Under the Radar Restricted Free Agents
by belvalle55 on Feb 10, 2009 9:00 AM EST
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PrintThe Steelers often sign players who have little name recognition. The following players are restricted free agents, who will require little to no compensation from the Steelers but would fill needs, at least as young backups.
Brandon McKinney DT 6'2"/324 Baltimore Ravens Age:25 Draft Status:06 CFA
Earl Cochran DE 6'5"/284 Houston Texans Age:27 Draft Status:03 CFA
Erik Pears OT 6'8"/305 Denver Broncos Age:26 Draft Status:05 CFA
Stephen Bowen DT 6'5"/303 Dallas Cowboys Age:24 Draft Status:06 CFA
Anthony Montgomery DT 6'6"/315 Washington Redskins Age:24 DraftStatus:06/05/153
Fred Evans DT 6'4"/305 Minnesota VikingsAge:25 Draft Status:06/07/212
Montavious Stanley DT 6'2"/303 New Orleans Saints Age:27 Draft Status:06/06/182
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Good Stuff, I would love to learn a little more information on these guys, anyone have any? I will try to put together a paragraph on Montgomery from the Skins cause I am a little familiar with him.
I'll drink your Milkshake, I'll drink it up!
by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on Feb 10, 2009 9:21 AM EST reply actions
RFA's
The problem with RFA’s is that their team can give them very small offers which makes us offer draft picks for them. In most cases it’s not worth it. And if we find someone who is “under-tendered”, the other team can always match our offer.
charity standing orders
Yup. If any of these guys is offered tender then we will have to give up either a 2nd, 1st, or 1st and 3rd round draft pick. The teams that they currently play for can offer them a salary only mildly above what they currently make and we’d have to give up a draft pick.
The only way we’d luck out is if one of these guys was not going to be resigned. Unfortunately for us, that likely means they are not very good.
Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.
more on RFAs
Occasionally it makes sense to go after a RFA, but usually only if they weren’t drafted in the first place and if they’ve shown enough to be worth a higher salary than the team holding their rights wants to pay.
Bowen and RFA WR Ruvell Martin are worth looking at this year for the Steelers. Neither were drafted, so if they are low-balled in their qualifying offer the Steelers would not have to give up a draft pick.
In Martin’s case, he is the Packers No. 5 WR in a very deep corps of relatively young receivers. A modest offer from the Steelers might be more than the Packers want to pay. He’s a big guy (6-4, 220), decent hands and a great downfield blocker. An NFL Europe star who still has some upside. If we lose Washington, he could easily step in and be a productive No. 3 or 4 WR while providing veteran depth.
Bowen has done some good work as an UFA from Hofstra, a teammate of Willie Colon. He’s a rotation guy (6-5, 305) with the frame to be a good 3-4 DE and at 24 has a lot of years ahead of him. The Cowboys probably want him back, especially if they lose Canty in free agency. But if they keep Canty they might not want to pay Bowen more than the minimum qualifying offer. He would be worth offering more than that by the Steelers.
In both cases we have to wait to see what offers they are tendered by their team. If it’s a second-round compensation offer, then there is no way we go after them. If it’s just a low qualifying offer, they’re worth a look because they won’t cost you any draft picks and they won’t be that expensive.
by steeler.lifer on Feb 10, 2009 11:28 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Neither were drafted, so if they are low-balled in their qualifying offer the Steelers would not have to give up a draft pick.
True, but that’s only if the the team truly lowballs the player. You cite good examples of guys that teams might be willing to hold onto but only for the bare minimum. In that case it definitely makes sense for the steelers to swoop in on UDFA’s, but as long as the teams offer up an extra half million, which they really ought to, they would be off-limits unless we want to give up the pick. Even if the teams offer a bare minimum to the RFA they can still choose to match any offer the steelers put up, so it’s tough to get them out of the other teams hands.
It’d be nice to get these RFAs, but I think it will be unlikely, especially for the steelers who I wouldn’t guess would be offering deals to RFAs that the other team couldn’t match.
Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.
I agree it's unlikely
Especially in Bowen’s case, it makes sense for the Cowboys to hang onto him. He’s young and has plenty of upside and is already making a contribution. Martin is a slightly different case. The Packers have invested recent high draft picks at WR (Jennings, Jones, Nelson) and Driver is still very productive at 34 years of age (six 1,000 yard seasons in the last seven years). They might not want to ante up more than $1 million for a No. 5 guy, regardless of how capable he is. If Washington leaves, he’d be worth more than that to the Steelers. He has proved he can play in the league and would have a bigger role in our offense than the Packers’. Losing Washington would leave us with two veteran receivers, Sweed and zip after that, so we’re probably going to have to sign somebody anyway before the draft.
With both Bowen and Martin I think it is worth making a competitive offer based on our needs and letting the teams holding their rights make the decision about whether to match.
by steeler.lifer on Feb 10, 2009 7:08 PM EST up reply actions
This draft is so impossible to guess at with our FAs. The signing of Starks, McFadden, and washington have such an enormous impact on what we can / will have to do on the first day of the darft, or with other FAs.
We have some good deadlines coming up at least for tagging and RFA tenders…
Don't worry about the haters. Haters only hate.
Brandon McKinney, Earl Cochran, Erik Pears, & Stephen Bowen were undrafted and they are not starters. It is likely that they will receive the lowest qualifying offers, which means the Steelers would not have to give anything up to sign them.
The following non starters will probably receive the lowest tenders from their teams; Anthony Montgomery would require a 5th round pick, Fred Evans would require a 7th round pick, and Montavious Stanley would require a 6th round pick. I could see giving up a 5th, 6th or 7th for a proven backup, rather than pick up an unproven rookie, that low in the draft.
Dennis
Why not a UFA?
George Foster. He played at Denver where they like shifty little cut-blockers and at Detroit (enough said). He has never been where he belonged. In a good program with the right scheme, he could finally be worth the round one draft pick Denver gave up for him in 2003.
Who knew?
Evans and Pears
I would say Evans would be a good option for our aging D-line. You figure the guy is big and plays on the best Run D in the league (only cause that one team didnt run)
Pears OTOH was on a pretty explosive Denver offense when they were clicking. And hes a giant.
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