Last game as a Steeler

Who do you think played his last game as a Steeler?

Our FA:

Defense:
UFA: McLendon, Cam Thomas, Robert Golden, W Gay, A Blake, B Boykin, S Spence, W Allen.
ERFA: R Cockrell

Offense:
UFA: Ramon Foster, Kelvin Beachum, W Johnson, Mike Adams, D Heyward-Bey, J Todman, M Vick, D Legursky
ERFA: R Nix

Others, not FA:
Possibly retiring: J Harrison
Not FA, but facing a possible cut: Suisham

(Source)

In bold, the one's I think we should try to keep.

 

Explaining a bit of my picks:

Heyward-Bey: Strong contributor in ST, only as 5th WR. Coates will be our 4th receiver in 2016.
If it's McLendon or Thomas, I'd stack with the first.
Robert Golden is an upgrade...
W Gay and B Boykin, our best CBs so far. Blake should be let go, and something needs to be done with C Allen.
Cockrell: only if we don't have Golson or Grant ready for 2016. We should also draft a CB early
S Spence: we've had little playing time from him, and showed some promise backing up Timmons & Shazier, with V Williams.
Beachum: Villanueva is the future LT of this franchise.
Legursky
Harrison: still has a presence, and makes plays. Could be used sparingly.
Let go Suisham. I liked the guy, but Boswell has been outstanding.

 

boykin was buried for most of the season. Id guess he signs elsewhere.

 

I actually feel great about this list.

Gay is a must sign, otherwise no fatal blows to our '16 chances.

 

We can use Harrison for another year. It's a great problem to have with the talent in Suisham & Boz. I do think it's time to find a backup quarterback we can trust.

 

i hope Harrison plays another year, i just bought his jersey

 

I hope he retires. Its been great I love seeing him out there but it's time. So many of our players hold on for one last ride and it usually does not turn out well. Anyone remember Aaron Smith last season? He did well the year prior, then was a shell of his former self. Hines Ward? was great then didn't play much after that. Actually I think they benched him during the season. Keisel played well his last season but got hurt and they didn't bring him back.

I think we need to move on from him and go with the young guns. JJ, Dupree and Shazier. Hopefully we continue to feed the pipeline with more rookies or undrafted free agents.

But I think it's time to move on.

 

I say Boykin is gone just based on the way Tomlin treated him this year. I say Cam Thomas is gone. I say Blake stays but really hope he doesn't. I actually want to keep Cockrell because he has proven he has some ball skills and so does Willy Gay and it would be nice to have multiple corners that can pick one off. I say we definitely keep McLendon but I will also say that he really hasn't lived up to my expectations. I say James comes back for one more year. DHB I can take or leave.

 

hopefully Ben tells Harrison "stay 1 more year, I'll get you another ring"

 

Good list, my early thought to keep Of course at friendly Steeler terms? Gay, Boykin,Golden, Spence, Cockrell.I will need to study
the roster.

 

I feel the 2 big names on the list are Gay and Beachum and the positions they play could lead to them getting big money and we all know that could be a problem for us, I say we keep one of these guys and I think it will be Gay. The name that goes under the radar for me is Allen. He has played well as the season went on and as he got better so did the defense. I am not saying he was the reason but he was part of it and I feel he is a key guy to keep as that is a position we are weak at.

Thomas, Foster and Vick can all go bye bye and I don't want to see these guys back. I think DHB gets more then we will offer cause we all know that our offense is high power and people will think they are getting something here. I am not a fan of DHB he is nothing more then a 4 but he plays special teams so thats a plus, time to let Coates play. I also think Boykin will be looking to be a starter and someone will pay him, I wish we could keep him.

I hope Harrison stays one more year I think JJ and Dupree both have taken a step forward and I give credit to JH for that. I think we make it known we want to trade Sushi in the preseason but if not I think he will be a post June 1 cut and will save us some cap space.

Keep: Allen, Gay, Golden, Spence, Cockrell, Johnson, Todman and Legs.

Gone: Boykin, McClendon, Thomas, DHB, Beachum, Adams, Blake, Foster and Vick.

 

I know there's a lot of hate for Blake, but he's a decent 3rd or 4th CB. He played that role last year and did well at it. He's just not suited to be a Starter at this point.

 

I think Harrison is going to hang it up. But, maybe he gives it one more shot.
He doesn't have the miles on the tires that you would think, he never really became a starter till he was in his late 20's.
Plus he is work out fool. I don't think anybody lifts more than that guy does.

 

Or any point. LOL! I really will be shocked if they don't keep him though. He can at least knock the crap out of dudes on special teams.

 

Would like to see them keep McClendon, Gay and Beachum. Cockrell isn't going anywhere and while I would like to see them keep Boykin my guess is he goes elsewhere.

I would like to see them try and sign a safety in free agency if at all possible.

 

I'd like a safety as well but can we really afford a difference maker?

 

This. He's cheap, has a lot of experience on the field, and is a good ST player. I'd be absolutely shocked if we don't re-sign him. He is a back up forced into a starting role thanks to Cortez sucking and our situation being generally weak at the position. Just because he isn't good enough to be an everyday starter doesn't mean we should cast him to the curb.

Even if we re-sign Gay and Cockrell, he won't be too far down the list to get bumped off imo. Boykin won't be back and I expect Grant to get switched to FS in the offseason. He will be 5th option even with a top draft choice.

 

Would love to take a run at Iloka. Don't know how much he would cost, but I'd expect it to be just a little higher than what Mitchell makes.

 

Isn't that the guy who used to run Chrysler?

 

Would you let Mitchell go to get him? Also if we cut Cortez won't we save like $10 million or something? Didn't he sign for $25 million two years ago? Or has it only been a year since he signed?

 

I agree with you Glenn but dagone blake has a nasty habit of finding a way to start. Don't mind him as a 3 or 4th but not starter. I want to keep beacham too but think I may lose there. I also would ask Miami if they like to trade for pouncy

 

No. Mitchell is a big part of what we do defensively, and in all honesty is pretty underrated around here. Besides, Iloka is SS and Mitchell is SS. We would in all likelihood pay Iloka Beachuns money if we were to bring him in. Yeah, we save a lot by cutting Cortez but there still will be some dead money. We will have plenty of space to do what we want.

 

last game as a Steeler? - hopefully that wide receiver screen play

 

I agree that he is a good option at spot duty but the problem is an injury or two and he's right back on the field in a larger role.