Steelers Today - A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

As we’ve been expecting, free agent WR Nate Washington will be leaving the Steelers to pursue more money.  Washington signed a new deal with the Tennesee Titans.  Washington’s deal is reported to be 6 years, $27 million.

Washington had emerged last season as the Steelers’ #3 receiver.  He proved to be able to spread the field, and led the team in yards per catch (15.8 yds/rec.). 

Although his speed allowed him to get separation from his defenders, Washington’s hands were always suspect.  When drafted out of tiny Tiffin University, the Steelers knew that Washington was going to be a project.  During his first two seasons with the team, he was more likely to drop the ball than to catch it.  But during the past two seasons, he finally gained confidence.  It’s unfortunate that the Steelers will have to lose Washington after developing him into the player that he’s become.

But even if he had stayed with the Steelers, Washington would have been relegated to the #3 receiver position.  He will be much easier to replace than Hines Ward or Santonio Holmes would be.

Waiting in the wings to replace Washington is last year’s 2nd round draft pick, Limas Sweed.  Sweed is both bigger and faster than Washington, and given time, should develop into an even better player than Nate became.

Sweed is 6’4″ and 220 lbs., whereas Washington was only 6’1″ and 185 lbs.  Moreover, Sweed came from a much better college program (Texas) than Washington did.

Many fans got down on Sweed when he dropped passes during the Steelers’ Super Bowl run.  However, fans have to remember that Sweed was only a rookie, and he saw very little playing time last season.  If he works hard during the off-season, he should come into training camp as the #3 receiver, and should prove to be a competent replacement for Washington.

The position will not just be handed to Sweed.  He’ll have to earn it.  He will compete with Martin Nance during training camp.  Nance was on the Steelers practice squad after being cut by the Minnesota Vikings.  As fans may remember, Nance was Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite receiver at Miami of Ohio.  Nance has good size (6’3″, 213 lbs.), however he is rather slow footed.

I would expect the Steelers to draft another receiver to compete during camp, as well as to add depth at the position.  However, I believe that it might be prudent for them to pick up a bargain priced veteran receiver in free agency as an insurance policy.  I have no doubt that Sweed will be a good NFL receiver.  I’m just not certain that it will be in 2009.

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So far, the Steelers have gone according to their usual script during the free agency period.  The Steelers typically seek first to re-sign their own players.  Then, once the big spenders have left the pool, the Steelers will usually make a free agent signing or two that cause little splash.  The Steelers never sign big name free agents, but the ones that they sign often make a big contribution.

Recent Steelers free agent signings include Justin Hartwig, Keyaron Fox, and Ryan Clark.  James Farrior may be the best free agent acquisition currently on the Steelers’ roster.  He was signed for next to nothing when the New York Jets gave up on him.  The Steelers then plugged him in, and he’s been a critical component of the Steelers D ever since.  He’s a defensive captain, and a multi-time Pro Bowl player.

Instead of chasing big name free agents, the Steelers believe in taking care of their own players.  The Steelers understand that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side.  They know what their own players can do.  More importantly, they know about the problems that their own players may bring to the table.  What effect a player like Albert Haynesworth will have on the Redskins locker room is anybody’s guess.

So for the most part, the Steelers’ 2009 roster will look much like the one that recently won the Super Bowl.  Max Starks has been re-signed.  So has Willie Colon.  Chris Kemoeatu as well.  That insures that the entire starting offensive line will be back next year.

Some fans may be thinking, “The offensive line was terrible.  Why would we want to keep them intact?”  There are a couple of answers to that question.  First, the offensive line wasn’t as bad as Ben Roethlisberger’s sack total made it seem.  Big Ben holds the ball too long.  Sometimes that results in a great play, and sometimes it results in a sack.  Roethlisberger has said that he doesn’t plan to change his gunslinger style, so Steelers fans will just have to live with lots of sacks. 

