Steelers extend Timmons
The Pittsburgh Steelers have two important players who will become free agents at the end of this season; Troy Polamalu and Lawrence Timmons. After signing Willie Colon, Ike Taylor, and LaMarr Woodley, the Steelers didn’t have enough money left to sign both of them. I thought it was obvious which of them the Steelers should sign, and it looks like the Steelers agreed with me.
The Steelers chose to sign Lawrence Timmons to a new six-year, $50 million contract.
Don’t get me wrong. Troy is a crucial part in the Steelers’ defensive machine. He’s the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year. He can do things that few other players in the NFL can do. But despite that, signing Timmons was more important.
Troy Polamalu is the past, and the present. Lawrence Timmons is the future.
We all know that despite Polamalu’s amazing talent, he has had a hard time staying healthy in recent years. Troy is 30 years old, and his best years may be behind him.
Lawrence Timmons, on the other hand, is only 25 years old, and his best years are ahead of him.
Steelers LB Lawrence Timmons
Timmons led the Steelers in tackles in 2010 with 135. That’s more than double Troy Polamalu’s 63 tackles. Timmons also had more sacks, more forced fumbles, and more fumble recoveries than Polamalu. In fact, the only key category that Polamalu led Timmons in was interceptions. Polamalu had 7, while Timmons only had 2.
Timmons was Mike Tomlin’s first draft pick when he took over as Steelers head coach. Tomlin took Timmons in the first round in 2007. The San Francisco 49er’s Patrick Willis was the only linebacker taken ahead of Timmons that year.
Timmons didn’t break into the Steelers’ starting lineup until his 3rd season, and many fans were disappointed by that. But since being moved to the inside and becoming a starter, Timmons has been an unheralded star.
Timmons is the fastest of the Steelers’ linebackers. Moreover, if you ask the team, they’ll tell you that Timmons is the hardest hitting. That’s high praise when you consider that the Steelers include James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley among their linebackers.
As an inside linebacker, Timmons doesn’t accumulate as many sacks as his outside counterparts Harrison and Woodley. And in the world of linebackers, sacks are the sexy statistic. It’s the statistic that everyone talks about. But Timmons had almost 3 times as many tackles as Woodley. That’s critical to the team’s success, even if it’s not sexy.
With his new contract, Timmons is now locked up through the 2016 season. That’s good for Timmons, and good for the Steelers.
Congratulations, Lawrence. You’ve earned the new contract.
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Good…good…
1I agree that Timmons was the priority (for the reasons you mentioned) but the comparison of statistics between him and Polamalu isn’t very meaningful.
The Steeler defense is very structured and every position has a role to play. The line stuffs the run, the OLBs get the sacks, and the ILBs get the tackles. An ILB has led the Steelers in tackles in 4 of the last 5 years (J.Harrison beat Farrior by 2 tackles in the other year). So I would expect Timmons to have a lot more tackles than Polamalu.
Polamalu is a transcendent player that can change the game (when healthy). He personally won a few games for us last year before his last injury. I would gladly pay a few million for him to be a just part time player in the regular season in order to keep him healthy for the playoffs. The Steelers have the room to extend him too because Polamalu already has a large cap number – an extension wth a large signing bonus which lowers his base salary is doable. Polamalu takes great care of his body and should be able to go a few more years. His playing style, however, wears him down during the season.
Basically, Polamalu needs to decide if he wants to retire a Steeler and rack up a few more SB’s in exchange for less playing time and less money – and the Steelers need to decide how much they are willing to pay for a part time player.
All that being said, I’m glad Timmons is in the fold. Everyone around the Steelers (players, coaches, reporters) keep talking about how he hasn’t reached in potential yet. I look forward to seeing him do so in the black and Gold in the years to come.
2John,
3You’re right that the comparison isn’t very meaningful. However, I felt that I had to do it so that people could understand the relative importance of Timmons. The inside LB’s just don’t get the credit that the outside LB’s do. But we both know that their role is just as important. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fans who don’t understand that. I recently heard someone say that TImmons was a “bust”. I just scratched my head at that comment.
I’d have to scratch my head at that too. As a mid-first round pick, one might have wished for him to crack the starting line up sooner but I guess some people don’t realize how many first round picks simply never pan out. I guess since pittsburgh hasn’t had a real first round bust in over a decade, some people forget what a true bust is.
He’s an elite LB who’s only 25 and hasn’t reached his peak. I wish they had more busts like this.
4I too saw something posted where Timmons was called a bust. So a the guy who leads the AFC Champs in tackles is a bust?
Those “fans” need to Google “Huey Richardson” or “Jamain Stephens” and then get back to the rest of us.
5John,
I think the fact that LaMarr Woodley broke into the starting lineup before him may have bothered some fans. But he had early injuries, and breaking into the Steelers linebacker rotation isn’t easy. Just ask Jason Worilds or Stevenson Sylvester.
But now that he’s a starter, I think he’s going to maintain his position for a very long time.
6Jim,
7Arrrrgggghhhh!! Why did you have to mention Huey Richardson and Jamain Stephens? Now I’m going to have to shoot you.
Who is the obvious replacement for James Farrior as the “Mike” linebacker? Would Timmons slide over to handle that responsibility, Foote or one of the new guys?
8Dan,
Not sure about that one. Frankly, it looks like Farrior is going to play until he’s 50.
It would seem to be more difficult to have Timmons slide over rather than just remain in the position that he’s already learned. Thus, I would think that Larry Foote or Stevenson Sylvester would be a more likely choice.
Timmons could of course take over calling the defenses from his current position. Or someone else could take over that responsibility. I’ve always heard that it’s a pretty heady responsibility. Not sure if Timmons is up to it.
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