FREE AGENCY....is this the year?

by zenhas12strings on Feb 19, 2008 12:21 AM EST Comment 17 comments

Has anyone else noticed that every 3-4 years the Rooneys actually pony up some bucks for a big name free agent?I know is sound like madness....but that is how we got Bettis and Farrior.After all the cuts that go down this year....i'm thinking Tuman,Faneca,Haggans,Krieder....just to name a few,that could leave us with some cap room to go out and get another future Steeler retiree.anyone have there eye on anyone?

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Rooneys actually pony up some bucks for a big name

They are too tight. They allow the Cheats to cheat and get away with it and you reckon they will spend coin for us to improve. NEVER - WITH DAN ROONEY IN CHARGE.

by wiggins on Feb 19, 2008 1:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

how didi know....

i knew you would respond with more negativity....i cited a previous example of the rooneys shopping for a starter.i can be done.seriously....why dont you think about rooting for a team you actually like.

by zenhas12strings on Feb 19, 2008 7:27 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

good question

I think they'll have to dip into free agency for some depth since there are too many holes to fill through the draft. Depth is a serious concern along both lines and could also be an issue at OLB. If Starks walks and Colon moves inside the only OTs left on the team will be Marvel Smith and his backup Trai Essex. Obviously they'll need at least two tackles. At defensive end they don't have backups for either side (unless you count McBean, which at this point I don't). They'll probably pick up at least one DE that we've never heard of.

I wouldn't be shocked to see them sign a second or third tier running back or wide reciever either (WR only if Ced is cut though).

"You know who I want? William Wallace. That's who I'm looking for" - Bengals defensive line coach when asked who he was looking for in the draft

by cgolden on Feb 19, 2008 8:18 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

this is a good diary

I agree, I think that we may make a big sign in the next year or two. Not sure who we might have our eye on, but we definitely are going to have the financial flexibility to get something done if we want to.

by Blitzburgh on Feb 19, 2008 11:26 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

wiggins

the Rooneys always pay good players well, what they don't do is OVERPAY for average players in weak markets.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Feb 19, 2008 1:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

+1

good point

"You know who I want? William Wallace. That's who I'm looking for" - Bengals defensive line coach when asked who he was looking for in the draft

by cgolden on Feb 19, 2008 1:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

few names i would like to see in Steeler gold

RB-TJ Duckett....he's a Bettis clone...with more speed....not sure about his work ethic.i have wanted him for years.
DL-Justin Smith....he would make a great fit for the 3-4...and has experience in 4-3.i watch him alot cux i live in a Bengals area =( i think we could get him for cheap
CB-there are a few high quality names here.i dont see it as likely considering the new price range you are in when looking for a good corner(Clements)...but both NE corners and D. Foxworth of Denver

i also saw that mushin muhammad waas let go today...he's a big target...oh and i forgot to mention Bryant Johnson from AZI

by zenhas12strings on Feb 19, 2008 1:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

not a bad list

Duckett - I really like him coming out of MSU but I've cooled quite a bit on him but if he's really cheap, ok.

Smith - I'd like to see him here but he won't be cheap, he's not a youngster anymore and he's probably thinking he's got one payday left in him.

Samuel - he's way, way out the Steelers price range

Gay - I really don't know enough about him but just looking at his profile he's missed as many games as he's played in the past three years (only 5 starts during that time) but he is young (25) and probably cheap.

Foxworth - he is a restricted free agent so you'll have to give up something to get him.

Muhammad vs. Johnson -- Give me Johnson based soley on age. I had no idea Muhammad was almost 35.

"You know who I want? William Wallace. That's who I'm looking for" - Bengals defensive line coach when asked who he was looking for in the draft

by cgolden on Feb 19, 2008 2:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Randall Gay

is terrible. i remember in the '04 regular season game where we smoked the Pats a big reason was we were toasting Randall Gay all day. if he can't beat Ellis Hobbs for a starting spot, how good is he? He certainly isn't better than any of our top 3 guys (Ike, 'Shea, B-Mac) and I question whether he is better than our Gay rookie. (wow, no pun intended haha)

by TheMostViolentTeam on Feb 19, 2008 2:33 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Muhsin

I also saw that he was released. I could see him being a short term fix as a tall receiver, especially if he replaces Ced. Then, we could look at a tall receiver in next year's draft. He may be getting old, but he's always had good hands.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Feb 19, 2008 3:52 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Moose

Man... No. I watched him a lot since he signed with the bears and while he makes some great catches from time to time, he is more inconsistent then Nate Washington with dropping easy stuff.

