Any chance we bring back cotchery

And is exactly why I think DHB will be gone. We won't have to dump him both of those Teams could have used DHB last night , I think he has more market value than some think . He played behind a Stud group and has increased his market value IMO..

I hope the Team offers him a 2 or 3 year deal and he stays, but I don't think a 1 year Vet min deal will cut it this year...

 

I want to see FA $ being spent on the secondary and NT. We need to create a competitive situation for every player on defense. They all should be fighting for a job.

Last pre season and camp we didn't have anyone really worried about their job. Jarvis Jones and Shamarko Thomas both were given starting jobs and both failed miserably. So from the start we had starters on defense that shouldn't have been playing. AND I haven't even mentioned the corners yet. Gay and Mitchel were the only secondary players that earned their jobs , and they weren't even all that good. The FO and coaching staff created this issue because they did not create a competitive situation in camp. They grossly miss judged Allen and Thomas. They apparently didn't care who played corner other than GAy becuase they left that battle between Blake and Cockrell. Tomlin was obviously pissed off about Boykin getting added and refused to play him. I have to think because Tomlin thought he would develop Blake and Cockrell into something and the addition of Boykin made that more difficult. Why else would he ignore horrible play from these two while you have a promising player on the bench?

We need 3 corners added to this roster that have starting ability- which IMO means we need to spend a #2 pick on a corner and 2 FA's need to be added. We desperately need a FS , so I expect a veteran FS to be signed and a high draft pick to come in and fight for the safety job's. Our top 4 draft picks need to be OLB, CB, Safety...not necessarily in that order. We also need a FA NT to come in and beat out McLendon.

This is the first season in a very long time that I actually think we need to use FA to get better. We're probably not going to break the bank on anyone but we need players who can start... just an improvement at corner, NT, and FS will help tremendously.

 

Didn't Cotch drop the first 17 balls thrown his way in the SB? Time to retire

 

Totally agree. Great post.

You mean to add a new SS instead of FS next year though I think. Or move Mitchell to SS? He has the size to play SS and did in Oakland. That frees the Steelers to take BPA at either safety position.

Every FA ranking site I have found has Boykin as a better player than Gay. Gay might be better I have them pretty close. What I am sure of is that both are much better than Blake and Cockrell.

I think Cockrell could improve. He saved the game against the Broncos on one of the Wheaton muffs. Err I mean prolonged the inevitable but the game would have been over if Cockrell didn't recover on the 1. He has ST value and has shown some potential as a corner.

I hope that Blake does not come back. He is a huge liability. He can't tackle for ****.

 

You might think Mitchell wasnt that good, but his stats say differently, 80 combined tackles and 3 picks and two forced fumbles is a pretty good season for a safety, and he is the biggest DB on the backend at 6-1 221 and he is still young at 28, this will be his 8th season, so he is in his prime, just leave Mitchell right where he is at free safety, and thats fine with me....

 

I think he meant to replace Allen at SS.

That makes a lot more sense haha.

And yeah Mitchell played much better last year. He still gets to the ball a little too late some times but what a hitter.

He was out of position less and had 9 passes defensed which is pretty good.

Mitchell could be moved to SS. He played there for the Raiders and the only SS as big as him in the draft would be Jeremy Cash or Keanu Neal I think.

 

We will see how he returns from shoulder surgery, he's supposed to be ready for camp, but you never know how surgery turns out, he has had shoulder problems ever since his college days:

Steelers FS Mike Mitchell will undergo shoulder surgery and be sidelined 4-6 months.
Mitchell should be ready for training camp, but he may be limited at the start. Either way, he'll be fine in time for Week 1. Mitchell had a strong season on the back end for the Steelers, as their issues in the secondary were more at cornerback. Hard-hitting Mitchell has three years left on his contract. Jan 20 2016

 

Damn. That sucks. Mitchell must have been playing through a lot of pain.