Steelers cut Smith, Farrior, & Kemoeatu
The Turk has made several more visits to the Steelers.
Yesterday, the team cut veteran wide receiver Hines Ward. Today, veterans James Farrior, Aaron Smith, and Chris Kemoeatu were added to the salary cap casualties.
Most fans thought that Aaron Smith would retire anyway. He has sat out a portion of the season with injuries in 4 of the past 5 years. Smith turns 36 in April, and the combination of age and injuries probably made his retirement inevitable. Nevertheless, it’s difficult to see him go.
Like Smith, James Farrior was a stalwart on the Steelers’ defense. He was a defensive captain, and he called most of the defenses.
Farrior, who is 37 years old, spent his first 5 seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets, and the past 10 seasons with the Steelers.
Steelers LB James Farrior
Farrior split time with Larry Foote last year, and fans have said that he looked visibly slower for the past three seasons. So his release also didn’t come as a surprise.
Chris Kemoeatu’s release will probably be received differently than Ward’s, Smith’s, and Farrior’s were. While the latter three were long-time fan favorites, and contributed greatly to the Steelers’ success, Kemoeatu was more of an enigma.
Kemoeatu is a massive guard who replaced Alan Faneca when he signed a free agent contract with the New York Jets. I had very high hopes for Kemoeatu. But those hopes were quickly dashed.
Despite his size and speed, Kemoeatu developed a habit of making costly mental mistakes. He could be counted on to jump off-sides, hold his opponent, or get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. And it always seemed to come at the worst possible time. We expect boneheaded mistakes from rookies, but they’re not acceptable from veterans like Kemoeatu.
Eventually, the Steelers coaching staff reached the same conclusion that I had reached years ago; Kemoeatu had to go. He was benched during the 2011 season, and now he’s been released from the team.
These are sad days for the Steelers, but they were inevitable. The team was $25 million over the salary cap at the beginning of the off-season. So they not only had to get under the salary cap, but they also had to free up cap space to sign Mike Wallace and any rookies or free agents that they acquire through the draft or free agency.
With the cuts and salary restructuring that the Steelers have done, they have shaved $37 million from their salary cap.
Now they need to sign Mike Wallace to a long-term deal.
Do you think this is it for the cuts, or do you think they’ll continue? If so, who do you reckon will be cut? I’m thinking Hampton’d be next up on the chopping block..
1Saw it coming. Smith was injury prone, Farrior was a huge liability in pass coverage, and Kemoeatu was just plain bad. The only loss we may feel is Ward, maybe Farrior, but there are other vets on D.
2There not going to cut Hampton untill/unless they get a replacement. For all of the others, they already had a replacement on the roster.
3As a devout fan for as long as I have been around I am sitting here watching a super bowl winning team being systematically picked apart and all people do is make excuses for why they are doing it. Suppose all this damage is done for just one person, sign him to a long term deal and he’s done with before he starts. The treatment of at very least Hines Ward and Farrior is a disgrace and should be revisited for what it is. It surely has made me rethink my loyalty and for the players included in this so called “shake up” I;m sure it has made them rethink their loyalty…..
4This is the NFL 2012. Salary caps and all of the financial intricacies require teams to make tough decisions. It is unfortunate that we have a handful of great guys who have reached the end of their careers at the same time. On the other hand, we should be celebrating that we had these guys together for 10+ years. Pretty amazing in pro sports today. They gave it their all – and we loved them for it. Father time catches us all. It is the right thing to do for the future of this team –it just stinks that the time is here.
5I look forward to Hines, James, Aaron & Hokie coming back to Heinz Field to be properly honored as great Steelers that we all respect. Then, as I do now, I tip my hat to them!
Fielding a consistently powerful team year after year to have a shot a greatness demands consistently strong draft selection with an occassional jackpot, managing the cap, avoiding costly free agency signings and releasing aging stars who are too far past their prime or pricey to pull their weight. We should feel fortunate that Steelers management understand this.
6I agree. Otherwise, we become the Redskins.
So, while we’re on the subject, anyone think Hampton may be released? He’s an aging 340 lb NT with a torn ACL, though we don’t have anyone on the roster to replace him (yet).
7Although I think Snack is a candidate for release I think it is too soon because then the Steelers would need two new NTs with the loss of Hoke. If Casey can give them significant playing time in run situations next year for 10-12 games, that will allow them to develop McClendon, assuming he’s good enough and buy time for them to train a rookie NT.
8I don’t think they’ll release Hampton this year. All of the other release have someone good behind (or ahead!) of them. This might his last year though. What is his contract situation?
Also, they put Ward back in get his record. I don’t think the significance of doing that, while in a playoff chase should be forgotten. I think that speaks of loyal right there.
9I agree. It would be a problem if they got rid of Hampton now. They may be able to get Poe or another NT in the draft. But until that happens, do you really want them to go into the season with McClendon as the only NT on the roster? I know I certainly don’t want that.
I’m really nervous about how Casey is going to recover from his ACL injury. I hope this is the final year that I’ll have to write that the Steelers need to get a new, young nose tackle.
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