Even before the current free-agency system was implemented in 1993, conventional wisdom in the NFL was that it is more difficult to retain the components of a successful team than it is to assemble all the puzzle pieces in the first place.

The advent of wholesale player movement, of course, made the task exponentially more difficult. And that was especially true for those franchises which lacked a state-of-the art stadium, like the Pittsburgh Steelers, who arguably lost more top-shelf veteran players to free agency than any other team in the league.

But that was then and this is now. And in the now, as evidenced by last Tuesday’s six-year, $22.55 million contract agreement with standout weakside linebacker Joey Porter, the Steelers have become the NFL’s most effective franchise in maintaining the status quo and establishing a continuity that should permit Pittsburgh to remain a viable Super Bowl contender for the foreseeable future.

	Investing in steel
	In the past 11 months, the Pittsburgh Steelers have invested more than $50 million in signing bonuses to re-sign, acquire or extend contracts of players, and to ensure roster continuity. The group includes these 15 players -- listed with signing bonus and year they are signed through -- who are projected as starters in 2002:
	Player	Through	Bonus
	LB Jason Gildon	2006	$6,500,000
	RB Jerome Bettis	2006	$6,000,000
	C Jeff Hartings	2006	$5,750,000
	CB Chad Scott	2006	$5,400,000
	CB Dewayne Washington	2005	$5,250,000
	LB Joey Porter	2007	$5,000,000
	NT Casey Hampton	2005	$3,090,000
	TE Mark Bruener	2006	$3,000,000
	WR Hines Ward	2005	$2,500,000
	LB James Farrior	2004	$1,700,000
	LB Kendrell Bell	2004	$1,410,000
	P Josh Miller	2006	$1,100,000
	FS Brent Alexander	2004	$850,000
	PK Todd Peterson	2005	$600,000
	OG Oliver Ross	2004	$500,000

While the big condiment bottles in the end zones at new Heinz Field lay on the ersatz ketchup following a Steelers touchdown, Pittsburgh management has used the stadium revenues produced by a facility that opened for the 2001 season to pour out the green. In the past 11 months, Pittsburgh has paid more than $50 million in signing bonuses, including $29.2 million to ensure the continuity of its top-rated defense.

Were the team still playing at Three Rivers Stadium, minus the new stadium revenues generated by Heinz Field, such largesse would have been impossible.

“In all likelihood, no, we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” acknowledged Steelers owner Dan Rooney last week. “Even when we were losing players in free agency, our goal was to keep our own best people, because we’re not all that interested in bringing in guys from other systems. But we just couldn’t keep everyone. We had to make choices. The new stadium, just as we said it would, has allowed us now to remain competitive.”

Indeed, the aggressive approach in retaining the nucleus of a team that advanced to the AFC championship contest in 2001 figures to make Pittsburgh one of the Super Bowl favorites again in 2002 and beyond.

Counting the team’s two kickers, Pittsburgh has 19 of 24 starters under contract through the 2002 season and 16 of 24 signed through at least 2004. A dozen starters are signed through at least the 2005 campaign. On defense, eight of the 11 projected starters for this season are under contract through at least 2005.

Most franchises talk about a “window of opportunity” for winning a title. Pittsburgh has a portal, seemingly, that is wide open for at least the next three seasons.

“What they’ve done in terms of keeping their team basically intact is remarkable in this current environment,” said Baltimore vice president of personnel Ozzie Newsome, whose team was ravaged this spring by salary cap excesses. “The core group hasn’t changed.”

Unlike some teams, who in seeking a new stadium insist they will invest new revenues back into the roster but sometimes renege on that promise, the Steelers in the past year have rolled over plenty of the fresh money back into player commodities. In 11 months, the Steelers have paid out six signing bonus of $5 million or more and nine bonuses in excess of $2.5 million.

By the time Pittsburgh signs in 2002 draft class, it will have turned the famous Heinz 57 varieties into 57 million reasons players like staying with a team that hasn’t captured a Super Bowl trophy since the 1979 reason but which hopes to soon add to its cache of Vince Lombardi hardware.

Because of the Rooney Family, long regarded as among the league’s classiest and most compassionate owners, players have eyed Pittsburgh as an estimable franchise. Owner Dan Rooney, arguably the NFL’s second-most powerful personage after commissioner Paul Tagliabue, enjoys universal respect.

Players like performing for coach Bill Cowher. The city possesses a rabid fan base that bleeds black and gold. There is a rich history, and the management has tried to annually bring in Hall of Fame players from the past, to pass on the lineage of success. There is a new and shiny practice facility on the city’s Southside, which the Steelers share with the University of Pittsburgh.

Rooney’s son and the heir apparent to the top job, vice president Art Rooney II, added some fresh ideas to the front office. Director of football operations Kevin Colbert, hired after the power struggle which ousted Tom Donahoe, has jibed well with Cowher. And business coordinator Omar Khan, who negotiates contracts, has been not only aggressive but also resourceful.

Still, without Heinz Field, and the new money it has pumped into the Pittsburgh economy and the Steelers, all the other amenities probably would not have been enough to halt the free-agency exodus that kept the team out of the playoffs 1998-2000.

“I’m not naďve,” Rooney said. “All that other stuff is great. But the money is still the No. 1 reason players either want to stay here or come here. That’s just the facts of life.”

The salary cap aside, all NFL teams are not created equal, and those who can realize big stadium revenues -- from luxury suites, club seating, personal seat licenses, parking and concessions -- simply have more money to invest in signing bonuses. Revenues at Three Rivers Stadium had virtually maxed out for the Steelers and, without Heinz Field, this is a team that certainly would have lost key players the last two springs.

In the new reality of the NFL, stadium revenues are “the big straw,” according to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has maximized the earning power of Texas Stadium and is now seeking a new facility. The new stadium in Pittsburgh could have the Steelers guzzling champagne sometime soon.

The benefits of Heinz Field first became obvious last August, when the Steelers extended the contracts of both starting cornerbacks, Dewayne Washington and Chad Scott. Those deals represented, essentially, the initial tangible evidence that Pittsburgh was no longer a franchise from which other clubs could snatch available free agents. The spending spree -- which included the re-signing of centerpiece tailback Jerome Bettis, the addition of center Jeff Hartings, an extension for wide receiver Hines Ward and restructuring for tight end Mark Bruener -- culminated with the retentions of Porter and partner Jason Gildon.

Just as the Steelers invested $10.65 million to keep the tandem of Washington and Scott together through at least 2005, the team spent $11.5 million in upfront money to secure the duet of Gildon and Porter through at least 2006. For a 3-4 team, outside linebackers are critical. Few outsiders felt Pittsburgh would be able to keep both Porter and Gildon, but the Steelers surprised the vultures who figured they could pluck one of the two.

Fact is, Pittsburgh has doled out over $15 million to its top six linebackers (although Mike Jones is likely to be released after June 1) in signing bonuses since last spring. Top reserve John Fiala even got a $575,000 bonus earlier this spring.

Overall, the only starters the Steelers have lost from their 13-3 team of 2001 are kicker Kris Brown, inside linebacker Earl Holmes and guard Rich Tylski. In each case, Steelers management was able to add or retain viable replacements.

Said Rooney: “Look, we’re not unlimited, people shouldn’t think that. We still haven’t done anything (fiscally) irresponsible. We haven’t mortgaged our future with a bunch of (contracts) we won’t be able to handle down the road. But sure, the new stadium allowed us to do some good things.”

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.