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COMMENTARY | The Pittsburgh Steelers' 2012 season was filled with highs and lows, excitement and hope that was eventually dashed into heartbreak. But it's not all bad news for the Steelers, especially when you consider the trajectory this team has been on since 2000.

There are jobs up for grabs on the linebacker depth chart in Pittsburgh this year and one of the players expected to be in the thick of competition for them has signed his rookie contract. The Steelers announced Monday that sixth-round pick Vince Williams has agreed to a contract with the team. Williams joins safety…

If anything, the Steelers pride themselves on continuity. But when they line up for OTAs this week, they’ll put a different look on the field on both sides of the ball. As noted by Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, they’ll have at least three new starters on defense, a significant shift away from some…

COMMENTARY | It seems like we've been talking for years about how the Cincinnati Bengals are finally poised to take the next step in the AFC North by surpassing both the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Buffalo Bills announced on Thursday morning that assistant GM Doug Whaley has been promoted to general manager. Whaley replaces Buddy Nix, who stepped aside from that role on Monday and is now working in a "special assistant" role to the club. "He did a great job of helping to pick players and scouting," Nix said of Whaley. "He’s a level-headed mature guy and he makes the right decisions. He’s very loyal and will be to the Bills for a long time." Whaley, 41, joined the Bills organization as director of pro personnel in 2010 after spending over ten seasons in the scouting department with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Whaley was promoted to assistant GM in 2011 and has been viewed as the Bills' "GM-in waiting". Whaley was actively involved in the team's search for a new head coach in January and received a contract extension in February, though it remained unclear when Whaley would replace Nix as general manager.

In case you had any doubt as to the truism that professional football is a ruthless business, wonder no more. Two weeks after he was diagnosed with diabetes, former New England Patriots defensive tackle Kyle Love was released by the team via a non-football injury designation. “This comes on the heels of Kyle having been diagnosed within the past two weeks with Type-2 diabetes," Richard Kopelman, Love's agent, told ESPN Boston . "Naturally, we are disappointed that the Patriots decided to part ways with Kyle, especially in light of the fact that a number of elite professional athletes with diabetes – both Type-1, which is known to be far more difficult to manage than Type-2 diabetes – have had very successful careers in professional football, hockey, baseball and basketball. “Prior to the diagnosis, Kyle recently experienced unexplained weight loss, but since being diagnosed and having altered his diet, Kyle has regained most of the weight he lost, is in good health, and was not limited in any way during offseason workouts in which he was engaged up until being told he would be released." Love, who had been with the Patriots since 2010, started 25 games over the last two seasons in the Pats' interior defensive line, most often as Vince Wilfork's bookend. Used primarily as a run-stopping expert, the 6-foot-1, 315-pound undrafted Mississippi State alum signed a two-year, $3.09 million contract extension in 2012 to prevent him from hitting the market as a restricted free agent. Wilfork, whose father died after a long struggle with the disease, and whose foundation is committed to raising awareness about diabetes, can't be happy about this at all.

Official NFL playing-time documents show that over his 10-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, current Cincinnati Bengals linebacker James Harrison played in 7,145 snaps on defense or special teams. Considering the physical, often violent nature of the sport, and Harrison's own playing style, that will lead to a lot of wear and tear on the body. Since Harrison uses his body to make a living, it would make sense that he would spend some of his earnings in keeping himself in prime physical condition. During his introductory press conference with the Bengals on Tuesday, Harrison disclosed that he has spent upwards of half a million dollars per year on his body. “My body is what helps me to make money," Harrison said. "Whatever there is that I need to do to try and make myself better or get myself healthy, I’m going to do it. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say that I spend anywhere between $400,000-$600,000 on body work, as far as taking care of my body, year-in and year-out. "As far as training, I have a hyperbaric chamber. I rent a hyperbaric chamber when I’m in Arizona. I have massages and I bring people in from New York, Arizona to where I’m at. There’s that cost. Like I said, I get body work almost every single day except Saturday and Sunday. I have a homeopathic doctor and I do a lot of homeopathic things. It’s just a lot, supplements, so on and so forth.” In addition to the financial commitment, Harrison also spends considerable time each day getting worked on. “Getting stretched, maybe an hour or so. Ice tub, hot tub, cold tub, maybe another extra 30 or 40 minutes," said Harrison. "Massage, maybe another two-to-four hours per day."

CINCINNATI (AP) -- James Harrison sat in front of the Bengals backdrop, leaned on his right forearm - the one with ''James'' tattooed length-wise - and thought about his day.

COMMENTARY | Enigma: 1. A puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation. 2. A person of puzzling or contradictory character. 3. The Pittsburgh Steelers' Offensive Line.

Philadelphia Soul extends invitation to join team.