Will Steelers Be Able To Keep FA CB Keenan Lewis?

[Hawaii 5-0]

Will The Steelers Be Able To Keep Free Agent Cornerback Keenan Lewis?

Thursday, December 27th, 2012 by Dave Bryan

The Pittsburgh Steelers will most certainly look to try and sign unrestricted free agent cornerback Keenan Lewis to a long term deal prior to the start of free agency, but the Oregon State product would be best served to at least check out the market with the Steelers best offer in hand.

Below are what I believe to be the biggest named unrestricted free agent cornerbacks hitting the market this upcoming offseason along with their 2012 stats and Lewis is most certainly included in that bunch. His 69 total tackles and 23 passes defensed will most certainly raise some eyebrows with teams as will his ability to play though injuries.

PLAYER COMB TOTAL AST SACK STF FF INT PD TD/A

Cary Williams 74 67 7 1 1 0 4 17 6
Keenan Lewis 69 54 15 0 2 1 0 23 3
Quentin Jammer 63 54 9 0 3 1 2 8 7
Sheldon Brown 59 52 7 1 3 1 3 12 2
Sean Smith 57 52 5 0 0 3 2 12 6
Derek Cox 55 54 1 0 1 1 4 11 1
Chris Houston 54 43 11 0 3 2 2 9 3
E.J. Biggers 46 37 9 1 3 2 1 6 3
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie 45 38 7 0 0 0 3 17 4
Aqib Talib 40 33 7 0 1 0 2 10 3
Brent Grimes 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

So how much will Lewis stand to get as a top notch free agent cornerback? Below are the contracts of the top free agents from last offseason with the top three earners getting an average year value of around $8-10 million.

2012 Free Agency Top Cornerback Signings

Lardarius Webb (RFA) - Signed with Ravens - Signed a six-year, $52.742 million contract that included a $10 million signing bonus.

Cortland Finnegan - Signed with Rams - Signed a five-year, $50 million contract that contained $27 million guaranteed, including a $5 million signing bonus.

Brandon Carr - Signed with Cowboys - Signed a five-year, $50.1 million contract that contained $25.5 million guaranteed, including a $10 million signing bonus.

Carlos Rogers - Signed with 49ers - Signed a four-year, $29.3 million contract that included a $5 million signing bonus.

Terrell Thomas - Signed with Giants - Signed a four-year, $17.4 million contract that contained $11 million guaranteed, including a $1 million signing bonus.

Aaron Ross - Signed with Jaguars - Signed a three-year, $9.75 million contract that included a $1 million signing bonus.

Keep in mind that the guaranteed money is always the biggest factor here, as is the structure. Also keep in mind that the franchise tag for the cornerback position is scheduled to be $10.668 million.

The Steelers will most likely try to keep Lewis with an average value of around $7-8 million on a four or five year deal with a signing bonus of anywhere between $8-10 million. Will that be enough to keep him in Pittsburgh? It is hard to say, but Lewis most certainly would like to stay with defensive backs coach Carnell Lake, who is responsible for his fantastic development. Money of course talks the loudest so it will be interesting to see if Lewis will be willing to give a hometown discount to remain with the Steelers.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2012/12...-keenan-lewis/

[Riddle_Of_Steel]

I hope we can keep Keenan. As the season wore on-- he emerged as a definite playmaker-- something that is too few on our defense of late.

[WVABE]

Right now Keenan is one of the few bright spots with this team, sure hope he's around for another few years.

[steeltheone]

It's hard to gauge someone with 1 good year under their belt. Lets hope the brass knows what they are doing, because 1 big money mistake on a player could cripple this team tremendously.

[Fire Arians]

he should be priority 1 for re-signing this offseason

[harrison'samonster]

Originally Posted by steeltheone

It's hard to gauge someone with 1 good year under their belt. Lets hope the brass knows what they are doing, because 1 big money mistake on a player could cripple this team tremendously.

that's true. It would be better to let him go and he has a good career somewhere else than to sign him and watch him waste space and money.

In a perfect world though, we'd sign him and he'll be a superstar!

[Fire Arians]

Originally Posted by steeltheone

It's hard to gauge someone with 1 good year under their belt. Lets hope the brass knows what they are doing, because 1 big money mistake on a player could cripple this team tremendously.

true, we kinda did that with the lamar 'woodendong' woodley

[SteelersCanada]

Don't give him top dollar, but sign him to a reasonable contract. The CB / Secondary depth in this draft is pretty high, so we might just be able to replace him with a guy like Milliner or Rhodes in the second.

[ZoneBlitzer]

Originally Posted by SteelersCanada

Don't give him top dollar, but sign him to a reasonable contract. The CB / Secondary depth in this draft is pretty high, so we might just be able to replace him with a guy like Milliner or Rhodes in the second.

Definitely not top dollar. He's another one of our corners who can't catch. Still, would love to see him kept on.

[cowherpower]

he is an average CB on an average unit. He has so many pass defends because the ball is constantly around him. It's not like he is Revis in perfect position to intercept or break up passes. He is usually late the action and manages to break ball away from the multitude of passes thrown his way. Is he worthless? No, but a contract in 2-3 million per is more like it. 7 or more? Seriously? Doubt he could start on more than a handful of NFL teams.