The second thing to keep in mind about the offensive line is that this was their first year playing together.  Remember, Max Starks didn’t start off the year as the starting left tackle.  Chris Kemoeatu was playing his first year as a starter at left guard.  Justin Hartwig was in his first year as the Steelers’ center.  Darnell Stapleton was in his first year as a starting right guard.  And Willie Colon was in his second year as the Steelers right tackle.  That is not a lot of time spent together as a unit.  Yet, they won the Super Bowl.  With more time together, the O-line should get better, not worse.

It appears that the Steelers have made the decision that they can no longer tie up money on players who might be health risks.  Both Marvel Smith and Kendall Simmons cost the Steelers a lot of money last season while making almost no contribution on the field.  Both players might make a complete comeback and become Pro Bowl players.  That would make the Steelers decision to cut ties with them seem foolish.  However, the Steelers were willing to take that risk in order to eliminate the downside of continued health problems.

The greatest potential losses for the Steelers are still unanswered.  Cornerback Bryant McFadden is the highest rated CB in free agency.  He will likely get a much higher offer than the Steelers can afford to match. 

The Oakland Raiders recently signed their free agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha to a three year, $45.3 million contract.  Asomugha is guaranteed $28.5 million in the first two years of the contract. The Raiders have an option for a third year in 2011, which would be worth either $16.8 million or the amount of the quarterback franchise tag, whichever is greater.  That’s a lot of money.  Sure, Asomugha is a much better cornerback than Bryant McFadden.  But try telling McFadden’s agent that.  McFadden’s agent knows that his clients’ asking price just went up.

The fact that the Washington Redskins just signed CB DeAngelo Hall to a 6-year, $54 million deal with $22 million in guaranteed money was probably the last nail in Bryant McFadden’s Steeler coffin.  The market for cornerbacks is just too high.  The Steelers know that William Gay is ready to play, and Deshea Townsend is still around for insurance.  Expect the Steelers to draft a cornerback in the 3rd or 4th round of the draft, and to let McFadden sign a contract that is much richer than the Steelers would have offered.

Nate Washington is the other Steelers free agent that is likely to be gone come training camp.  Washington is one of the better (and faster) wide receivers available in free agency.  There will definitely be a market for his services.

Washington has always been fast, and he can get good separation from his defender.  However, his hands have not always been sure.  Whether Washington was going to hold onto the ball has always been a 50/50 proposition.  The Steelers have an exact clone of that already on the roster.  His name is Limas Sweed.

Personally, I’m not quite comfortable with Sweed as a starter just yet.  But I think he is going to be a quality wide receiver in the NFL.  In his limited time on the field, Sweed was getting excellent separation from his defenders.  He just couldn’t hold onto the ball.  It took Washington a few years to develop, and Sweed may need similar development time.  I won’t be surprised if the Steelers sign a low priced free agent wide receiver to help solidify the WR position until Sweed is ready to start.

Perhaps the Steelers biggest question mark during this free agency period concerns a player who isn’t even a free agent.  Albert Haynesworth’s $100 million dollar deal has certainly increased the price of retaining Steelers LB, team MVP, and NFL defensive player of the year, James Harrison. 

Harrison has one more year remaining on his contract.  However, the Steelers have been working hard to extend Harrison’s contract before next season when he could become a free agent.    Despite the fact that they play different positions, Haynesworth’s contract will affect Harrison’s negotiation. 

We’ve already mentioned that Nnamdi Asomugha got a $45.3 million contract with $28.5 million guaranteed, and that DeAngelo Hall got $54 million deal with $22 million in guaranteed money.  Now Haynesworth’s deal has to also be added into the mix.  Haynesworth got $100 million with an NFL-record $41 million in guarantees.  

Last off-season Minnesota gave defensive end Jared Allen a six-year deal worth $74 million with just over $31 million guaranteed, and the year before that the Colts handed defensive end Dwight Freeney a six-year, $72 million deal.

Joey Porter’s 5-year, $32 million contract, with $20 million in guaranteed money now seems rather small.  It is probably the cellar of James Harrison’s negotiations.

  Based on the above figures, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Harrison to seek a contract in the neighborhood of six years, $70-$80 million with at least $30 million guaranteed.  I don’t think the length of the deal will be nearly as important to Harrison as the amount of guaranteed money.

