[Audio] LaMarr Woodley Signs With The Oakland Raiders

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LaMarr Woodley, who was released by the Steelers on Tuesday, has signed with the Oakland Raiders today. The deal is for 2 years, and totaled $12 Mil. The Raiders also signed former Giants pass rusher Justin Tuck today. While the Raiders are a 4-3 defense, I think Woodley will actually be pretty successful there.

On SiriusXM NFL tonight, Woodley spoke about signing with the Raiders. In the interview, he said that he thinks moving to a 4-3 will be easier for him. “They’ll use me to get after the quarterback…I think it’s a little bit harder standing up”, said Woodley. He went on to say that he thinks it’s easier to get after the quarterback with your hand in the dirt.

When asked about what he’d do to stay on the field more, he said he needs to get his small muscles stronger. By that, he’s referring to how to avoid calf strains or hamstring pulls. About injuries and being released, he said, “It was out of my control, but I put myself in that position by being hurt…that led to my release in Pittsburgh”

Lastly, and probably most interestingly to Steelers fans, Woodley talked about being released, and mentioned that the Steelers were going to ask him to take a pay cut if Worilds was signed by another team.

“They said if they signed Jason Worilds back, they were going to let me go, if they didn’t sign him back, they were going to ask me to take a pay cut.

Even when they put the transition tag on him, I hadn’t heard anything from anybody, and I found out that Monday that I was going to be let go.”

You can listen to the majority of that interview below. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to share with your friends.

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/siriusxmsports/new-raiders-de-lamarr-woodley[/soundcloud]

Sanders Leaves Tampa Bay Without Contract, Visits Chiefs Friday

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Free agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders is scheduled to visit the Kansas City Chiefs tomorrow according to Ian Rapoport. Sanders has already had a visit with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and visited with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers today. It’s unclear whether or not either team offered Sanders a contract, but he definitely has not signed one as of the time of this writing.

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While Sanders may not be one of the top few remaining wide receivers on the free agent market,  I would be surprised if he remained unsigned much longer.

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Steelers Will Host NT Cam Thomas On Friday

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Gerry Dulac reports that Chargers free agent NT/DE Cam Thomas is scheduled to visit the Steelers on Friday. Thomas is 6’4, 320 lbs and carries the nickname of “Baby Zilla”.

Thomas started 10 games for the Chargers before losing the starting job to Sean Lissemore last season. He played a total of 547 snaps in 2013 for San Diego. Originally drafted in the 5th round of the 2010 draft, Thomas has been a solid zero tech at times, but has struggled with consistency. During the limited games I saw of him last year, he didn’t command two man blocks very often. In fact, he was pushed around by one man, though that may have just been a bad sampling. I’ll watch more of his coaches film to form a more complete opinion.

With the complete lack of depth on the Steelers defensive line right now, I imagine the team will be interested in lining up as many meetings with free agent DE/NT’s as they can.

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Photo courtesy Instagram

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Contract Details For Al Woods

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Al Woods signed with the Tennessee Titans last night. I have the contract details for you now, and I can say that he likely signed that contract as soon as the paper hit the table. The deal totaled $5 Mil, including a $1 Mil guaranteed signing bonus.

His first year salary is $900,000, and his second year salary is $2.1 million. The deal also includes up to $500,000 per year in incentives. While I like Woods as a versatile backup/role player, this is a lot for him. While many people are critical of the Steelers free agent moves, it’s easy to see that they are being smart with their own free agents so far.

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Colbert With Justin Gilbert Last Night, At Pro Day Today With Tomlin

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Oklahoma State held their Pro Day today at Sherman E. Smith Training Center, where at least 20 teams had representatives in attendance. Of course, the only team we care about is the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had Kevin Colbert on hand to observe prospects. Most notably, CB Justin Gilbert. Coach Mike Tomlin and other Steelers coaching staff members were also in attendance.

Tomlin and Colbert were also in Michigan yesterday to see CB Darqueze Dennard in action at Michigan State’s Pro Day. According to Tony Pauline, Colbert and other coaches (Tomlin included most likely) were meeting with Gilbert last night before today’s Pro Day.

