Free agency grade thus far?

Yeah, I read something about how he thought they were on the same level.....or something like that.

 

to me sign cam thomas to a 2 year 2 milion goes on the opposite direction of our needs , our defense start from the fron 3 we used to have 3 outstanding player (hampton keisel smith) , ,now we have heiward on this level , mclendon is a good all around backup and a ? at other de position . we already have arnfelt and williams why sign cam thomas ,that could be average at best , at this rate i would have draft luis nix and used the money elsewhere

 

If you are implying that the Steelers were not as well prepared to respond to the losing of Hood, then I agree. I actually think the Steelers were open to Woods stepping in as a possible starter, but they were a bit shocked that he was picked up by the Titans in relatively short order.

If you are implying that they should have made a better effort to sign Hood, then I disagree. There was no way they were going to have the money keep Hood and furthermore he wouldn’t have been worth the money anyway. Not because Hood stinks or is a bust, but because he is not a 3-4 DL.

 

The Steelers kicked the issue of Cotch around for multiple weeks meanwhile they were signing Guy Whimper, Cody Wallace, and David Palmer. Seems like a misplacement of priorities. I do agree though that once Carolina made their offer that there was no way they were going to be able to keep him.

 

Sando at ESPN gives the Steelers a C too.


Pittsburgh Steelers
Grade: C

Key signings: DT Cam Thomas, S Mike Mitchell
Key subtractions: WR Emmanuel Sanders, WR Jerricho Cotchery, DE Ziggy Hood, OLB LaMarr Woodley, T Levi Brown, LB Larry Foote

The Steelers got younger on defense with Mitchell's addition at safety and Woodley's release. They're back in the market for a receiver heading into a draft brimming with them.

"Other than Sanders, they didn't lose anybody that meant anything to them," Polian said. "Cam Thomas and Mike Mitchell are good pickups. They get a little bit better. The re-signings were not bad. The Steelers create wide receivers. It's a receiver draft. That is where they are going to go."

Williamson had low expectations for the Steelers in free agency because the team had a rough salary-cap situation.

"They were kind of boring," Williamson said. "I expected their offseason to be worse. All the cap finagling they did worked out smoother than I'd projected. They got Mitchell at a good price with the arrow pointing up -- exactly what they need. I did not expect Jason Worildsto remain there."

 

I think the cody Wallace signing was one of our better signings. we needed a backup as a center and guard and he fits that bill. this one seems to get overlooked, but well needed. with 9 draft spots we should be able to add what we need.

 

If you consider a grade of C as average, I'd like to read how members of the sunshine squad consider this free agent class as above average. I'm betting that there is a correlation between Obama supporters and the Tomlin/Colbert SSS .

 

I think moats could get better. they went back and forth in buffalo between the 3-4 and 4-3 that he never got settled in one spot. a lot of the reason I'd still like to see Harrison brought back. I think he could help all the backers and be a good backup. with butler and porter and Harrison they should and could become a decent group.

Wallace as I said was a good signing that we really needed. a more vetreran player if needed.

moore was a good pickup but also vet experience as a starter to help.

Mitchell is still a work in progress, but needed. allen will be a lot of help to all these young guys. troy not so much. he does his own thing. again vet stability.

Thomas could end up being valuable if he's the backup across the board and they go with our own youngsters to start. not my favorite pick but still could have some worth if not starting. again vet depth added.

they seem to be going on a wing and a prayer with the young guys to step up and improve and have a safety net behind them to help.

championship level? probably not this year. playoffs? a chance to sneak in if all goes well.

discussing politics, here is not the place. steeler football we can.:hello:

 

my original grade was B-. i would now bump it up to B+ with the Blount signing.

Bell and Blount make for one tough RB tandem. im serious when i say this could be their best tandem since Parker and Bettis from their Super Bowl XL season.

 

I had a C- previously. The Blount signing takes it to a B-!

 

i had b
now b+

 

Conformers!

 

What do they need to do in order to make it an A for you guys?

 

A ... LOL.. A? you're kidding right? its not their fault we dont/cant get an A.. we dont have the money to get an A... to me with signing blount we moved from a c- to a c+

HINES

 

No, I am not suggesting we get an A. I am wondering what it would take for us to get an A.

I wonder in addition how we are grading. We aren't going to go out and sign a DeSean Jackson, it isn't going to happen.

Standard 1...How do we compare to last year's team?

Standard 2....How did we do in free agency Sign vs Leave?

Standard 3....How did we do simply in filling our needs?

If you go S1, I think it is a C+
If you go S2, I think it is a solid B
If you go S3, I think we have a B+

We still have some needs. I would like to bring in another OLB, a RB, and a DE...maybe a WR if there is one we like and can afford. We still have the draft to fill some of our needs. This is the Steeler MO:

Role Players in Free Agency
Starters in the Draft

 

Originally gave a fat b... now an obese B

 

Haha I just didn't want to start a fight with anyone! Just pointing out how tackles is a somewhat weird stat to look at for NT's in a 3-4 scheme.

 

+1

 

It's still too early to grade the off-season (and free agency). We still have a lot of minimum salary guys to probably get to fill out the roster and there is still a chance that players like Harrison and Keisel come back to greatly help out on depth issues.

Personally, I had some major differences in "my plan".

The big one being not releasing Woodley. I still don't like what that does tot he depth of our "effective" OLB core. I would have really tried to find a way to keep Woodley for one more season.

I'm still waiting to see if the transition tag on Worilds leads to a new contract or did it inflate his value beyond what we planned to pay (like Starks in 2007) and lead us down a similar path of "needing" him more than he needs us (again like Starks) and a very bad situation next off-season from a negotiation stand point. I think I would not have placed a tag on Worilds and offered him a good deal (6-years, $43 million) and let the chips fall where they may (remember, if Worilds walks for a better deal, I still have Woodley and $9 million more in cap room right now).

The decision to drop Foote and sign Moats seems like an okay, lateral, get younger move. Moats is a little more versatile but doesn't know the system like Foote and forces Lebeau to go forward without a security blanket, experienced guy with the green dot (first time ever since his return).

Targeting Mitchell at safety was a very good move as well. He ended up getting a lot more money than I anticipated, but the market on safeties was very hot the first day of free agency. I think the Steelers structured a great team-friendly deal that possibly allows Mitchell to be the next Ryan Clark for this organization. Best move of the off-season by far.

The Cam Thomas deal is good. Al Woods got more money that the team or myself was willing to pay. Good for him and good for the Steelers to have a plan B to find a guy to give you 200 snaps at DE/NT and be a solid 4th/5th guy in your D-line rotation.

And finally, similar to Al Woods walking for greener pastures, so did Cotchery but the Steelers again quickly had a plan B to fill his role on the team with Lance Moore. Again, I wouldn't get TOO excited about the Thomas/Moore signings. They are not upgrades really to what we had and we shouldn't anticipate MORE usage of either, but they do fill out the roster in a lateral way and provide much needed depth to the roster with legit NFL talent.


An outside the numbers WR (whether that's Wheaton or not) needs to be planned for. And our DE/NT situation is pretty bad right now. I still think those two positions remain the primary targets of the draft.

If we choose to wait til after the draft (and I hope they don't force those position), then we're looking at possibly Holmes, Baldwin, Harrison or Keisel as signings in May (or later) to fill out the roster heading into camp.

Still a lot to do before September 1st.

 

i think if the Steelers manage to open enough cap room to bring back Velasco, i will give them an A in this offseason.

is he still on this team? i havent been following his situation. if so, make my grade an A.