Chicago quarterbacks are never anything to brag about, but I don't think Moose has ever made them look any better. I don't see him as a good pick up at all for the WR grouping we've got. I'll take Ced before him, Ced's at least got reliable hands even if his YAC are probably below 2.

by Chicago Steeler on Feb 19, 2008 5:07 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Chicago Steeler

I've been waiting to see what you thought of him.

"You know who I want? William Wallace. That's who I'm looking for" - Bengals defensive line coach when asked who he was looking for in the draft

by cgolden on Feb 19, 2008 5:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

agreed

I'd much rather have Ced. In fact, the more i think about it, I'm not sure I'd like to see Cedrick go. I was thinking about him the other day and I thought that perhaps the reason he's been a 'headcase' and a bit selfish at times is he simply thinks he can contribute a ton more than he's been asked to do while a Steeler.

That throw he made on that 2 pt conversion was just a tiny anecdotal glimpse into the type of talent he has as an athlete. I know he's a WR, not a QB, but it made me think that Wilson may just have a ton of confidence in himself and feels he doesnt get to show it. Is there really that much difference between him and ARE besides their contracts? I'd say ARE is a bit better holding on to the ball in traffic and his ability to cleanly field punts his huge, but as WRs they're not all that different, and as we've seen, Wilson can be used in a gadget play similar to ARE.

Let me ask you this: what do you think Wilson would do if he were in NEs system? I, for one, think he'd catch a ton of balls and be a reliable option, similar to Jabar Gafney. Wilson probably won't be a Steeler next year, but I won't be disappointed, even at $2 mil a year, if he is.

by Blitzburgh on Feb 19, 2008 5:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Ced

My bitch about Ced is his poor YAC. I feel they could upgrade the WR position after Hines and Holmes. I've said Nate has potential, could improve and he can be the WR we need.
Ced brings some valuable assets you listed above and should be on the 53 until they can get a better guy cap hit or not. If they don't draft someone worthy on day 2 and Reid, Trannon, Bloom and Baker don't step up Ced will be a Steeler in September.
If Ced was in NE he would have like 70 catches. He still would get thrown down like a rag doll by every DB in the league!

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on Feb 19, 2008 6:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Duckett

We don't want him, trust me. He's a hack, he's lazy, and pretty much he's buddy-buddy with Ricky Williams, if you know what I mean.

Physically gifted, but not worth it IMO.

by Romain El 82 on Feb 19, 2008 4:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

agreed

Ducketts been on everybody's 'wish' list for what seems like 5 years now. He hasn't stuck anywhere, and he hasnt had anything resembling a break-out year. Attitude issues have to be in play with him. That and/or work-ethic.

by Blitzburgh on Feb 19, 2008 4:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

FA vs. Needs

There are plenty of FAs who would help the Steelers. Two problems: 1. We won't spend much money for them, partly out of habit and partly because we won't have as much cap space as a lot of other teams when we get done signing Ben and extending a few other guys. 2. There is no reason for a FA to come here if we don't have a spot for him to play. Young cheap guys who have been backups want an opportunity to start; declining veterans cost too much to be backups.

Bryant Johnson and Muhsin Muhammad are perfect examples. Johnson is a good No. 3 receiver on an improving team. He is not going to go to another team to be another No. 3 receiver. He will want to go somewhere he can compete for the No. 1 or No. 2 spots. As for Muhammad, a team with average to poor starting WRs will pay him a decent salary to be the No. 3 guy. That's not the position we're in.
As for Ced, his best days are behind him. He has good hands but lacks quickness both before and after the catch. He's our No. 4 guy and only has value to us as injury insurance. There's no way he catches 70 passes in NE (or even 30) because he simply wouldn't make that team. Their fifth receiver Kelley Washington is better than Ced and he didn't catch a single pass this year, but was a great contributor on special teams. I'd rather use $2 million from his salary to sign someone who meets one of top priority needs: OL starter, DL depth, backup RB. There are a number of guys at those positions who we could afford and would play enough to want to come to Pittsburgh.

I've mentioned RB-KR Mewelde Moore and DE Darrion Scott in other threads. Both would be fairly cheap and contribute right away But if we are going to make a splash in FA we should be targeting a guy like Tennessee Guard Jacob Bell. He's a former teammate of Ben at Miami and has started about 40 games in four seasons, last year all of them at LG. He's represented by Drew Rosenhaus so will not be cheap,but he will be cheaper than a young starting OT and would help solidify the O-line for the rest of Ben's career.

by steeler lifer on Feb 19, 2008 10:10 PM EST reply actions 0 recs