“I was hoping we’d get $100,” Harrison’s agent, Bill Parise, recently said.  Yeah, right.  One thing is for certain.   Harrison will not be playing for the $1.8 million next year that his contract calls for.

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I hate to blow my own horn, but I’m going to do it anyway.  I wrote a 3-part series called “If I were Kevin Colbert”, that predicted everything that has happened during the Steelers’ free agency period.  If you haven’t already read that series, please go back and do so.    Part 1 can be found here, and Part 2 can be found here.

In that series, I predicted that the Steelers would sign Max Starks to a whopping contract for the second year in a row.  I predicted that they would let Marvel Smith go.  I predicted that they would make an offer to Willie Colon, but that they wouldn’t do the same for Chris Kemoeatu.  I predicted that Anthony Smith would be let go.  Mitch Berger too.  I even predicted that they would let Arnold Harrison go, while resigning Anthony Madison and Sean McHugh to modest contracts.

A couple of things that I predicted have not yet happened.  I said that Bryant McFadden and Nate Washington would both receive offers that were too rich for the Steelers’ tastes, and they’d both be with new teams next year.  That hasn’t happened yet, but it will.

The one thing that surprised me is that the Steelers released Kendall Simmons.  He still has time left on his contract, so they didn’t have to make a move with him yet.  Either their doctors are telling them something that we don’t know, or they just don’t think he’s worth what he’s making. 

To be honest, even BEFORE Simmons hurt his ACL this past year, he was a revolving door on the offensive line.  He may as well have layed out a welcome mat for defensive linemen, he was so accomodating to their needs.  And 2007 was an even worse year for him.  He sucked.  He looked more like a matador than an offensive lineman.  Mike Tomlin obviously noticed that too.  Oh well.  See ya later, Kendall.

The bottom line is that Steelers’ Director of Football Operations, Kevin Colbert, obviously reads Steelers Today.  He did everything that we said that he should do, and we couldn’t be any happier.

By the way, Mr. Colbert, our consulting bill is in the mail.  Please pay promptly.

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February 7, 2009
By Donald Starver

The Super Bowl is over.  The confetti has been swept from the streets of downtown Pittsburgh.  The trophy is in the trophy case.  And Steelers’ Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert is back to work.

Colbert faces the unfortunate problem of having to protect his roster from opportunistic raiders.  This is an annual ritual in the NFL.  Teams that didn’t make it to the Super Bowl think that the easiest way to get better is to steal players from a team that DID make it to the Super Bowl.  Inevitably, the teams tend to pay way too much for those Super Bowl players.  A case in point is former Steeler Antwaan Randle El.  After the Steelers won Super Bowl XL, the Washington Redskins offered Randle El more money than Bernie Madoff stole from investors.  Randle El was a decent player, but he wasn’t worth what the Redskins paid him.  In the years since signing Randle El, the Redskins have learned that lesson too.

But despite the errors of the past, many NFL teams will line up this year to make the exact same mistake.  Nobody ever said that NFL GM’s were the brightest bunch.

The most vulnerable part of the Steelers’ roster is the offensive line.  Yeah, those guys who took tremendous heat from fans this season for letting Ben Roethlisberger get sacked 7,000 times (or maybe it just SEEMED like 7,000).  Despite their very public struggles this season, the offensive line will be the target of NFL raiders.

Four Steelers offensive linemen (Marvel Smith, Max Starks, Chris Kemoeatu, and Trai Essex) are unrestricted free agents.  Starting right tackle Willie Colon is a restricted free agent.  That means that 3/5ths of the Steelers front five will potentially be leaving in the off-season.  That is not a good thing for a team that lost Alan Faneca last year.  History has shown that continuity is an important factor in the success of offensive lines, and continuity is the one thing that the Steelers’ offensive line has been lacking over the past 3 years.

