Tag Archives: LaMarr Woodley

[Audio] LaMarr Woodley Signs With The Oakland Raiders

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]

Raiders And Titans Showing Early Interest In LaMarr Woodley

According to ESPN reporter Adam Schefter, LaMarr Woodley is scheduled to visit the Oakland Raiders today. As you most certainly know, Woodley was officially released by the Steelers at 4:00 pm yesterday, with a June 1st designation. The move will free $8 Mil in cap space for the Steelers on June 2nd.

The Raiders run a 4-3 defensive base, but it’s no surprise that they would seek to move Woodley to a 4-3 defensive end. The Tennessee Titans have also expressed interest in him, according to Tennessean reporter Jim Wyatt. Tennessee is where I originally thought Woodley would land after being cut by the Steelers. I imagine there will be a couple other interested parties before Woodley finds a new team.

Many have asked if the Steelers would or could resign Woodley during the summer. I think I have a greater chance of being signed as the backup long snapper tomorrow.

Report: Steelers To Release LaMarr Woodley On Tuesday

According to Adam Schefter, the Stelers plan to release LaMarr Woodley at 4:00 PM on Tuesday, the official beginning of the new league year. Woodley’s representation has confirmed that he has been told he will be released.

The team will designate Woodley a “June 1st” cut. This will allow the team to accelerate the remaining guaranteed balance to next year, as opposed to all of it accelerating immediately. Woodley carries a $13.59 salary cap number this year, and the team will be responsible for that number until June 2nd. This will not help clear any space to sign free agents immediately. After June 1st, his base salary will come off the books, freeing up $8 Mil in cap space for 2014.

The $8 Mil in cap space will help sign the rookie pool, summer insurance signings, and more.  After June 1st, the team will carry a dead money charge of $5.59 Mil this year from the release, and $8.58 Mil in 2015. The team also saves $25 and a half Mil they would have had to pay during the remainder of his contract.

Colbert’s Thoughts On The Draft And The Health Of Linebackers

In an earlier post, we looked at Kevin Colbert’s thoughts on free agency and the salary cap. He spoke on other topics including Woodley’s health, Sean Spence, and the upcoming draft. When asked if Woodley’s medical issues were a concern, Colbert said, “LaMarr has had some durability concerns over the last couple seasons, and they’ve been legitimate injuries.

“I think any time a player has an injury and if it extends beyond a season I think it does become a concern. It has to be, because if a player’s not on the field he’s not helping us. I think he’s missed 14 games [in the last 3 seasons] with injuries. Is that a concern? Yes. But it would be for any player who’s coming off an extended period in one season or a prolonged period over successive seasons, I guess.”

Can his leg issues be addressed like Troy’s were? He aggressively rehabbed his leg issues.

” That’s something we always look at for the whole team. In fact, we’re meeting (Wednesday) afternoon with the training staff, with the strength and conditioning staff, and reviewing where we are medically with all our players, different things we need to try to do as an organization to ensure we minimize those in the future.

“We had similar type meetings last year and I think Troy’s the perfect example of someone who changed their regimen with positive results. Each guy’s an individual and they train differently. The frustrating part is we don’t have them for the amount of time we’d like to have them. Per the CBA we can’t be with them. We can monitor from afar what they’re doing but we can’t be with them as much as we’d like, or they can’t be with us as much as we like. Even if they’re at a remote site, we can’t visit that site because there could be college kids there and we can’t be there at the same time. So it’s hard to really monitor where the players are from a conditioning standpoint.”

He went on to say, “We have to trust the player, and hopefully they’ll be professionals about it.”

Colbert was also asked about Sean Spence’s progress and his future. “We had one great day of practice last fall and that was very exciting for us and exciting for him. Unfortunately he broke his hand that same day. Maybe it was a blessing. Maybe that small sampling he gave us was enough to show that he can be fully recovered from this injury.

“Whether or not he can sustain it through an off-season, through a training camp, preseason, regular season, we won’t know, but what he showed us in that one day of practice we’re very encouraged where he is right now.” When asked if Spence would be in for the spring and summer training camps Colbert said, “The plans with Sean would be he’s certainly going to be in the mix as a possibility, but I think it would be naive to say that he’s over the hump because nobody knows at this point.”

Wrapping up the linebacker talk, the Steeler GM was asked if Joey Porter was brought in to coach Jarvis Jones. “First of all, it was exciting for the organization because of who Joey Porter was and who he still is,” said Colbert. “Of course we were aware of what he did at Colorado State last year. He did a nice job with those kids in one year. We saw Joey at the Senior Bowl. He was excited about the opportunity to advance. Quite honestly I think Joey’s more excited about coaching for the Steelers than just coaching in the NFL. I think he was quoted as saying he wanted to work at Colorado State and here. I think that’s a big reason why Coach Tomlin was interested, because Joey can bring a certain element of pass-rush expertise.

