A few quick notes on the Steelers and free agency. With confirmation out that the Steelers are only a few million dollars under the projected salary cap as of now, it appears as if we can forget about Eugen Wilson, Chris Crocker, and of course Rex Hadnot, who signed with the Browns earlier today.
However, as has been stated by me and others before, there are ways to tinker with the salary cap figure from year to year. There are cuts to be made, contracts to be restructured, etc. So, fear not. We'll come up with the money to pay our rookies, even our first rounder if we so choose to select in that round and not trade down to the 2nd.
Even so, it appears we have little room to work with free-agent wise, but that doesn't mean we're still not looking around. Today, Chiefs LB Keyaron Fox visited Steelers headquarters. Fox, a former 3rd-round draft choice out of Georgia Tech, fits the profile of the kind of free agents the Steelers eye. For one, he's coming off his rookie contract with the Chiefs, yet is flying somewhat under the radar for several reasons. And secondly, he's not been a starter except for in 2006 when he started 4 games. Add that up and you have a player we might be able to get for cheap.
Keyaron Fox, if signed, could be the type
of head-hunter on ST we're in desperate
need of
Of course, we have no real glaring holes at LB, at least in terms of starters, but there's still room for improvement on special teams, which I presume is where Fox would be asked to contribute, if he were to be signed and break camp. Fox finished third on the Chiefs in special teams tackles in 2007 with 12 tackles. In 2006, he finished 4th on the squad with 18 tackles, while also making some solid contributions on defense that year.
Fox excites me less than Mewelde Moore, but perhaps more so than Rex Hadnot. The price should be right for one. He could also add some much-needed competitive spirit and intensity to camp and practice on special teams, pushing guys like Andre Frazier and Lawrence Timmons. And finally, you never know. He wasn't given much of an opportunity to shine in KC on the defensive side of the ball. There's probably a reason for that, but when you're behind Kawika Mitchell and Derrcik Johnson in a 4-3 system, there's not tons of opportunity to break through in the first place. In our 4-backer system, Fox could sniff the field more regularly, especially since we still don't know exactly what we have in Woodley and Timmons, no matter how high we may be on them.
Stay tuned.
Anybody ever seen this guy? Thoughts? In my mind, he might be worth the same risk as drafting a LB in the mid-to-late rounds. Because the draft is so deep along both defensive and offensive lines, perhaps it might be wise to save a mid-round selection for one of those positions, and just go ahead and take care of some depth at LB here and now.
Thoughts?