Steelers Sign LB

by 5020 on Mar 12, 2009 2:31 PM EDT Comment 19 comments

Interestingly enough, the Steelers came to terms with back up LB and special teams ace Andre Frazier today. Details of the contract below.

I did not see this happening thinking they would concentrate on getting 92 signed and saw they were talking to Fox again. Obviously the Steelers like to go into the draft covered with no real needs. This helps them not have to draft a LB. I also think this means Fox may not be back.

Regarding 92, I believe he will play for his current salary in 09 and then play with a franchise tag in 10, In 2011 he will be a 33 year old FA LB and will probably get a payday with some other 3/4 team looking to make a splash. By then the Steelers will need all their money and cap space to get Timmons and Woodley signed.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_615763.html

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most likely

That is probably the most likely scenario, unless he signs for a big, but not huge defensive mvp type contract. This is why they spent a high pick on the kid from Purdue last year. Timmons will replace Foote, (Davis?) will replace Harrison, Farrior hangs on for a little longer and they develop 2 more over time. So long as no one gets hurt its a good system.

by Micculus on Mar 12, 2009 2:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

what is this high pick from Purdue you speak of?

by tdp992 on Mar 12, 2009 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was thinking the same thing

Bruce Davis, from UCLA is most likely who he is talking about.

by NYSteelersFan4 on Mar 12, 2009 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yup

Precisely , Bruce Davis, I had the schools mixed up with Cliff Averill DE from Purdue, 4 picks later.

by Micculus on Mar 12, 2009 5:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Don't remind us !!!

That was a sore point of last year’s draft. Both Avril and Davis were potential DE-to-OLB conversion projects but Avril — a bit bigger and far more athletic of the two — looked like the better prospect. NFL Draft Scout, arguably the best draft resource available to the public, ranked Avril as the No. 4 OLB and 56th overall; Davis as the No. 13 OLB and 128th overall, so the Steelers’ choice of Davis, with Avril available, was somewhat surprising. As you say, Avril went a few picks later to the Lions. A year later, Avril looks like a future star after a five-sack rookie season including five late-season starts as a pass-rush DE. Obviously he wouldn’t have played much for the Steelers but he would have made the active roster as a special teams player because he is unbelievably fast for his size, and been better insurance at ROLB behind Harrison in case that situation is unresolved. Davis has a lot of ground to make up to change the early evaluation that this was a draft mistake.

by steeler.lifer on Mar 12, 2009 7:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Meh

I don’t recall all the scouting reports and haven’t done my research, but plenty of great pass-rush DE’s wouldn’t make it in our system. Our OLB’s drop back into coverage far more that say, Dallas’s. I could be wrong, but if the Steelers thought Davis was 90% the pass-rush talent Avril was (and Davis had a great college career, just needs to bulk up and play with that weight in the NFL) and had the hips to play in pass coverage, I like the pick.

At the end of the day the merits of all picks will be determined on the field after 3-4 seasons.

I do remember a story about Bruce Davis tackling a guy in the Senior Bowl and then standing over him hollerin at him… I like the guy’s competitive spirit if nothing else.

by syrsteelerfan on Mar 12, 2009 9:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Standing over and hollerin

Unless he plays for the ravens and does that to one of the steelers, then he is a thug and a dick.

by worldtrip on Mar 12, 2009 11:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

but of course ;)

football appeals to the tribalism within us – if you don’t like it when the guys in one color act competitively towards the guys wearing a different color, it’s just a bunch of guys injuring each other for (big) money…

by acrollet on Mar 15, 2009 12:04 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

For sure, time will tell

Yes it’s only just one year so of course the jury is still out, and as long as Davis makes the kind of contribution a third-rounder should make down the road, then there will be no need to second-guess it. However, it’s fair game until then. This was debated right out of the gate and nothing has happened yet to suspect the Steelers made the right choice. Davis was a third-round LB who should have made the active roster as a special teams contributor and didn’t do it, essentially beaten out by undrafted rookie linebackers Donovan Woods and Patrick Bailey. Take the combine results for what they’re debatedly worth, but Avril tested faster, stronger, more explosive, more fluid in drill, in most cases by a wide margin, and he had started at OLB at Purdue before moving to DE. It’s often not fair to compare draft picks with who the Steelers could have picked instead, but in this case it’s about as close to comparing apples with apples as you’re ever going to get.

by steeler.lifer on Mar 13, 2009 2:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here's hoping that Fox gets signed for cheap and Deebo

gets taken care of long term. I just think they should go ahead and pay a brother. He has less miles on him than his age suggests and I would HATE to see him on another team even as a declining 33 year old. my .02

by SteelersFnRule on Mar 12, 2009 5:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think a deal gets done with Harrison

by SteelerMike on Mar 12, 2009 6:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think Harrison stays also

They have to do the little ones first, so that they can accurately hammer out his deal.

Mr Fraze was a nice guy to have along with Key Fox on Special Teams. I liked his help

by Mechem on Mar 13, 2009 9:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Lookin' Grim For Signing 92

According to this report the Steelers and 92 are far apart on a contract. I think he will be a Steeler for the next 2 years and then walk.
Doesn’t look like they offered Galloway or Carr a contract either and thus settled on Frazier.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09072/955317-66.stm

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on Mar 13, 2009 11:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It may look Grim,

but it is a long off season. It is still in Harrison’s best interest to resign. Unlike the Starks situation, the FO is holding all the cards in resigning Harrison. He plays for nothing this year, and next year we can place the Franchise tag on him which he would be worth. This is different than the Farrior resigning. You don’t give a long term contract to a 32/33 year old edge rusher. If Harrison wants long term security, he needs to resign with the Steelers. It’s just going to take all off season.

by SteelBuckeye on Mar 13, 2009 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I am also optimistic that they take care o' the Silverback

mostly b/c Colbert says that they want to. I basically trust the FO on this stuff. I think that the CBA uncertainty has made this a slower thing than it would have been and that just sucks. Not much we can do about it though! Just check in here and other sites every once in awhile and hope they lock up one of my favorite players to a long term deal that everyone can live with. The suspense is killing me…GO STEELERS!!!

by SteelersFnRule on Mar 13, 2009 1:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But

How do you sign 92 long term and also get Woodley and Timmons under contract down the road? I trust the FO as much as you guys. I just can’t see how they keep all 3. Especially now that they have decided to keep Foote, Townsend, Carey Davis, Ty Carter, Kirshke and some other veteran depth guys. And please don’t chastise me. I love 50, 26 et al. I just see about 7 million in cap space they could have used to extend guys like 92 and Heath Miller that will instead go to provide depth that I think they could have gotten from Pat Bailey, Donovan Woods, Paxson etc. If the FO can work out 92, 83, 56 and 94 while keeping all of the depth then that would be awesome. As a realist I just can’t see it happening.

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on Mar 13, 2009 4:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

interesting thoughts 5020

Might be right; we might be content getting two more years out of him. Small money this year; big bucks in 2010. Interesting, interesting.

by Blitzburgh on Mar 14, 2009 6:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Woodley, Timmons a long way down the road

5020 asked, “How do you sign 92 long term and also get Woodley and Timmons under contract down the road?”

This is getting too far ahead of ourselves, in my opinion. Woodley and Timmons are still a long way away from being Salary Cap concerns. Timmons is under contract through 2011 (three more seasons) and at that time, under the existing provisions for how things might work with no salary cap, could be kept as a RFA for 2012. With Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, there’s a good chance he goes elsewhere after that anyway.

Woodley is under contract through 2010 and will be a RFA in 2011 and possibly also for 2012, based on needing six years experience before becoming a UFA. By 2012 or 2013, the young linebackers on the team should essentially replace the defensive linemen as the highest paid group on the defense, with Keisel, Hampton and Smith (as well as Farrior) all inevitably succumbing to retirement. This is why we have to be drafting their relatively cheap replacements this year and next.

We might end up franchising Harrison but I think it’s totally realistic that we can get him locked up and still have room for the other stud linebackers and Miller. Foote’s contract will be off the books in a year (or possibly earlier), Parker might have to accept less to stay here a year from now, Hines might rework an extension, etc, etc … it’s almost pointless to get too worked up about future salary cap manipulations because A) we fans generally know very little about what can be done behind the scenes to juggle money around; and B) there is almost always a way to keep the guys you REALLY need and who want to stay, as opposed to the guys you would like to have but can survive just fine without.

We need Harrison, he wants to stay, he deserves a raise and this is still very early days in the contract negotiation process. The Steelers may want to see how the Draft works out before really buckling down to serious talks with Harrison anyway. By passing on McFadden (for better or worse) there is probably room to get the Harrison deal done and give him a $5 million-plus raise this year.This is a deal that is going to get done at some point and the worst-case scenario (we keep him for two years) is not that bad.

by steeler.lifer on Mar 14, 2009 12:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs