Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Is it just me, or are the Steelers becoming more and more nostalgic each year?

In recent years, they’ve brought back former players like Bryant McFadden, Larry Foote, and Plaxico Burress.  Earlier this month they brought back William Gay.  Now they’ve added another former player who wasn’t outstanding during his first tenure with the team.

According to ProFootballTalk.com and ESPN, the Steelers have signed Matt Spaeth, who was recently released by the Chicago Bears.

Neither the Steelers official website, nor the two major Pittsburgh newspapers have reported Spaeth’s signing, so there is a possibility that all of the details haven’t been worked out yet.  But it appears likely that Spaeth is rejoining the Steelers.

Matt Spaeth

Spaeth spent his first 4 seasons with the Steelers before leaving as a free agent to join the Chicago Bears.  Spaeth never established himself as a consistent starter with either team.  Moreover, despite being 6’7″ tall, Spaeth has never been much of a red zone threat.  He has a total of 8 touchdowns during his 6-year NFL career.  He has never scored more than 3 touchdowns during a single season, and he only did that once (during his rookie season).

Spaeth is an adequate blocker, but he isn’t as good in that department as either Heath Miller or David Johnson.  So it would appear that the only reason the team brought him back is because of familiarity and the fact that Heath Miller is likely to miss the first few weeks of the season while recovering from an injury.

Friday came to an end, and it turned out to be a day of defections from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Three players signed contracts with new teams on Friday, Keenan Lewis, Ryan Mundy, and Willie Colon.  Lets take a look at each of these signings, and discuss what it means for the Steelers.

Keenan Lewis
Starting cornerback Keenan Lewis was the one free agent that I was most hoping would decide to stay with the Steelers, but that didn’t happen.  Lewis signed with his hometown team, the New Orleans Saints.

The disappointing part of Lewis’ departure is that the Steelers could have kept him if they wanted to.  But they didn’t even make him an offer.  He didn’t get an offer last year when he was a restricted free agent, and he didn’t get an offer this year as an unrestricted free agent.  The Saints ended up stealing him for a price that will only count for $2.2 million against their 2013 salary cap.  That’s very cheap for a starting NFL cornerback.

In my opinion, Lewis is more of a philosophical loss than any of the other players.  The Steelers drafted Lewis, and he struggled for his first three years with the team.  But it all finally came together for him last year, and he emerged as a starter.  But now that he’s become a viable player for the Steelers, they let him leave for another team.  NFL teams can’t afford to invest time and money into grooming young players only to see them leave once they’ve become a finished product.  Now that Lewis is 26 years old, he is in his prime playing years, and the Steelers won’t get to reap the benefits of their investment into his development.  Hopefully, this isn’t a pattern that we’ll be seeing very often with young players.

Ryan Mundy
Mundy has been a mediocre backup for the entire time he’s been with the Steelers.  He never even came close to becoming a starter.  Moreover, he never did anything that couldn’t have been done by any random undrafted free agent.  So losing him is not a big loss for the Steelers.

Mundy signed with the New York Giants today, but other than his wife, I don’t think anyone really cares.

Willie Colon
Colon is also going to New York.  Only he won’t be joining Ryan Mundy on the Giants.  Instead, Colon signed with the New York Jets. 

I had been suggesting that the Steelers should move Colon to guard for years, and then last year they finally did, and he was great in the position.  The problem was that Colon just couldn’t stay healthy.  He missed 36 games over the past 3 years.  And made a fortune while missing all of those games.  So he can afford to sign for the one year, $1.2 million contract the Jets gave him. 

Others to watch
We’ll be watching anxiously to see which of the other former Steelers will be signing with new teams.  Rumor has it that James Harrison has had some very fruitful conversations with the Baltimore Ravens, who have lost 3 linebackers since the Super Bowl.  I would hate seeing Harrison wearing purple and black.  I’d also hate to see the Steelers have to face him twice per year.

It has now been 24 hours since the NFL free agent signing period began, and the Steelers have already had lots of activity.  Let’s quickly review what’s happened so far.

Mike Wallace - Gone!  That’s right, gone.  Everyone was expecting Wallace to sign with the Miami Dolphins, and that’s exactly what he did.  More importantly, he got paid the big bucks, just like he wanted to.    Wallace signed a contract that will make him second only to the likes of Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald.    I guess holding out from training camp and dropping passes is actually a viable way to get a pay increase.  Who knew?

Willie Colon – Gone!  But unlike Mike Wallace, Willie Colon got cut.  You can’t make the club if you’re laying in the tub.  And that’s what Colon was doing far too often over the past 3 seasons.

Colon was actually doing well in his new position at guard.  But he was paid far too much for a player who has missed 36 games over the past three seasons.

Larry Foote – Signed!  The Steelers signed Foote to a 3-year extension.  After having left the Steelers once before to sign with the Detroit Lions, I didn’t expect to see him play for anyone else ever again.  And that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

LB Larry Foote

Now if only Sean Spence would get healthy and take Foote’s job permanently.

Plaxico Burress – Signed!  Yup, the Steelers signed Burress to another one-year deal.  I guess catching 3 passes is enough to earn another contract.  Who knew it was so easy?  I guess I’m going to have to be a walk-on at Steelers Training Camp this summer.  I’m pretty sure I can catch 3 passes.   That ought to earn me a spot on the squad.

Ramon Foster – Signed!  Ramon Foster is like a bad case of Herpes.  No matter how hard the Steelers try, they just can’t seem to get rid of him.

Frankly, I’ve always liked Ramon, and I’m glad to see that he’ll be back with the Steelers next year.  And if history is any indication, he’ll end up being a starter by mid-season.

Jonathan Dwyer – Signed!  Dwyer must have been concerned about his value on the open market, because he signed his tender offer before the ink was even dry.

David Johnson – Signed!  Johnson is back from his injury, and just signed a one-year deal.  He won’t be a viable replacement for the injured Heath Miller, but he is a good blocker.

Steve McLendon – Unknown.  The Steelers tendered an offer to McLendon, but he hasn’t signed it yet.

Isaac Redman – See Steve McLendon.

Emmanuel Sanders – See Isaac Redman.

Rashard Mendenhall – No news yet.  But Mendenhall is an unrestricted free agent, and most people believe that he will follow Mike Wallace out of Pittsburgh.  I agree with them.  But I actually wish there were a way to get him to stay.

Don’t leave, Rashard.

Edit:  Rashard Mendenhall has signed with the Arizona Cardinals since this article was written.  He’ll be rejoining his former Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians.

Bruce Gradkowski – Signed!  That’s right, the Steelers signed free agent QB Bruce Gradkowski.  And I am totally ecstatic about the move.  In my opinion, Gradkowski is an upgrade over both Charlie Batch and Byron Leftwich.  And unlike Batch and Leftwich, Gradkowski doesn’t already qualify for Social Security benefits.

I still remember when Gradkowski was playing for the Oakland Raiders, and he led them to a victory over his hometown team.  I’ve always thought he would look good in black and gold.   However, I probably shouldn’t get too excited about this signing.  After all, Ben Roethlisberger’s backups seldom see any action.  But it’s still nice to have Gradkowski on the team.

So what are your thoughts on what the team has done so far?  Which moves do you like, and which ones don’t you agree with?

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the Steelers released linebacker James Harrison this morning.

Harrison had spent the past 9 seasons with the Steelers, and is one of their best linebackers of all-time.  His interception during Super Bowl XLIII will always be a part of Steelers’ lore.  And who could ever forget when he body slammed that Cleveland Browns fan.

Harrison slams Browns fan

Harrison instilled fear in opponents, much like great Steelers of the past like Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Mel Blount, Greg Lloyd, Joey Porter, and even Jerome Bettis.  He worked hard, and hit even harder.  Steeler Nation couldn’t have asked for a more ideal player than James Harrison.

But all good things must come to an end, and Harrison’s time with the Steelers is doing just that.  But the question is “was it a good decision?”

Harrison will be 35 years old next season, which is ancient for an NFL player.  And Harrison’s sack totals have dropped steadily over the past 3 seasons.  He had 10.5 sacks in 2010, 9 in 2011, and only 6 in 2012.  So it would appear that Harrison’s production has been on the decline.  But that’s not necessarily true.

Yes, Harrison did only have 6 sacks in 2012, but that’s because he was slow to recover from knee surgery.  He got steadily better as the season progressed.  In fact, if you break down the 2012 season, you’ll see that Harrison had only one sack in his first 6 games following the injury.  But in the final seven games, he had 5 sacks.  That’s a pretty good pace.  In fact, it projects to 11.5 sacks over a full 16 game season.  Harrison has only exceeded 11.5 sacks one time in his entire career.

Harrison sacks Flacco

I understand that the real reason the Steelers had to cut Harrison was for salary cap reasons, and not productivity reasons.  Harrison was scheduled to make $6.57 million in 2013, and $7.57 million in 2014, and the Steelers needed to free up salary cap space.  But let’s face it, the Steelers’ linebacker who isn’t earning his big paycheck wears #56, not #92.  But of course, LaMarr Woodley is only 28 years old, and that’s far too young to give up on him.  So instead, James Harrison is no longer a Steeler.

As much as I hate to say it, I actually agree with the Steelers’ decision.  Just as I agreed with their decision to get rid of James Farrior last year.  You can’t build a team with 35 year old players.  It’s impractical from an age standpoint, and from a salary standpoint.  Younger players are usually cheaper, and have many more years left in their career.  So it’s time for Jason Worilds to step up and prove why the Steelers drafted him so high.

If the Steelers use the available cap space to sign Keenan Lewis, it will make losing Harrison easier to bear.  But even if they don’t do so, I still think Kevin Colbert did the right thing.

What do you readers think?  Was cutting James Harrison a smart business move, or a big mistake?

According to published reports, cornerback William Gay could be returning to the Steelers.

That noise you just heard was the sound of thousands of Steelers fans fainting in unison.  Anyone who watched Gay play while he was with the Steelers will understand why his return would elicit that response from fans.

William Gay doing what he does.

Gay is scheduled to be at the Steelers training facility today, and he tweeted that he’s rejoining the Steelers.  First he changed his Twitter account information to say “Cornerback of the Pittsburgh Steelers”.  Then when asked on Twitter by Steelers’ safety Ryan Mundy if he was returning to the team, Gay replied “Yea.”  He also wrote, “I’m glad I didn’t sell my condo in Pittsburgh.”

William Gay allows another TD

Gay would give the Steelers a veteran presence in the backfield.  This is particularly important because it looks like Keenan Lewis may leave via free agency.  If that happens, the Steelers don’t have much depth at the position.

At least he’s consistent.

The concern that I have over a possible return by William Gay is that he was arguably the most hated member of the team when he left.  Gay’s career was schizophrenic.  Fans were never sure if Gay was going to make a great play, or if he was going to get burned for a touchdown.  But getting burned for touchdowns seemed to happen far more frequently.

Gay strikes again.

Gay spent 5 years with the Steelers  before leaving in 2012 to join Ken Whisenhunt and the rest of the Steelers’ castoffs with the Arizona Cardinals.  But after one season in Arizona, it looks like Gay will be returning to the Steelers.

He’s perfected this play.

So what do you fans think?  Is Gay’s return a good thing or a bad thing?  I’d love to hear your opinions.

Lest we forget.