Gilbert did nothing to hurt his already superb draft stock today. He opted out of some events that he did at the combine (40 yd, bench), but did some footwork and positional drills. Gil Brandt noted that he looked exceptional in his positional drills today, especially in his backpedal.

Regardless of the team’s moves in free agency, it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where Gilbert is on the board at #15 and the Steelers pass on him.

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Ziggy Hood’s Contract Details

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Now that the dust has settled, I can provide you with the details of Ziggy Hood’s contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Before I do, I can tell you that there’s no way that the Steelers would place that kind of value on him, which would be why it appears that they just ‘let him go’.

His contract is a 4 year deal, totaling $16 Mil. $5.5 Mil is fully guaranteed. There is a $2 Mil roster bonus due in 2014- $2 Mil of his 2014 salary is fully guaranteed.

Looking at the other contracts the Jaguars are issuing, it appears that they are on a spending spree. There is just no way the Steelers would give Hood this kind of deal.

Bengals Have Released James Harrison

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The Cincinnati Bengals have released veteran linebacker James Harrison today, the team has announced. The release probably wasn’t a surprise, as the move saves the team over $1.4 Mil. The former Steelers sack artist was in the last year of his contract.

Harrison wasn’t exactly a difference maker in Cincy, and the signing never really made much sense. I’m sure the question will be asked many, many times in the coming days- could Harrison return to Pittsburgh? The answer- probably not. Stranger things have happened, and of course, almost anything’s possible, but “Deebo” will be 36 in May, and he may have likely burned all bridges on his way out of Pittsburgh.

He has reportedly said that he wishes to continue playing, so who knows what his future holds.

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DE Alex Carrington To Visit Steelers Tonight

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According to Steeler Nation’s favorite reporter Ian Rapoport, the Steelers will host former Bills DE Alex Carrington for a visit tonight.

Carrington is a name that I mentioned being on the Steelers radar in the forum, and the interest makes a lot of sense. The 6-5, 309-pound DE was limited by a quad injury last year, but he showed promise, and could be a good value (low risk) signing for the Steelers.

Jacksonville Jaguars Sign DE Ziggy Hood

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The Jacksonville Jaguars have agreed to terms with Steelers free agent defensive end Ziggy Hood today. Hood was drafted by the Steelers in the 1st round of the 2009 draft. This move doesn’t come as much of a surprise. If you follow my writings, I’ve considered the DE free agents to be huge question marks- Ziggy Hood most of all.

Hood was arguably the most reviled defensive player in recent Steelers history. While serviceable, he never lived up to expectations. I believe that he’ll live up to his early hype on a 4-3 defense. While ProfootballFocus has consistently ranked Hood at or near the bottom of their 3-4 defensive ends, he’s a much better player than those grades reflect.

This signing makes the second Steelers defensive lineman signed away in free agency. Al Woods was signed by the Titans last night, and the Steelers are now extremely thin at defensive end. One would think that Brett Keisel’s stock just went up, but we’ll have to wait and see what the Steelers do in the coming days. I’ve wanted Keisel to return for a low, one year deal since the season ended, and signs are pointing to that being a reality.

With the loss of Hood and David Johnson, the Steelers now have no one left from the 2009 draft class. Part of that, of course, is due to the success of that year’s draft.

 

Jonathan Dwyer Signs With The Arizona Cardinals

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Free agent running back Jonathan Dwyer has signed a one year deal with the Arizona Cardinals TSF has learned. The running back market is pretty tepid, so it’s actually a little surprising that he found a contract so quickly.

Dwyer has been a serviceable back in Pittsburgh, who flashed at times, and reportedly “tapped out” at others. His strongest suit was probably pass blocking, though. Aside from that, he might arguably be remembered most as the running back who took a lot of heat for being overweight.

Dwyer was cut before the 53 man roster selection last year, but was re-signed a week or so later. I wouldn’t have minded seeing Dwyer back for small contract, because he’s shown improvement, but he reportedly was not in the Steelers plans going forward.