James Harrison CUT!

Wonder how this will affect the draft? I bet olb is top priority if it wasnt already

 

Now ABC is reporting that James wants to play in New England...lol

 

Good riddance there is no loyalty anymore in the NFL thanks James now you are the enemy

 

While I'm not surprised to hear about this, it's sad to see that it's official. I've been a Steelers fan since the mid to late 70s and #92 is one of my favorites.

 

maybe not i think they need players can start from day one with the first two rounds pick at least , cooper and woods for example , they will find an olb to groom later

 

Thought it was gonna happen, and sad day indeed. James, you are a perfect example of what dedication and heart can get you. You play the game the way it is supposed to be played......if any fair weather fans on this site have anything negative to say about his tenure here you should forever be banned. Good luck 92

 

Harrison's best playing days have passed him by. Now if we could only get rid Woodley.

 

make sense ... is the only place where he will not be fined anymore

 

At first I thought they would be sitting pretty at their draft position to take a pass rusher, but the more I think about it, maybe Worlids can take that next step. He was leading the team in sacks there for a good while last year. His game speed impressed me last year.

And I agree. Harrison might be the last true NFL Bad Ass. It sucked seeing his wings clipped the past two years by Goodell. You can tell he had to alter his play because of it.

 

This is one of those things that still hurts me to the bone, no matter how much I saw it coming, or how much I logically understand why.
I agree with too many of the statements already made, to quote them all, so I will just touch on a few...
First off, I agree that he was probably the NFL`s last true badass, unless you wanna count Suh, who is a badass, only because of his blatant cheap shots, not hard, legal, hits...
Also, I don`t have much respect for any fan who talks crap about him now.
I thank him for his service, and just wish he could have retired here.
I appreciate his honesty, and willingness to tell it like it is, whether it`s politically correct, or not.
No matter how much it made him Goodell`s favorite target.
The quote that I read earlier(either from a link, or from Towel`s post, I forget which), where he said he thanked Steeler fans, but yes, he could see himself in another team`s colors, and he would jump in 100%, with both feet, and give it his all for that team, because that`s just how he does things, showed his honesty. And I applaud him for it.
I regret that the league has come to a point where he had to hold himself back, to play within the rules.
One of the more interesting posts I read in this thread had to do with how we are now OVERSPENDING for players...
While I agree that it may be true to a degree, I also find it funny, because we used to be the "cheapskates" of the league, and I for one, was tired of watching us be what I called a "farm team" for the rest of the NFL, when we simply would NOT spend big money on players we had developed.
I guess the Rooney`s are damned if they do, and damned if they don`t...
My final point would be that I agree with the statement previously made, that we usually know when to cut ties with our older players.
Like it or not, very rarely do you see one of our former players go kick ass somewhere else. Esp. the older ones.
Woodson being the exception that proves the rule.
Definitely gonna miss ya, Silverback!!! Good luck to you(except against us)...
GO STEELERS!!!!

 

Funny how this exact topic was discussed here earlier in another thread, even down to the "Not Likely To Be Earned
Incentives"...
Well, I guess now the o.p.(forget who, at the moment), has their answer...
Sounds like we tried, and he said no.
I still applaud the o.p., for thinking of it. Sounded like a reasonable approach, to me, too.

 

I am not talking about the deals for Woodley, Harrison, Ben or Troy based on their limited production after getting a new contract. When i say poor decisions on contracts I am talking about deals like Antonio Brown's. Was his original rookie contract up? No. Did resigning him to a multi year deal help with last year's salary cap numbers? Yes somewhat. Should they have rushed the process like they did which in turn led to them having to restructure the deal less than 10 months later in order to get under the cap for 2013? Probably not they had time to work a deal that wouldn't require restructuring every year and was more responsible in its future cap hits but they went from Wallace turning down an offer of the same money and signed Brown for that same amount shortly after. Is he worth it? tough to tell since he has a limited sample it showed huge potential but is that worth the money they paid? Like you said the Colon deal was bad and if memory serves they did the same thing with Kemo several years ago, over paid him to the point where he had to be cut last season because he average play at best wasn't worth the money they worked the deal for. Starks franchise deal springs to mind as well. Now you look at the signing of William Gay to a multi-year deal that while it does spread the cap hit out was totally unnecessary, I don't think there was that much a demand for his services.

