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Ike Taylor said on his @TribLiveRadio show that James Harrison and Santonio Holmes want to come back to the Steelers.
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly_Trib) May 20, 2014
Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor is big into making declarations lately.
He said the Steelers would draft a cornerback in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Then he said the Steelers would take Clemson wide receiver Martavis Bryant in the second round of the same draft.
He missed on the first one, and outside the second round thing, he was right about the Steelers taking Bryant (they selected him in the fourth). Now, apparently speaking on behalf of ex Steelers Santonio Holmes and James Harrison, he said, on TribLive Radio, the heroes of Super Bowl XLIII would like to return.
Holmes was traded from the Steelers to the Jets in 2010, amid an announcement he would miss the first four games of that season due to a failed drug test. Harrison refused a paycut to stay in Pittsburgh in 2013, was released and signed with the Bengals. The Bengals cut him this offseason.
Holmes, the MVP of Super Bowl XLIII, likely smoked his way out of town, never to return as a member of the Steelers' roster. The Steelers signed free agents Lance Moore and Darrius Heyward-Bey this offseason and, along with drafting Bryant and carrying young receivers from 2013, the Steelers appear content to stick with what they have heading into Phase Two of the offseason program.
Harrison may create a little bit different of a scenario, though. While the Steelers said they will have sixth-round pick Jordan Zumwalt practice as an outside linebacker early in his career, the amount of pure outside linebackers on the Steelers sits at three - Jarvis Jones, Jason Worilds and Chris Carter. It wouldn't be impossible to envision a scenario in which Harrison was brought into camp with no assurance of a roster spot.