The Steelers have started contract talks with Timmons and AB

Per Jason LaCanfora of CBS.

 

Here we go! Gonna be another interesting offseason!

 

I have mixed feelings about this as far as Timmons goes. For the record I love what he has done here but I am concerned his speed is a problem. If he comes back at a cap friendly deal I would like it but I feel we need to have another option at ILB as well. Maybe we sign him 1-2 years team friendly and draft a guy and hope LT teaches him good. Anyone else feel like this?

 

I understand your concern with the speed but even though he has lost a step, he is probably still the 3rd fastest backer we have behind shazier and Dupree. he has a couple high level years left in him.

 

i know its not just a snap of the fingers and it happens, but i wonder if Timmons can play OLB. hes big, strong and still pretty fast. sometimes you need to think outside the box. like i said, not sure if he can even do it, but maybe worth a look.

 

I think he does have a couple years left as well and he did play at a high level down the stretch. I won't be upset if he comes back but it has to be at a team friendly contract, imo. As far as the 3rd fastest I don't believe it, I think Chick and VW are both faster and even MataKevich as slow as he is may give him a run for his money, jmo. With that said if he is our 3rd fastest that's even more reason to let him go....speed speed speed!

 

im okay with resigning Timmons at a much reduced rate. But what I would like to see is the coaching staff not put Timmons and Harrison in a position not to succeed, no way they should be in pass coverage as much as they do. This is not rocket science.

 

Sign Timmons for 2 years 9 mill, make a best offer deal to AB for 60 mill, and forget about this highest paid 75 million receiver nonsense....

 

not sure if the coaches can control that. if the opposing team has a good qb he can check out of plays and force those guys to either cover or leave a guy open. thats what separated a good defense from a great one. a great defense has guys that can do both. we saw that the Steelers didnt have that and that was one of their down falls

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that while we are talking upgrade and speed Timmons isn't the only one we need to upgrade.... safety, 3rd DB and OLB. We can't fix it all I don't think but if we mix and match we can get better while still having a guy like Timmons. Lets say we draft a CB in the 1st round our starting corners are set but we ease him into the 3rd CB roll where Gay use to come in and that will help add speed. Yes I know we lose experience but look at how well Burns and Davis came around. If we bring back Timmons we can upgrade other areas and be better as well. Just something to look at from a different angle.......

 

Then we will see much of the same Blast. Timmons is great close to the line, in space he is a sitting duck. He is slow footed. He has brought many years of great service but he cannot cover in space anymore. Any opposing defense will see and expose that mismatch. Same with JH. They cannot have him starting again this season but using him for a situational pass rusher and depth.

 

Okay when the play dictates, but what I saw against the Pats was really stupid. How many times did Harrison and Dupree drop into coverage, then they tried to rush Timmons up the middle along with the front 3. They were waiting for the rush up the middle because of how the Texans put pressure up the middle, and Belacheat knew we would try the same.

The biggest problem with it is that when something dosent work we keep doing the same things over and over. Almost like we are too stubborn to make in game adjustments. I thought i read somewhere that against the Pats, our best pass rushers, Harrison and Dupree dropped into coverage 40% of the pass plays, Harrison is too old and slow to be doing that, and Dupree is just not good enough yet in pass coverage.

 

There's only a couple of LBers that can cover deep, panthers Luke Kuechly comes to mind as the best at doing it, for sure old and slow LBs shouldnt be expected to do it........

 

Wednesday teams can start franchising players, I expect to see Bell get the tag soon, AV is going to have to be signed soon as well since his contract has expired but AV has the ERFA designation which gives the team exclusive rights to sign him to a new contract:

Exclusive-Rights Free Agents (ERFA)

An Exclusive-Rights Free Agent is an NFL player who is not under contract, but has only two years of NFL experience. If his former club makes him an offer at the three year veteran minimum salary, then that's it, he has to take it or leave the NFL. These guys have no right to negotiate with other teams. They are "free" only in the sense that they're free to quit.

 

Timmons was picked ahead of Woodly. We now know why. I think he knows he is on the down side (for age). He will be reasonable. Always been there for us

 

Yeah but if you slap him in the head, he's out 4 to 8 games. Who is he covering then?

 

In his 5 year career regular season he has 71 starts out of 80 games played, thats not a bad record at all...

career starts-2012 16 games

career starts-2013 16 games

career starts-2014 16 games

career starts-2015 13 games

career starts in-2016-10 games

 

2015 and 2016? I live in Carolina. People are worried every time LK takes a hit.
You say he missed 9 games. Then you tell is he missed 13 games in the last 2 years

 

He was an outside pass rusher in college and with the Steelers as a rookie before moving inside. I don't remember if they just thought it was a better fit or finding him a place to play with Woodley and Harrison outside. Perhaps a bit of both.

That said, I don't see the need for a switch now unless Harrison doesn't return.

 

He missed 0, 0, 0, 3 and 6 games in those years. Nine in total.

Until his concussion this year (and I believe looked more serious than it was, as the team held him out since their season was over), I don't recall much LK angst.

 

Fuzzy math on my part. But, I bet next hit in the head he retires

 

Bet he dont, he loves the game too much plus he has a contract worth 61.8 million$ that locks him up untill 2022..........

 

No problem.

And after some googling, I stand corrected. It's his second concussion in two seasons, and there's even chatter among NFL players that he should strongly consider his life's work.