38 million in guaranteed dough. He'll pull in $33 million in bonuses the next two seasons, and that makes him the league's highest-paid defensive player and second overall, behind just Peyton Manning.

This must be very disconcerting for Steelers linebacker James Harrison, the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year, who got a new contract earlier this offseason (worth $18 million less in guarantees than Suggs). Because football players -- especially the unpredictable, maniacal types -- draw most of their motivation from being disrespected. Or something.

When the Steelers drafted Santonio Holmes three years ago, he was arrested twice before training camp. An inauspicious start for a player new to an organization with a history of avoiding guys with "character concerns."

Now, almost five months removed from his Super Bowl MVP performance (and, for the record, eight months removed from his last arrest, although the charges were later dropped), Holmes seems more focused than ever on his day job. Maybe he has matured, or maybe Hines Ward has rubbed off on him. Or maybe both, given his current physical state.

This is sure to rile up the natives but, well, Rodney Harrison built a career around that -- along with late hits, blows to the head, and 15 years of some pretty solid football.

Earlier today he announced his retirement from tackling fat guys for a living, as well as his plans for the future: studio analyst for NBC's Football Night in America, along with recently retired Colts coach Tony Dungy.

Following the 2009 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were set to have a number of key players hit unrestricted free agency, including James Harrison, Hines Ward, Ryan Clark, and Heath Miller. Earlier this offseason, the Steelers locked up Harrison with the second-richest contract in franchise history.

On Saturday, ESPN's John Clayton reported that Ward agreed to a four-year, $22 million deal (that's only $20 million less than what Matthew Stafford received for never playing a down in the NFL) that will keep the physical receiver in Pittsburgh for the remainder of his career.

After clarifying "The Brady Rule" on Tuesday, the NFL continued its assault on unnecessary roughness by passing four safety proposals at the league's annual owners' meetings.

Among the rule changes is a ban on "wedge blocking," as well as regulations on blindside blocking and the hitting of defenseless receivers. There is also some new rules designed to make onside kicks safer.

Well, not only is fantasy football long over, but, sadly, now too is the NFL season. However, that sure doesn't mean us diehards have nothing left to do but wait for next season. Nope, now more than ever, it's time to fine-tune those skills that got you a fantasy football trophy, or brought you darn near close to one. Yes, let your opponents settle into comfort, while you do your homework all offseason.

A bit drastic? Quite possibly, but during the slow stretch (a.k.a. the waiting game) we'll be here to give you little tidbits to take to heart and make note of for next season. The first order of business is evaluating the players who "elevated" their games in the NFL playoffs. Year in and year out, there are always guys who breakout in a way you could dream of, had it been the regular "fantasy" football season.

The Steelers have $19 million in cap room with only a talented cornerback and a slew of mediocre or injury-prone linemen heading to free agency. So everything's great, right?

Well, take a look at this list of Steelers who are getting ready to head into the final year of their current contracts (thanks to davaughnci for pulling a list together over at Football's Future Forum): RB Willie Parker, LB James Harrison, WR Hines Ward, TE Heath Miller, C Justin Hartwig, S Ryan Clark, CB Deshea Townsend, DE Brett Keisel, NG Casey Hampton, K Jeff Reed.

Hines Ward may have hurt his knee more by playing in the Super Bowl, not that he wouldn't trade a trip to the surgeon for another Super Bowl ring.

Ward told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he'll have to see if he further damaged his medial collateral ligament by playing in the Super Bowl, and he thinks he may have to have arthoscopic surgery to fix the ligament.

The good news is that with more than six months until training camp, Ward has plenty of time to heal. Eventually Ward's recurring knee injuries may end his career, but as she showed in the Super Bowl, even at less than 100 percent, he's still a pretty valuable guy out on the field. Ward was not effective in the passing game as the game wore on, but he was still a dominating blocker and a pretty good decoy.