Lawrence Timmons

not sure if there is a thread, but it's been discussed on other posts, but what happens to Timmons? He's crossed the threshold of 30, and is one of the more solid LB's in the NFL. Problem is he has crossed 30, will want some big dollars, and can't cover a cereal box on pass plays. So, what happens to him? IMO Timmons will be let go, and sign elsewhere. With the money AB and Bell will require I just don't see them spending that money on him, and I'd say his money would be 8-9 mill a year? Other issue is we must find a replacement quickly, and even with all the CAP space we have, can we find one that is affordable?

 

HE cannot cover in space. He is good at the point of attack. They didn't sign him for a reason. Need to get younger there. They have Dirty Red, give him a shot as well as they signed Vince Williams. Appreciate what Timmons has done but they have bigger fish to fry. He will go somewhere and get a few more years unless he will do a cap friendly deal. But that still will make him a liability in coverage...

 

Timmons wants to stay in Pittsburgh and he's said he would take less money to stay. I also don't like seeing him drop into coverage but I don't see that changing any time soon.

 

I say we keep him. He led the team in tackles. He really never misses tackles. He did have that huge int during the big winning streak. Good experience and it seems like him and shazier have a good relationship.

 

Yeah and then later said they weren't even close so who knows.

 

Let him go and Billy B will sign him in like 5 minutes, and talking about him being 30 when we have a LB who will be back next year at age 39..........

 

Been saying all year they will re-sign Timmons. I'm betting on a 2 year deal that is team friendly. They won't leave themselves high and dry at the ILB spot. You think LT is bad in coverage, then I can't imagine VW98 and Dirty Red will be much better. I love all 3 of those guys, but you can't deny their weaknesses. Add in Shazier's injury history and they will make the effort to re-sign.

 

I don't understand how many of you make not being able to cover guys like Edelman/Hill across the middle the basis for getting rid of Timmons. Even Shazier with his "all-world" speed has trouble doing that.

Timmons is our best tackler, run stopper, and a guy that is very physical. He is also still very fast. He should be resigned.

 

dump moats and save that 2.5 million. draft some speed at ILB to team with shazier. (josh harvey-clemons) keep vince williams and tyler matakevich and maybe even lj fort. the more speed the better. draft OLB or two to go along with chickillo, dupree and harrison.

 

They should bring him back, but Timmons needs to be reasonable for his $$$. You can't pay him big bucks any more. The 30 age is less of a factor than the $$ to me. Look, we even walked away from that 39 year old when his $$ became too much for his age. The FO should just be wise, but I think they already hedged their bet by signing Williams to a contract.

 

they should try Jarvis Jones at ILB

 

I wonder if he'd be willing to move to OLB and split snaps with silverback

 

I don't understand why Shazier isn't running with TE's down the field or blitzing from the edge a few times.

Shazier is the new Troy P. Of our defense we need him all over the field.

 

Jarvis is a free agent, they aren't going to re-sign him either.

 

Great depth at right price.

 

bottom line is, Timmons is probably the best player on an average defense. it would be completely ignorant to let him walk. now if he wants huge money then you have to. I don't think he will and he is worth 8 or 9 million.

 

Timmons has been nothing but the perfect Steeler. I'd hate to see him in any other uniform. I hope they keep him around.

 

I agree, my point is how much will it cost the team?

 

I would have no problem with him on a 3 year deal. I don't think the Steelers will over spend, but I think Timmons will get more on the open market for sure than what the Steelers will pay him.

So he will have to take less to remain here. He's been a very solid player for a decade. That's going to start wearing on him at some point you would think.

Vince Williams is a good Insurance policy for sure. Was glad they locked him up for 3 years. But give Shazier, never playing a full 16 game season. You need depth at ILB for sure.

 

Timmons will get a James Farrior team friendly contract like farriors 08 5 year deal:

"James has played at an extremely high level the entire time I have been here," second-year coach Mike Tomlin said. "Not only is he an outstanding player, he's also an outstanding professional and, of course, he's an outstanding leader for us."

The meat of the contract is the first three seasons, valued at $12.6 million, including $10 million in the first two years. The last two years were tacked on primarily to ease the team's salary cap concerns, but Farrior said he hasn't ruled out playing beyond even the contract's fifth season.

 

I want to see Timmons back and think he will be, but I'd be kinda pissed if they gave him a 5 year deal. I don't think he has 5 years left in him, so then we are eating some money there at the end, wouldn't we?

I'd be looking at a 2-3 year deal, perferably 2.

 

In 2015, Cam Heyward was the best defender. With Cam injured, Shazier was the best defender in 2016. Timmons was an above average ILBer for years but not elite. He couldn't hack it as an OLB pass rusher. NE picked on him in coverage. He was the first of the fast and good in pass coverage LBer of the Tomlin era. Shazier, Jones, Dupree followed, getting away from the thumper, run only, ILBer style like Levon Kirkland.
James Harrison got $1.5 mill this year, $1.25 mill last year, almost none of it guaranteed, only 600,000 from the Bengals in 2014. Geez, it sure would be nice to get Timmons at that price.
Average defense? I agree with an article I saw on the 4 remaining playoff teams that said the Steelers had the best defense of the four (Green Bay, Atlanta, NE, and Pitt) when playing well and the worst of the four when playing poorly and you didn't know which one would show up. Maybe that works out to average, but the potential to be the best is what I saw.
No knives or barbs in this reply, just some thoughts that he was good but not great, and slipping.

 

Let's not make the same mistake we made 4-5 years ago and sign the older guys to one last large contract that puts in salary cap hell when they get injured and don't produce. It cost us the young talent that had their second contracts coming up and jumped ship for more dollars.

 

It depends on the money.The defense will be weaker if they let Timmons go.

Somebody asked about playing him outside. I always wondered how his career would have gone if he had stayed outside, which is where he began his pro career. If I remember correctly, a big reason they moved him inside was that they were set outside with Harrison and Woodley. I'm not sure how much sense a move outside would make now, unless they lose Harrison.