The Steelers travel to Toronto this evening for their second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. This is the first time the Steelers have traveled to Toronto for the first time since 1960 but the game might be hard to find on TV if you don't live in or around the Pittsburgh or Buffalo area. If you're like me you may have to wait until midnight (eastern) when the NFL Network replays the game. With another game staring us right in the face, here's the Steelers-related news from around the net.

Competition Battles: NFL.com takes at look at the center position and gives their take on the battle. Justin Hartwig will start this week after Mahan started last week so hopefully we'll take some steps towards narrowing down a decision after tonight. I'd imagine that they'd like to have the starting five set going into the final preseason game which makes tonights game and next weeks' game very important.

First Team Playing Time: Coach Tomlin has said that the starting units will play more tonight than last week although he hasn't said exactly how long they'll stay out on the field. I'd imagine that most of the offenses playing time will depend on the results and that two successful drives would send Big Ben and most of the offense to the sidelines. Casey Hampton will start at the nose so keep an eye on how he does with the first unit.

Bubble Guys: The Trib takes a look at several guys who are on the bubble heading into tonights game. Mike Prisuta even theorizes that the 5th receiver could come from another team's cut list because neither Reid or Baker have done much to secure the job (although it's hard for 3rd or 4th string receivers to make an impact when they throw 16 passes a game). He also hints that Tony Hills has looked bad enough that he should be worried about his job.

McFadden's Chance: If Bryant McFadden ever wanted an edge in the battle for Townsend's starting job, he'll get it tonight. Townsend has already been ruled out meaning that McFadden will step into the starting spot opposite of Ike Taylor. If he wants big money this offseason he has to become a starter and the door is cracked, now he's got to kick it open.

The Steelers have worked quickly this offseason and with only a couple of weeks remaining until players report for the start of camp (July 27th), only two rookies remain unsigned. The Steelers opened July by inking three picks to contracts on the 7th. Bruce Davis, Tony Hills and Dennis Dixon all agreed to three year contracts and each had minimum base salaries. Two more picks, Mike Humpal and Ryan Mundy, agreed to terms last Friday and both contracts were for three seasons with league minimum salaries. First round pick, Rashard Mendenhall and second round pick Limas Sweed are the only rookies who aren't under contract yet, but they'll be the most difficult to finalize.

That Steelers aren't behind by any means though considering that only a handful of first or second round picks have been signed so far. In fact only three first rounders and one second rounder have signed contracts as of the middle of last week. With basically 13 days left before players report to camp, they'll have to starting working out the details quickly. No one wants to see a camp hold out, especially from two guys who should contribute early and often as rookies. Does everyone feel pretty confident that we'll see both Mendenhall and Sweed on the field in Latrobe on July 28th?

This always tends to happen and as Coach Tomlin says it's probably a 'necessary evil.' As tough as competition is in the NFL, tempers are going to flare up and fights will break out and that was the case yesterday as two separate bouts broke out while the Steelers were at their indoor practice facility. The participants were Willie Colon and Lawrence Timmons in the first showdown and Trai Essex and Arnold Harrison in the second. Neither scuffle amount to much and were over nearly as soon as they started. After practice Coach T talked about the scuffles:

"Practice broke out into a fight," said head coach Mike Tomlin afterwards. "You know, the competition is good, but the level of intensity has to be there if we want to get better.

"You have to understand professional etiquette; that's what we talked about after practice. These kinds of things have to happen as we develop our football team because it gives us a venue to address them, and why we do what it is that we do and how we approach what it is that we do.

"You don't like to see it happen, but it's a necessary evil. I'm glad that it happened, we addressed it and move on."

• In some actual football related news, Larry Foote sat out yesterday with a sore neck and that of course means that Timmons took all the reps the first group. I've always been a Foote fan but I really hope that Timmons can beat him out this preseason.
  
• Jim Wexell has been giving some pretty detailed OTA reports and some of the news encouraging and some it 'head-scratching' to say the least. I keep trying to move past the OL, but I just couldn't help myself when he mentioned that with the return of Marvel Smith yesterday, the starting lineup was Smith, Chris K, Mahan, Stapleton and Colon (Simmons isn't practicing yet). For what it's worth it looks like the starting five is different almost every day, but for what it's worth, when Mahan is there he runs with the first group. I did find one practice that had Essex running at guard though so it looks like they're trying to throw as much as they can against the wall and we'll see what sticks.
  
