Steelers Acquire Keyaron Fox

Thanks for maryrose for spreading the news much earlier while I was taking a standardized test just in case some grad school wants to accept somebody who will spend far more time on his website than on his academic pursuits. For those who read regularly and who I hold myself accountable to, thanks, I'm pretty sure I spanked the writing section of the exam. Anywho...

If you couldn't tell from my thoughts about Fox yesterday, I think this is a fine addition. I was more ecstatic about Mewelde Moore's arrival in Pittsburgh (and I'll be sure to remind everyone 'humbly' how great I thought he was going to be when he has his first monster game as a Steeler), but even before learning about the price tag attached to Fox's services, I thought he made sense for several reasons. I won't rehash those reasons again here, but whether or not he contributes much on defense is irrelevant when you sign for the veteran minimum and only receive a $40,000 signing bonus. However, the diminuitive nature of the contract has to make you wonder how and why the Chiefs weren't able to keep him on board in KC. It's doubtful he's a headcase or a cancer in the locker room; we just don't bring guys like that around. What then can account for the Chiefs deciding to let a guy walk who has shown he can fill in if necessary as a starter on defense, as well someone who has been a special teams mainstay for the past three years?

I'm not sure of the answer. My guess is that Fox thought he could garner more on the open market than he was offered during the first week of free agency and was then forced to make a decision based more on the quality of the team rather than the sum of the contract. Just a guess though. To get another hypothesis, as well as some more info on Fox's career, I will be asking the author of Arrowhead Pride, our Chiefs blog, more about Fox's tenure in KC, what he saw in him, particularly on special teams, as well as whether there is anything we should know about behind the scenes.

I will say this though about the contract. It may not have been what Fox was looking for...obviously. But I don't think that the Steelers are necessarily only viewing him as a one-year stop-gap solution on special teams and as a back-up OLB on defense. He should get ample opportunity on special teams for sure, and because we still don't know what we have on a regular, every-down basis from Woodley and Timmons, there's a decent shot he'll see the field some on defense. He plays well, he gets paid next year. Maybe not by us, but playing for Pittsburgh has a way of making players attractive to other team's around the league. We'll see.

I'll report back when/if I get some answers about Fox from those more in-the-know about him.