1. Hi Guest, Registrations are now open. See you on the inside.
    Dismiss Notice

Overall Offseason Assessment as of 3/19 - Flame Away!

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by Steel_Elvis, Mar 19, 2013.

Page 2 of 2
  1. Steel_Elvis

    Steel_Elvis Staff Member Mod Team

    16,645
    4,867
    Nov 4, 2011
    Of course we need playmakers, but playmakers are hard to come by in free agency, are expensive and rarely work out. The failure rate for big free agent signings is really, really high. I will promise you - the Dolphins will not get $60 million worth of plays out of Mike Wallace. He will show flashes and score some 70 yard TDs that look really nice, but he wont consistently be that crunch time receiver that Tannehill needs to have at the end of a big game. They overpaid, and we were smart not to overpay. As an analogous situation, look at the Eagles last year. They paid big money to keep a similar type of playmaker in Desean Jackson - a guy who is not consistent or physical, but makes big plays with speed (or in Jackson's case a mix of speed and short area quickness). They panicked and overpaid him, and he did NOTHING last year to help his QBs. He was Desean the invisible man. Bad teams make 2 mistakes consistently: 1) they overpay other teams' free agents in the hopes that they will come in and be great (they almost never are - see Nmamdi, Mario Williams, Laurent Robinson, Robert Meachem, Kevin Kolb [via trade, but then overpaid], etc, etc, etc); 2) they panic and overpay some of their own guys who have not proven that they are worth the money (Desean Jackson, DeAngelo Williams, etc).

    The Steelers recognize these pitfalls and don't fall into them. They use free agency to get inexpensive guys that they KNOW will fill certain roles and provide value. They look to the draft, and to their own roster, for playmakers. I think that Cortez Allen will prove to be a great example of this strategy. Keenan Lewis is a good player, but he's not a playmaker. I can think of at least 3 easy dropped interceptions last year, one of which would have sealed a win for us in a game that we eventually lost (was it the Tennessee game?). By letting Lewis walk, they are opening the door for Allen to start in 2013. I think he'll be better than Lewis, and will force turnovers because he's more of a playmaker.

    I think that, other than a few minor quibbles (for me they are Gradkowski and paying a lot for Foote), we're exactly where we should be in terms of activity this offseason.
     
    Steel_Elvis, Mar 23, 2013
    Steel_Elvis, Mar 23, 2013
    #26
  2. Diamond

    Diamond Well-Known Member

    5,790
    469
    May 26, 2012
    The one free agent that was affordable but we didnt go after and instead he signed with the Cards, was Antoine Cason 6-1 200 from the Chargers: He was an 08 ist round drafted corner who had a steady performance in his 5 years with the bolts, he had 12 picks and had a pretty good record in pass breakups and tackles as well: He started his last 3 years, he will start for the cards at corner and they signed him cheap for 1.5mill with 500K in incentives, the bolts didnt resign him for most likely cap space, but I thought he was a steady enough corner for us to at least give him a look...
     
    Diamond, Mar 23, 2013
    Diamond, Mar 23, 2013
    #27
  3. Wardismvp

    Wardismvp Well-Known Member

    15,564
    2,460
    Oct 26, 2011
    These are EXACTLY the guys I am talking about,players with upside, I am sorry I see NO upside with Foote Gay,Spaeth and
    what other has beens we let go and now come back to us.We didn't want them when they left and none of these guys have improved since they left.
     
    Wardismvp, Mar 23, 2013
    Wardismvp, Mar 23, 2013
    #28
  4. freakfontana

    freakfontana

    5,445
    23
    Oct 19, 2011
    bringing back gay made me sick
     
    freakfontana, Mar 23, 2013
    freakfontana, Mar 23, 2013
    #29
  5. 12to88

    12to88 Well-Known Member

    3,344
    70
    Dec 2, 2011
    Did I miss something, here? The Bengals took all that talents and steamrolled the (banged-up) Steelers ion both meetings? Look, I'm far from Mr. Positive, but I see no reason why (if they can hold off the injury bug) why the Steelers can't win the division next year.
     
    12to88, Mar 24, 2013
    12to88, Mar 24, 2013
    #30
  6. Steel_Elvis

    Steel_Elvis Staff Member Mod Team

    16,645
    4,867
    Nov 4, 2011
    That's funny... I didn't know it was that simple. Find a guy who wants to be a starter so that he can prove himself worthy of a multi year contract, and sign him for 1 year in a situation where it's pretty clear that he'll be a backup. Why exactly would you expect him to want to come here to back up Taylor and Allen? We're not talking about a 10+ year vet looking for a ring.
     
