Trai Turner

5 time Pro Bowler...But, He plays Guard where we have Dotson and DD...Great player, but can he play Tackle?

 

Hmmm. Interesting.

 

Hopefully nothing going on with DeCastro. He has not been seen thus far for the Off Season Activities. Here is hoping that whatever DeCastro is going through will be solved soon.

 

Turner in Finney out easy decision, after watching Finney get bounced from 2 teams last year.

I am assuming Greene gets pushed to guard if Decastro can't go this year with Hass at Center. I don't think Hass or Finney have the athletic ability to play Guard in Canada's style mobile offense. I expect to see a lot of pulling guards; and with Greene even pulling centers this year in the run game. Remember what that was like when Pouncey was young?

 

I was thinking the same.

 

I thought I heard Decastro was present, but that he wasn't participating in drills.

 

Rashad coward here as well. Could we see DD retiring? Not what he was for two years now. Very interesting.

 

DR? Guessing you meant DD.

 

I thought it was curios that they hadn’t extended DeCastro and moved his salary to a bonus, he is earning nearly $9m in 2021. They did this with guys like Ben, Juju and Eric Ebron to move cap around.

That alone tells me they are not 100% sure about David DeCastro, at the very least they’ve left their options open.

 

If they sign Turner, where does the loser of the Guard battle go....Bench, Center, LT, or even Cut to save $8.75 million if it is Decastro.

Castro is currently sitting as the 5th highest paid player in the NFL at his position.

 

This is what I’m wondering too. DeCastro has been such a wonderful player for the Steelers, but with his recent injuries and a salary of $8.75m it’s a genuine question.

I would hate to see him get cut, ideally he comes back in and has a great season. Too much change on the OLine already without losing David as well!

 

yep. darn big fingers.

 

turner as a pro bowler probably won't come cheap either. maybe they use the rest to help sign watt.

 

His play has been off for a bit as others have said. I wonder if there’s some kind of long term niggle that’s becoming more and more problematic.

Id hate to see Decastro go like that but at the same time we’ve had a habit of holding on to people too long.

And at the same time again I’ve not paid any attention to Turner so have no idea where he’s at, why he was cut etc

 

it wasn't a great year for DD in 2019. something was off and then right after the season ended he quietly had knee surgery. then in 2020 he was being held out early and then thrust into the line up because we really had nobody else. he played all year but wasn't quite ready at that point but played those two seasons on a bum wheel. i think the age and injury has caught up with him finally and he's holding on to finish his last season with the biggest part of his contract due. i could see him retire. he's been very good for us but at some point the body limits you. similar to foster. you just saw the decline yearly from the pounding these guys take.

 

You could be on to something here. DD has looked a bit worn down and injured for two years, albeit he is still above average as Guard. Perhaps he is mulling retirement.

If they were going to cut him he would surely be gone by now, unless they were taking a ‘wait and see how his body is’ approach.

 

playing the "what if" game here....if David DeCastro does retire due to injury or whatever, it would count just like a post-June 1 cut. What would be the hit to the cap? He doesn't get a bonus this year. So it would just be the 5.5mil dead cap hit and $0 for 2022. Correct??

 

I was reading that Turner had an injury plagued season last year with the Chargers only playing in 9 games. PFF had him ranked as the next to the last RG in the league last year and the lowest ranked run blocking guard in the league. He was released at the end of the season.
However he made the Pro Bowl the previous 5 years in a row with the Panthers. Maybe just trying to play through an injury last year caused him to have such a bad season.

 

They would save his full salary $8.75m, pre or post June makes no difference in his case because he has no guaranteed money left and he is not under contract for 2022.

 

Well, In Fosters case...He literally looked like he weighed 400 pounds

 

Is it possible Dotson isn't progressing they way the Steelers had hoped? I like what we saw from him last year, but I do think we all overrate him a bit. Just a thought.

 

Very possible. Also possible that they just don’t like what they have behind Dotson and DeCastro. We will know soon enough I guess

 

Final year of contract? Injury history? Nagging injuries?

Trai Turner would be on a two year deal because DD is wrapping it up this year. I think DD just wants to get that last 9mil....

Trai would be an attempt to get 2022 Oline together now. I don't think the money will be right though.

 

Arthur Moats was talking about that on The Fan this afternoon. He seems to think the Steelers have as good a chance as anyone of signing Turner because of the low cap this year, and Turner's recent injury troubles. I'd love to see them get him. Need the depth. Now if they could find some depth at tackle......