• There's also random notes of various players who have looked good at one time or another. Dallas Baker is a name that is in every report for either making a great catch or beating William Gay deep. Travis Williams (undrafted corner from East Carolina) is a youngster that Wexell thinks is worth keeping an eye on. He's also excited about Moore's versatility (compares to Kevin Faulk) and says the 10 pounds that Russell put on seem to help him quite a bit. Don't worry though Wexell also mentions how 'studly' Mendenhall looks at everything he's done so far. In addition to Simmons and Foote sitting out Ryan McBean, Deshea Townsend, Traivs Kirschke, Najeh Davenport, Willie Parker and Santonio Holmes were all sidelined with various bumps and bruises. It too early for someone to seriously worry about their job but if I was Davenport I don't think I'd let some minor bump/bruise keep me from the field considering all the praise we're hearing on the younger backs.
• In an earlier practice from last week, Timmons talks about LeBeau's new wrinkle for the dime defense that includes Timmons and Farrior as the inside backers. During that same practice they worked on punt returns with the returners going in this order: Reid, Moore, Holmes, Marion, Bloom, and Travis Williams. Wexell also mentions Tony Hills getting beaten badly by Silverback, although that's a heck of an assignment for the rookie. Anthony Smith is working at strong safety behind Tyrone Carter while Grant Mason is taking the second string reps at free safety behind Clark.

Thoughts about OTA's so far? Anyone run across any other news?

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I ran across a video (that you can watch here) that left me pretty perplexed. The Las Vegas PD was simulating crashes involving multiple vehicles and also accidents involving a pedestrian earlier this week, but for some reason they but a Ben Roethlisberger jersey on the pedestrian. I don't know what was more off setting, the idea that putting a jersey on a crash test dummy or the reporters skating around the mention of it.

So I was bored this morning and was taking a look at the contract status the current roster and one thing kept jumping out at me: there are an awful lot of players who will be free agents. This past off season was a relatively easy one for the front office considering there weren't many free agents and outside of the Max Starks fiasco, there weren't many difficult decisions. February 2009 would be a completely different story though, here's a quick list of the free agents to be:

Wow, in case anyone is counting that list of players has combined to start 295 games and play in over 500 games for the Steelers. Now to be honest some of these guys will be restricted free agents and several of these names are possible cut victims during camp. Willie Colon, Willie Reid, Anthony Smith, Anthony Madison, Grant Mason, Arnold Harrison and Ryan McBean will all be restricted free agents and Carey Davis might be as well but I'm not sure because he's actually been in the league since 2004.

Obviously the biggest losses will come on the offensive line. While one or two of these guys may get new deals in Pittsburgh, they simply can't all be retained. If I'm taking guesses, the most likely would seem to be Chris Kemoeatu, who might get a new deal before the season even starts. After Chris K, I'd have to think either Starks or Marvel, but that'll likely depend on who the front office/coaching staff sees as the future at left tackle. Essex is just a guy so I'd imagine with Hills being added to the mix, this is probably his final season in the Burgh.

Washington, Reid, Davenport, and Batch are probably playing their final season here, if they make it through the season. Reid and Davenport seem to be on the chopping block already. Washington's future took a shot with the drafting of Limas Sweed. Carey Davis will probably get a new deal even if he isn't a RFA, if for no other reason than he'll likely be very cheap.

For the defensive guys, the two big questions are obvious: what to do with McFadden and Farrior? Is Farrior worth a new deal at 33 years old and will he be willing to give a 'hometown discount?' Can McFadden stay healthy long enough to finally prove he's the playmaker that some of us think he is? I honestly don't know the answers to these questions and even though I'd really like to see both of these guys back in 2009 and beyond, it'll likely depend on whether they want to be here or not.

So who do you see as they guys we absolutely have to keep? Is this something we should be concerned about or does this look like a purge of mostly marginal players?