“The exciting thing is he and Jarvis are very similar stature, so I think there are some things he’ll be able to share with Jarvis that will help Jarvis be a better player. We’re looking for a lot of improvement in Jarvis as a second-year player, as we do with any young player in this defense. If the player’s going to be a good player there’s usually a big jump from year one to year two, and we’re hoping that’s the case. But he wasn’t brought in here just for A player. The expertise he can lend for all of our pass-rushers, interior people as well as the outside linebackers, will only help us.”

Continue on to the next page for Colbert’s thoughts on the draft.

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Steelers Place LaMarr Woodley On IR, Sign LB Jamaal Westerman

The team announced that LaMarr Woodley has been placed on injured reserve. LB Jamaal Westerman has been signed to fill the vacancy on the roster. Woodley injured his right calf during the Bengals game Sunday night. This will make 14 games in the past three seasons the linebacker has missed due to leg injuries.

Westerman, 6’3″ 260 lbs, was signed by the Jets in 2009 as an UDFA out of Rutgers. He spent time with three different teams last year, but was most recently with the Bills before being released last week. He has 6 career sacks over the course of the 57 games he’s been active in.

Steelers Injury News Is Pretty Good This Week

Coach Tomlin gave his weekly injury updates today, and the news was positive. Kelvin Beachum has an opportunity to get back this week, though he’ll probably be limited during the early portion of the week. Brett Keisel, who is working his way back from a foot injury, also has a chance to get back this week, and will also likely be limited early in the week. He had an extended workout yesterday. The team will watch him closely and monitor his progress throughout the week according to Tomlin.

Tomlin said that the players who worked their way back last week- David DeCastroSteve McLendon, and LaMarr Woodley-  may be limited in practice, but aren’t expected to take steps backward this week. Ziggy Hood suffered an ankle injury in the game but was able to return. He may be limited early in the week. The same can be said for Jerricho Cotchery, who sustained a shoulder contusion during the loss to the Dolphins.

Steelers Thursday Practice Participation Report

It’s looking more and more like Mike Adams will be starting at left tackle this Sunday, as Kelvin Beachum did not practice again today. Steve McLendon also did not participate in practice today due to his ankle injury. David DeCastro was limited in practice today. According to Bob Labriola, there seems to be some hope that DeCastro will be able to play on Sunday. We’ll have a better idea tomorrow of course.

Le’Veon Bell participated fully again today in practice. In regards to Bell, the Steelers PR man Burt Lauten had this to say this afternoon:

Le’Veon Bell has been cleared for full practice, but not to play until passing tests through the weekend. The Steelers medical staff will continue to monitor Le’Veon Bell’s status through the week to make sure he continues without symptoms.”

Bell has passed concussion tests up until this point, but will need to pass medical evaluations this weekend before being cleared to play.

More good injury news: LaMarr Woodley was also a full participant today, coming back from his calf injury. Mike Adams participated fully as well today.

Keisel Probable, Woodley Doubtful For Thursday

Brett Keisel, who has been battling with plantar fasciitis for the past two weeks, is listed as probable for tomorrow night’s game in Baltimore. Keisel has been working his way back and practiced fully yesterday. LaMarr Woodley is listed as doubtful for tomorrow. He was only a limited participant in practice yesterday.

[Audio] Coach Tomlin’s Week 13 Press Conference

Coach Tomlin addressed the media earlier today a day early due to the short week. Tomlin spoke about the Browns game, gave injury updates, the upcoming Ravens game, and took questions from reporters.

On the injury front:

Curtis Brown is out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury.

Steve McLendon will be out this week with a sprained ankle.

Ramon Foster is ‘no worse for the wear’ after returning from his ankle injury.

Brett Keisel, Shamarko Thomas, and LaMarr Woodley are expected to work this week with an eye towards participation. How they respond in practice will decide if they proceed through the week. Stevenson Sylvester isn’t as far along as they are according to Tomlin.

Here is the audio from Mike Tomlin’s press conference.

Most Of O-Line Back To Full Practice And Other Injury News

Most of the offensive line returned to full participation today during practice. Mike Adams (ribs), Kelvin Beachum (hip), David DeCastro (ankle), Marcus Gilbert (ankle) and Fernando Velasco (knee) were all full participants today. Ramon Foster however, did not participate again today. Guy Whimper told media that he has been practicing at left guard, and is preparing to start against the Lions. He did add however that, “ I prepare to start every week because you never know. It’s the NFL. Guys get banged up.”

Brett Keisel (foot) and  LaMarr Woodley (calf) also did not participate in practice for the second day in a row.