    Steel_Elvis, Mar 24, 2013
    Steel_Elvis, Mar 24, 2013
    #31
  7. freakfontana

    freakfontana

    5,445
    23
    Oct 19, 2011
    in today nfl you need 3 starters cb
     
    freakfontana, Mar 24, 2013
    freakfontana, Mar 24, 2013
    #32
  8. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

    29,574
    6,014
    Oct 22, 2011
    is it possible to agree with all 3 of you? well i do.

    i like the gay addition and never really minded him. he has starter possibility. we won a SB with him. he's a nice safety net to have. (allen does tend to get dinged up) he's a good ST's player. you need 3 starters. he's 3.

    foote was kept more for heart and lockeroom then his play.

    spaeth was brought in as a blocker for the young guys at tackle since heath is recovering. we don't know how long it will take until he's back 100%.

    DJ's back for two TE sets to help the young tackles also. at least in preseason, he's better then mccoy.

    paulson should be catching most of the passes early on.

    and they are all cheap. they know the team which should help the lockeroom. semi vets. which is important because i think we are going to be banking on alot of young guys this year to be the playmakers, including rookies.

    we do need TD scorers added, which none of these guys have shown so far. AB,sanders,paulson,spaeth,dwyer, redman,batch,gradkowski,DJ or anyone else close to what we don't have here anymore as far TD production. yet we have spent some money, we just don't have.

    we also still have alot of one year contract players on this team. next year could be slightly similar. i expect max will be back at some point too. oh my. i do think the D is pretty stable though this year. IF they stay healthy, we could win the division. pick well my team.LOL:cool:
     
    mac daddyo, Mar 24, 2013
    mac daddyo, Mar 24, 2013
    #33
  9. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Bed time

    31,408
    11,340
    Oct 26, 2011
    The way the Steelers seem to work, signings now are more insurance. Fill in some of the blanks with adequate replacements. This allows you to go into the draft with the ability to take the BPA, rather than reaching. Then, after the draft, sign a free agent if they are potentially better than what you have.
     
    jeh1856, Mar 24, 2013
    jeh1856, Mar 24, 2013
    #34
  10. Steel_Elvis

    Steel_Elvis Staff Member Mod Team

    16,645
    4,867
    Nov 4, 2011
    You've completely missed the point. Someone was using Cason and his reasonable salary as an example of something that the Steelers could have matched. However, what the Steelers couldn't match was a likely starting job. Why would a guy in his position take similar money for 1 year to come here and be the 1st guy off the bench when he can be a starter elsewhere. It's a silly argument.
     
    Steel_Elvis, Mar 24, 2013
    Steel_Elvis, Mar 24, 2013
    #35
  11. freakfontana

    freakfontana

    5,445
    23
    Oct 19, 2011
    he would play almost half of the snap , and eventually replace ike in the future , similar to what lewis could have done
     
    freakfontana, Mar 24, 2013
    freakfontana, Mar 24, 2013
    #36
  12. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

    43,735
    9,794
    Oct 16, 2011
    And why would he do that when he can start right away elsewhere? The Steelers aren't complete morons you know, they are actually pretty good at this stuff.
     
    Blast Furnace, Mar 24, 2013
    Blast Furnace, Mar 24, 2013
    #37
  13. freakfontana

    freakfontana

    5,445
    23
    Oct 19, 2011
    for me the steelers rushed too much to sign gay without looking around better
     
    freakfontana, Mar 24, 2013
    freakfontana, Mar 24, 2013
    #38
  14. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

    43,735
    9,794
    Oct 16, 2011
    Gay knows the system and played well the last season he was here, I don't see the problem with it.
     
    Blast Furnace, Mar 24, 2013
    Blast Furnace, Mar 24, 2013
    #39
  15. Da Stellars

    Da Stellars Well-Known Member

    8,300
    1,093
    Oct 22, 2011
    I think if the pass rush is better that Gay should perform well.
     
    Da Stellars, Mar 24, 2013
    Da Stellars, Mar 24, 2013
    #40
  16. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Bed time

    31,408
    11,340
    Oct 26, 2011
    If the pass rush is better, Troy, Ike and Clark will also look better. They got worse when the pass rush got worse.
     
    jeh1856, Mar 25, 2013
    jeh1856, Mar 25, 2013
    #41
  17. JackAttack 5958

    JackAttack 5958 Well-Known Member

    13,091
    2,478
    Oct 18, 2011
    Uh, didn't we have the number one overall pass defense in the NFL last year? :hmmm:
     
    JackAttack 5958, Mar 25, 2013
    JackAttack 5958, Mar 25, 2013
    #42
Page 2 of 2

Share This Page

Welcome to the ultimate resource for Steelers fans. Sign Up Here!