Steelers need to break tradition

by belvalle55 on Sep 15, 2008 8:54 PM EDT Comment 11 comments

Chris Kemoeatu is beginning to look like a beast. The Steelers don't negotiate during the season, but his price will only go up, as he continues to replace Alan Faneca. The Steeler's line was supposed to be our weakness, but is doesn't look like that now. We have the potential to have a great season and then lose a huge chunk of our offensive line after the season to free agency. The Pittsburgh Steelers need to offer Chris Kemoeatu a fat contract now.

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Disagee..

I feel like i am being a contrarian with my last few comments, but none the less, the Steelers’ policy of not negotiating with players during the season has served them well. No question, Chris K has play excellent and if he continues it the whole season (and there is no indication he won’t) we should lock him up to an extension at market value. The Steelers won’t let a young up and comer get away. They will pay him what he is worth. There is nothing that points to the FO letting him walk.

I think having contract negotiations during the season will add unnecessary drama/stress on the players. The Steelers’ FO has been consistent and fair throughout the years, especially to our younger, home grown talent.. The players know they will get paid after the season, when they will have plenty of time to negotiate.

by _ET_ on Sep 15, 2008 11:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

what happens

if we draft up this midseason contract and then a few weeks later he ends up needing some sort of surgery? I’ve never been much of a contract guru, and all the technicalities have always baffled me. So I wouldn’t know either way. But I could see that as being a reason to avoid the mid season negotiations.

Brandona

by PrimantisStillersNAt on Sep 16, 2008 2:10 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Kemo and Marvel

I agree bel, we should open some talks with them. Whether or not those contract talks get it done is another story, but it would be a shame if we didn’t even try so we can adhere to a tradition. I support minimizing distractions during the season, but we didn’t sign these guys earlier because we wanted to see them in action, and now we’ve done that. They’re looking like our best 2 OL’s and we can’t let them go.

I was watching some highlights of the game and I noticed that almost every time Ben had a pocket, Kemo was blocking Rogers. Kemo really destroyed him on some running plays too. He still make some mistakes, but he’s the only legit road grader we have on OL.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Sep 16, 2008 9:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

signing bonuses

I wonder if the reason we let some of these guys go into the season without resigning them is because of the ownership snafu. The owners probably don’t want to pay out large signing bonuses now if they’re not sure if they’ll own the team in a few months. I’d imagine we’ll make bids for these guys once the season is over. They may take them or they may go elsewhere, but I very much doubt we’ll see any action till the ownership is figured out.

by Chicago Steeler on Sep 16, 2008 11:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think Dan can even consider a time when he wont have a controlling stake in the team, and I don’t believe that the ownership issue will stop the current Steelers’ administration from spending, considering the salary cap will still be in place for the next 2 years. Every competitive team spends up to the cap, and that wont be any different next year or the year after. I think this is business as usual, and though I think we should lock up at least Kemo (Marvel is a different story at his age) to a 4-5 year deal, they have their policies.

With all the guys on their UFA year (below) the Steelers know they aren’t going to be competitive letting them all walk, nor can they afford to keep them all.

Bryant McFadden CB UFA Steelers
Chris Kemoeatu OG UFA Steelers
Willie Colon OT UFA Steelers
Trai Essex OT UFA Steelers
Max Starks OT UFA Steelers
Charlie Batch QB UFA Steelers
Nate Washington WR UFA Steelers
Marvel Smith OT UFA Steelers

Of that group, I’d say the most likely to be made competitive offers are Kemo, Colon, McFadden, Batch. With the extra draft picks we’ll have this year, we can aim for a top-flight LT in the draft, with some likelihood of addressing both the Dline and the Oline multiple places. You typically get about a 40% return on your picks, so if we’re lucky we can draft 4 linemen (O and D) and have 2 regular starters from that group. Do the same thing again next year and we’ll have fully addressed the pressing needs.

Ownership will never spend big coin on a free agent. They consider it bad for business. It drives free agent prices up for everyone, and you don’t get as good a return on investment when you sign someone in their late twenties. Someone else has gotten the cheap years out of them. The MO for the Steelers has been to get the cheap years out of them ourselves and let someone else pay the big money. Thats why we’re competitive. Changing that model would mean diminished play down the line.

Guns don't kill people. Lamar Woodley kills people.

by BostonWahoo on Sep 16, 2008 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree in part

All I’m saying is that the other 4 rooney bro’s probably have to contribute currently to the “right now” part of new contracts. The signing bonuses that need cash on hand to pay. They’ll continue paying players right up to the cap but I do think they’ll wait to pay out cash NOW until they know the direction of ownership.

by Chicago Steeler on Sep 16, 2008 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cap space & signings

I’m pretty sure we have some decent cap space next year, so we should be able to give competitive offers to Kemo and Marvel. SteelersSalaryCap has been down for some time, so I can’t verify the overall cap situation, but Marvel is making about $6.5M this year and Starks is making $7M. If we gave Marvel a 4 year deal, I would think it’d be in the $7-9M/yr range, which is a relatively small raise. The big question with him really is his health and longevity, not the money. We are able and should be willing to dish out some serious dough if we think he’ll still be pretty good in 3 years. If we let him go, we HAVE to draft a LT in the first. Even starting a top rookie LT is a HUGE gamble. If we keep Marvel, we can/should still draft a LT, planning to start him on the right side at some point and eventually swapping the two tackles.

I don’t know if teams are going to consider Kemo a top OG FA or not. He’s certainly good, but he doesn’t have the experience of Hutchison or Faneca, and he still makes some mistakes. I think a deal of about $5M/yr (similar to Jake Scott this year) would keep him in Pittsburgh, which is less than Starks’ cap number. Kemo isn’t much of a risk because he’s so young, so we can give him a pretty long contract without worry.

I think there is a strong possibility that we renegotiate Ward’s contract next year. He’s a FA after 2009 and his cap number is above $7M for 2009, IIRC. It would be in both party’s best interests to lower the 2009 cap number and keep him here until he retires. The play and development of Washington and Sweed could give the Steelers more leverage, as should the fact that we gave him a very nice deal on his previous contract. This would give us some more money to make the above signings and start thinking about extending guys like Colon (hopefully as a guard) and Miller.

If we make those three moves (now or after the season) and give Colon his tender, we’ll be just fine. We can let Washington go if he wants to, and Starks is already out the door. It would be nice to keep Essex if he’ll sign for dirt cheap, but I won’t weep to see his spot taken by an improving Hills or some new draft picks. I guess McFadden is another issue, but I have no sense of what a fair offer would be or whether the Steelers are interested in resigning him. It could make the CB situation a little dicey.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Sep 16, 2008 1:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

these guys are gone -- guaranteed

Starks
Batch
Washington

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Sep 17, 2008 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why do you think Charlie’s gone? He gives the home town discount, the management loves him, and it gives Dixon another year to develop into a card-carrying member of the clipboard club. I’m not suggesting he’s going to get a long-term deal, but if he keeps signing one year fliers for the veteran minimum, he can probably stay forever.

Guns don't kill people. Lamar Woodley kills people.

by BostonWahoo on Sep 17, 2008 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I think Charlie wants to stay and the want the head office is treating him I think they want him too. I love the fact that you still see him on the sidelines even though he’s on IR. Normally those guys don’t travel but Batch is still on the sidelines talking to Ben looking through pictures. Even if we didn’t bring him back on the roster he could be the assistant QBs coach.

by Chicago Steeler on Sep 18, 2008 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs