Reports Differ As To Whether Or Not The Pittsburgh Steelers Are Close To Releasing Veteran LB Larry Foote

Wow. I’m surprised. I’ve always liked Foote and I think the Steelers will miss him and that some other team will pick him up and he’ll continue to play well. That being said, he was just going to be a backup this year and had only 1 more year on his contract, so while they’ll miss him, they can easily live with out him. He’s only 27 or 28 so he has some productive years left. I imagine he won’t be a FA for very long.

Hopefully this gives them room to sign Starks long term and extend Hampton and Miller.

Happy Trails Foote.

I think we should hire Larry and a dozen Rockettes to come out at halftime and perform the stomp live at each home game.

…way better than anything Steely McBeam has been up to.

Then again, wasn’t he a little on the older side? Does Timmons step in for his position now?

Foote is one of my favorite Steelers, so it sucks to see him go. But we now have no ILB depth. And Farrior is great, but he’s old, and he might not hold up. I know they needed the cap room, but if they would’ve signed Starks instead of franchising him this wouldn’t have been necessary. Oh well. There’s only so much money to go around I suppose.

I feel like the FO kind of dropped the ball on this one, more in terms of not getting a trade done than getting caught in sticky cap situations.

We’ll be missin’ ya Larry, but it’s time for the next generation of Steelers to come through.

Also means Keyaron Fox is now the number 1 reserve at inside linebacker. That’s fine with me, I was able to see him play in person and that guys a gamer.

I’m going to hope this is just a cut and resign. . . but it isn’t likely.

Man. Foote was such a great 4th for our LB core. You can’t afford 4 stars at LB, someone has to make less money. I always thought it would be Foote and Timmons and Farrior would go, but the old man’s holding on and I guess Timmons is ready.

I hope this doesn’t come back to haunt us.

I can’t remember the last time we cut a really good starter for cap reasons. I really hope he resigns.

Seems a shame to lose a great player and get not so much as a draft pick for him. Or maybe we did try to trade him draft day and his agent refused.

What’s that sound — is that Whisenhunt sniffing around?

Thanks for all the good years, Larry!

I hope your ticket to Arizona wasn’t too expensive!

Like others have already said, Larry Foote was a class act, a consummate professional, a 2 time super bowl champ, and will always be a Steeler in my book.

With that said, the reason they didn’t trade him is that it was obvious this was coming; Timmons can not be kept off the field for another season (too talented, too expensive), which makes Foote too expensive as a back-up. Also contrary to others worries, the ILB depth is not a real concern (or not as real as the cap situation).

Anyway, if I saw this coming, so did every other front office in the league, which means that the return on a trade for him would have been minimal if anything. In other words, the Steelers FO did him a favor by cutting him before camps open and not trading him to a place where he may not want to go. In fact it was a classy move the FO and IMHO a well deserved departure for a class act.

Again, I for one will miss you having Larry Foote in the center of our D, and although an unfortunate by-product of the current state of the NFL, a neccessary move (and one which very well could upgrade our D-fense.

Larry Foote we are gonna miss you man!!!! I was really hoping he would be around longer……this is sad. It’s a business though….he probably knew Timmons was coming on strong.

THANKS LARRY!!!!

The sound you hear is the sound of Wiz’s boner popping. Enjoy the weather in Zona Larry.

its bullsh&t btw…

Even for a ham sandwich, but found no takers. Maybe that means no one, including us, believes he is worth $3 million. He could re-sign with us or anyone else for probably less than $3. If he gets more than $3 then I am going to be upset that we didn’t trade and get a pick. Not that we needed another pick, but we could have packaged a few picks for one better one.

but my heart is sad. Foote was a solid performer.

I immediately thought about Tomlin’s prescient remarks the morning after the Super Bowl:

For me, the thing I’m going to tell the football team is that we’re not attempting to repeat. That group of men who were in that locker room – that’s gone forever. We’ll have a new 53-man [roster next season]. … You won’t hear me saying words like ‘repeat’ or ‘defending’ because it will be brand new.

Nothing stays the same in this game. A lot of the faces will be the same, but a few will come and go, and of those who will remain, roles will change. Some will ascend. Some will descend. That’s the nature of today’s NFL. Repeating and defending a Super Bowl championship is a misnomer.

(source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/03/tomlin-wont-say-repeat/print/ italics mine)

(or foot-E, as my wife calls you). steeler nation is very grateful for how you brought it every game; how you kept your personal stuff to yourself and kept your mouth shut for the most part; and for your part in winning two more rings for the pittsburgh stillers. we will always love you for that. we wish you the best wherever you end up, but we are also optimistic about what timmons and fox and others will be able to do now that you’re moving on.

I wish this didnt have to happen, but it is Timmons’ time now. Thank you Larry for all that you have done, and good luck in the market. I hope he gets paid by Detroit and helps them win again.

I’ll miss him too and I hate that we couldn’t move him for something, but it’s hard to root that he won’t sign a decent contract just so he’ll return to the Steelers for cheap. I hope he goes somewhere and plays well.*

*course I reserve the right to hate his guts for going to a team I despise.

Timmons outplayed Foote last year and played less.

The article on Profootballtalk.com says he was asking for the trade. Seems like he’s got his rings, now he wants to be close to home and possibly help rebuild a losing franchise. Otherwise I’d think he might have been interested in restructuring his contract. I’ll miss him, quality player, quality guy, just who we want to represent us.

Shame. Really liked that guy. Glad it’s an amicable divorce. I hope he goes to Detroit.

Even if the steelers wanted to pay him to be a backup, Foote didn’t want to be one.

http://nflfromthesidelines.blogspot.com/2009/04/foote-wants-out.html

(like that name, by the way… very mythological-sounding)…

as well as larry foote performed for us, his presence was stunting timmons’s growth. the flashes timmons has shown indicate he might be kendrell bell-scary (in a good way). this move was inevitable the moment timmons’s potential became obvious. larry’s still in his prime and too expensive to become a backup. so it’s sad but it’s logical. i say it was a move we needed to make.

as a tribute to larry, though, when i flatten my son playing couch football tonight i’m gonna stomp one out on the carpet…

if you’re right, we might see the brain-trust let ryan clark walk next year. he’s a warrior but might not fit the scheme you spoke of, especially as age catches up and he loses a step. some of those final-year vets are gonna have to go in 2010 and clark seems logical. i can see lewis or the kid from oregon state (i know he’s a corner but he might fit better at FS) being groomed to take over, or perhaps us going safety on the first day next year.

With one Foote gone is there another foot left ?

That flash of black and gold through the line to the quarterback is Timmons, and it’s a thing of beauty. But wasn’t Foote’s forte run defence?

I’m interested how well Timmons can play those situations where he doesn’t get 6 yards of steam built up before the tackle. Sure there may be some drop-off, but Timmons should catch on.

Yeah I just saw the Steelers’ site and was about to heckel you about this post. Now, I’m glad you changed the title since Larry Foote still remains a Steeler. I like Foote alot also and wish him to stay, though the salary cap say’s cut him or trade him all over it.

last offseason before Farror signed we thought the ILBs of the future were gonna be Timmons and Foote.

 What are the chances we take another 1 or 2nd round LB in a years or two when Farrior hangs em up?

One of the Darkest things that happens when your team wins a SuperBowl is that there are alot of Players who are more interested in starting and making more money from another team the next year.

Larry got his 2 rings, so it does not matter to him about a 3rd one. I can’t blame him or the game of football for this

That’s why it’s harder to repeat as Champs

Official Steelers Statement on Larry Foote Reports

"Contrary to published reports, Larry Foote is still a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Any stories indicating that Larry has been released by the team are inaccurate."

— Steelers Communications Coordinator Dave Lockett

Haa way to wear the skirt in the family Cowher, zip from the side much?
  

When ESPN and then post-gazette post something i think it is safe to assume for us fans that it is fact. This is some pretty poor “reporting” if it ends up being false. Unless the post, etc. are making up quotes though, Larry sure as hell sounds like he is moving on, no?

The Detroit radio report as of this morning has changed. They’re now saying he’ll be released after the mini camp this weekend. Detroit also reportedly offered a 7th rounder for him, but was denied. I would personally give you guys a 4th or 5th(knowing our draft record).

truth’s story about chad scott underscores how hard for many of us it is to see the core players of this great group of steelers go. i almost feel apologetic about it now (because he seems like a good guy), but i just about popped a bottle of dom when they let chad go. it wasn’t that difficult for us when he left, or when guys like amos zerouoe or wayne gandy or plax left, because those steelers teams left us feeling more frustrated than rewarded. but this 2004-2008 group has been so easy to root for, both because of their success and for the way they’ve conducted themselves, that it sucks seeing them walk. larry foote wasn’t our best player, or even one of our best, but he was a big part of that success. and for that, we love him. unfortunately, as contracts expire and the reality of the business intervenes, we’re gonna spend a lot of time in the next few years writing our goodbyes to guys like larry foote. hopefully the players the FO plugs in for them will continue to bring us great success. still, as a fan base we’ve become attached to this special group of steelers and it’s hard to see them go.

i’ll pass the tissues now…

so, 150

I hope this thread isn’t dead. It seems that we are trying to get draft picks for Foote. I wrote a couple months ago that I’d like to get George Foster OT. That was before Detroit resigned him. Yeah, I know, people say he sucks. But he was a first round draft pick and he has a ton of experience with the zone blocking thing. When he was in Denver, he played every snap the year that they only allowed 15 sacks. He weighs 338. He’s gotta be an upgrade on the weak side. Anybody still reading? Whaddaya say?

rather get something than nothing

His age and length of a new contract will decide if Larry stays a Steeler or goes.

“I hope a deserving team gets Larry” Moron! Let’s play against a guy who knows what we do and how we do it! Brilliant. Can you say “Braindead?” Sure, I knew ya’ could. Did you watch Larry’s Super Bowl highlights? Unreal. The man was everywhere. “He can’t play three downs.” I’ll bet you can-NOT!

Before the idiot armchair analysts on these posts deliver their cough and comment nonsense, let me remind you that Larry Foote is a 2 time Super Bowl champion and a solid team LEADER on defense. You can’t draft that or replace it easily. The dynamic between the players on championship teams is special and worth preserving at all costs. Salary cap or other “business” considerations be damned.

For those of us who waited 10 years for the Steelers to get back to Super Bowl form, where they belong, was a long, painful wait. Let’s not kill the goose who lays the golden eggs, kids. Wake-up! Guys like Foote don’t grow on trees-let him stay in the “Burgh” a while longer.