STEELERS Maddox must prove worth to garner raise

Pittsburgh's quarterback has a salary smaller than the punter.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Josh Miller of the Pittsburgh Steelers is unique among NFL punters, and it has nothing to do with his style or his statistics.
He's the only punter who makes more than his team's starting quarterback.
Accountants are fond of saying they can twist numbers to mean anything, but there are no disputing these figures: Miller will make $825,000 in salary and easily obtainable bonuses this season, while Tommy Maddox will make $750,000. A player who may not touch the ball more than once or twice a game will earn more than one who touches it on every offensive snap.
Maddox's salary is about one-tenth what some of the league's elite quarterbacks will earn, such as Peyton Manning, and only a fraction of the $5.5 million average salary for a topflight QB.
Even Miller acknowledges something's just not right.
"I'm just glad to be doing what I'm doing," Miller said. "I don't make the rules and I'm just glad to be getting what I'm getting. It's a tough one to comment on, but you figure he's going to get his. I know he is."
But when?
Do it again
After renegotiating his contract last year while still a backup, Maddox was under the impression the deal would be torn up once he became the starter. At the time he signed, Maddox had played only a handful of downs in 10 years and was looking mostly for job security. The deal paid him a $500,000 signing bonus but kept his base salary under $1 million per season through 2006.
The Steelers' decision not to redo his contract had nothing to do with his performance. After replacing Kordell Stewart three games into the season, Maddox set team records for single-game passing yardage (473 yards) and single-season passing completion percentage (62.1). The Steelers also passed for more than 4,000 yards in a season for the first time.
But a new contract wasn't forthcoming, apparently because management wants to make certain 2002 wasn't an anomaly and Maddox is the real deal. As a result, Maddox not only will make less than the punter, he's making less than his backup, Charlie Batch, who has a $1 million salary.
"I guarantee you it's probably the first time in NFL history it's happened," Maddox said earlier this summer. "I would be lying if I said it's not disappointing. It's a hard situation, but it's the one we're in."
Now, as he prepares to begin an NFL season as a starting quarterback for the first time, the 32-year-old Maddox understands the only way he'll make big money is duplicate over a full season the year he had in 2002.
What's in Maddox's favor is, for the first time in years, the Steelers' offense is built around the passing game and not the running game. They have two of the NFL's most productive receivers in Plaxico Burress and Hines Ward, and No. 3 receiver Antwaan Randle El is coming off an excellent rookie season.
Comeback quality
Maddox also has shown the ability to bring his team back, a quality coaches covet. Maddox rallied the Steelers from double-digit deficits in each of their final three games, two of them victories.
"I like where he finished last year," coach Bill Cowher said. "He's a very good leader. I like his decision making. There are a lot of good qualities about the guy, and I like where he is."