The easiest decision (in my opinion) is Marvel Smith.  Smith has missed 19 games over the past two seasons (including post-season games) due to back injuries.  Smith has had back surgery twice.  After the first surgery, Smith said that he felt better than he had ever felt.  Despite feeling “great”, Smith’s back problems caused him to only be able to play in 5 games in 2008.  The Steelers remained hopeful that Smith would make a full recovery and be able to play, so they kept him on the active roster until December when they finally put him on the injured reserve list.

Smith will be 31 years old when the 2009 NFL season starts.  That’s not particularly old for an offensive lineman.  However, for an offensive lineman with a history of back problems, he may as well be 200 years old.

Everyone thought that Kevin Colbert was crazy when he signed Max Starks to that huge contract last year.  As it turned out, signing Starks ended up being a brilliant move, and Marvel Smith turned out to be their worst investment.  Starks’ $6.8 million dollar salary brought a much greater return on investment (ROI) than the $6.6 million that the Steelers paid Smith to get back massages.

When healthy, Marvel Smith is a very good left tackle.  Much better than Max Starks.  Moreover, he’s a very nice guy.  But can the Steelers afford to take another risk on his unpredictable back?  I say no.  B’bye Marvel.

Max Starks presents a dilemma for the Steelers.  He has been a starting tackle in two Super Bowls.  Yet, we all know that he’s not a top-tier tackle.  So what do the Steelers do?  Good left tackles rarely hit the free agent market.  A left tackle who has started in 2 Super Bowls is probably going to be considered to be a desirable acquisition by many teams.  In addition to having 2 Super Bowl rings, Starks is huge.  He’s 6’8″ and 340 lbs.  That’s pretty impressive (much more impressive than his actual on-field play).

It’s likely that some team will offer Starks lots of money.  Probably more than the Steelers would like to pay him.  But if they let Marvel Smith go, then they have to do something to keep their $100 million quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, alive.  Letting their top two left tackles go in the same year might not be something that the Steelers are willing to do.  So unless Tony Hills is starting to look like an emerging superstar, the Steelers may end up paying Max Starks far more than he’s worth for the second year in a row.

Chris Kemoeatu and Willie Colon may as well be the same player.  Their situations are almost exactly the same.  Both players were thought of pretty highly when they were brought in.  Yet, after spending 4 and 3 years, respectively, on the Steelers roster, neither has developed into an offensive lineman who instills much confidence in his coaching staff.  Both players are an off-sides call or a holding penalty just waiting to happen (and they usually happen at the most inopportune times).

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t think there would be a big market out there for either of these players.  However, the Super Bowl champ phenomenon will probably cause both players to have unexpected suitors.  The surprising play of Darnell Stapleton and the return of Kendall Simmons will probably make Kemoeatu more expendable than Colon.  I’d expect the Steelers to let Kemo walk, and to tender a reasonable offer to Colon.  However, if the price tag gets too high, Colon will be gone as well.

Trai Essex is not likely to attract many offers.  In his 4 years with the team, he has not been able to break into the starting lineup except for when someone has been injured.  When Kendall Simmons went down with an ACL injury, undrafted practice squad player Darnell Stapleton earned his starting spot, while Essex continued to languish on the bench.  That probably tells us all that we need to know about how much confidence the Steelers’ coaches have in Essex.  Essex’s future with the Steelers is probably nonexistent.  See ya, Trai.

The next easy decision for Kevin Colbert is Bryant McFadden.  McFadden was arguably the Steelers’ best cornerback this year.  He doesn’t have the physical talents of Ike Taylor, but his effectiveness can’t be denied.  Unfortunately, McFadden took too long to prove his worth.  Had he played this way last year, the Steelers would have extended his contract and we wouldn’t be talking about him now.  But he didn’t, and we are.

Good cornerbacks are prime candidates for getting over-paid in free agency.  Bryant McFadden is going to be the beneficiary of that phenomenon.  Most Steelers fans would probably like to see McFadden remain on the roster.  So would I.  But the Rooneys have proven over the years that they don’t pay extravagant prices for free agents, no matter how well they’ve played.