So in essences I am not looking at the players with huge deals that got hurt but rather saying this signing guys to contracts without planning for the future has led them to this spot, ie cutting guys that are solid players because you can't budget your roster in such a way as to be able to honor your contract commitments without restructuring or asking people to take a paycut. If you can't sign a guy without having to resort to constant restructuring then you should just not sign them. It is a harsh way to do business but it is better than playing this game of where can move money around in order to keep guys while hoping the salary cap goes up.

After typing all this I am not sure I am making my point clear. hopefully I am.

 

i agree about gay , he could have come here at vetmin , make sense only if you don't sign lewis and you want to be sure to have an insurance already in the house , totally agree about colon kemo and i will add kendall simmons , same overpayed for average , starks is little different till now we were always in position of need him they overpayd in the first years and they less pay last seasons

 

I don't think they are over paying per say but that they made decision to give averages players deals that hurt the team further down the line. In the past when they were considered a "farm team" for the league or cheapskates for not signing talent it was because they had depth at those positions and when a talented player left they had one ready to step up and take their place. Now they have gone 180 degrees in the opposite direction the only difference is they are keeping guys with limited talent because they don't have other options, there isn't that player waiting in the wings who will be just as good if not better. I remember when people were saying they just had to keep Reed because he knew how to kick at Heinz field. well now he is gone and the have someone who has obviously figured out how to kick at Heinz field and they didn't have to give him lots of money to keep him.

I mean take a look at the uncertainty surrounding Keenan Lewis. to hear some on the board talk he was the second coming of Revis or Asomugha. He had a solid year this past season on an 8-8 team and while he has shown potential, I don't think he has shown so much that they need to back up a brinks truck to keep him. They should be crunching the numbers and see what a fair deal is that won't hurt the cap for years down the road or require constant restructuring in order to pay it and make him an offer, if he gets a better one than so be it and move on. They can't keep giving out bigger contracts out of fear of losing a player they have invested three years in and has only seen the field for one season.

 

but it has also led to having to be really creative in order to keep the talent they have and pushing the problem farther down the line as well as not allowing them room to make some key free agency signing that help keep the team competitive. There has to be a better way to balance the two in my opinion.

 

That OP was me - lol.
http://thesteelersfans.com/forums/showthread.php?5859-Could-we-keep-James-Harrison-by-doing-this

I hate to see this but I know it was the right business decision for the Steelers. We have JH to thank for Super Bowl 43. His 100 int return for a TD was one for the ages and arguably the greatest play in Super Bowl history. The Steelers defense just became a lot less nasty and that IS NOT a good thing.

 

He truly played like Steeler, I'll never forget being at the Super Bowl and watching his amazing play.
He will be missed, I rank him up there with the Steeler greats.

 

Of Coarse he wants to play for Belicheat. He's sick and tired of getting fines and what better way to remedy the situation than to play for Gooddells buddy Bob Kraft. He'll never see another fine again!

 

I would actually love to see what Belichik can do with him. I'm gonna be interested in seeing him play for them because Bill seems to be able to get the most from guys that everyone else considers past their prime. I wish him all the best. Also just for the record it's hard to say the Pats don't get fined because Belichik got hit with a half a million dollar fine for his part in the spygate thing. That's actually the highest fine in NFL history as far as I know. Just saying is all.

 

AFTER watching ESPN and ABC today i would have to say the media is makeing most of this up,

 

I hope Jason Worilds and Chris Carter are ready to fill the void. We might target an OLB in the draft but he won't see the field until year 2.

I know this was a business decision and a very good one, but I hope he goes to the NFC and we don't they that division this year.

I'm hearing that he want's to play in a warmer climate or indoor stadium...the dolphins could get Mendenhall, Wallace and Harrison.

 

SMH

 

I will be un friending James on facebook and in unfollowing him on twitter