Bryant McFadden has already tasted Super Bowl glory.  Twice.  So the allure of playing for a winner is not going to be his primary motivation.  He realizes that his next contract is going to be the one that sets up his family financially for generations.  He’s going to steal a line from “Jerry McGuire”, and adopt the mantra “SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!”

Fortunately for the Steelers, Deshea Townsend continues to be a dependable player despite his age, and William Gay has been reliable whenever he’s been on the field.  I haven’t yet forgiven Gay for wearing Arizona Cardinals’ colors to the Steelers parade (is it just me, or was that the most boneheaded move ever?  Our colors are BLACK & GOLD, William.  Black and gold!!!!!), but I’m glad that we have him as an insurance policy.  Goodbye, B-Mac.  We appreciate your contribution.

Nate Washington spent his first 3 seasons with the Steelers proving that there was no such thing as a pass that couldn’t be dropped.  Nate redefined “butter fingers”.  In fact, he appears to have taught his methods to Limas Sweed.

However, in his 4th year something changed.  Nate Washington blossomed into the Steelers best long threat.  He even managed to surpass Santonio Holmes in that regard (until the Super Bowl).  Washington averaged 15.8 yards per catch (during the regular season) as opposed to only 14.9 for Holmes.  Moreover, Washington had 4 catches of 40 yards or more, while Holmes only had two.

Washington has always been able to get separation from his defenders, but holding onto the ball was an issue.  Now that he’s solved that problem, I think the Steelers will try to keep him.  He’s only 25 years old, he has worked hard to improve.

Of course, if another team offers Washington a ridiculous amount of money, then the Steelers will wish him well.  But Colbert will probably make a legitimate effort to keep Washington.  In fact, he may offer him more money than fans expect.

Mitch Berger is a no-brainer.  Dan Sepulveda will be back next season.  See ya later, Mitch.

Tomorrow, in Part 2 of our series, we will take a look at the rest of the Steelers’ unrestriced free agents, and the the restricted free agents.  In Part 3, we will look at the players with one year left on their contracts.

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Before reading this article, please read the precursor found here.

“Minstrels shall sing of this epoch battle and children shall learn at their fathers’ knees of the fateful Charge of the Men of Steel. Woe unto the evil minions of the Dark Hall for they shall fall in utter defeat to the warriors of the Black and Gold”.
-The soothsayer Nick

And lo, the men of steel didst traverse into the lair of the purple dragon on their quest to slay the mighty beast, and lay claim to the kingdom of AFC North.

The mighty warriors, adorned in their black and gold armor, found themselves surrounded by an  assembly such as had never been seen before in the vile land of Baltimore.  It is said that a record 71,502 orcs, trolls, and other foul worshipers of the purple beast did gather in M&T coliseum to witness the clash that had been foretold.

The mighty purple beast.

The purple dragon did draw first blood.  The mighty beast inflicted much damage to the valiant men of steel, yet their mettle did not waver.  For almost sixty minutes the two sides did battle, and victory for the forces of purple darkness seemed all but assured.

But when all seemed lost, the mighty warriors Lord Ben, Sir Hines, and Sir Nate did lead a final valiant charge that rallied the men of steel.  Emboldened by the courage of Lord Ben, Sir Hines, and Sir Nate, the other men of steel did rally in kind until finally the young squire “Santonio of the Smoky Weed” did draw his mighty blade and deliver the death blow to the purple beast.

By defeating the great beast, the Men of Steel did lay claim to the kingdom of AFC North and received the gift of the “first round bye”.  The threat of the purple beast was no more, and the children of light could sleep soundly, knowing that good had triumphed over evil.

The Men of Steel must now leave the foul land of Baltimore and travel back to the civilized valleys of Pittsburgh.  Upon returning home, they must prepare for battle once again as they have been challenged by the over-rated Titans of Tennessee.  Like all AFC challengers before them, the Titans shall be found wanting, and the Men of Steel will prove their worthiness to rule the kingdom of AFC.

Epilogue: When the Men of Steel didst defeat the mighty purple behemoth, the sorcery that did empower the beast was lifted, and he reverted to his true form.    Behold, the true nature of the beast.

The dragon's true form.

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