Will Steelers Be Able To Keep FA CB Keenan Lewis?

[Hawaii 5-0]

just read where Keenan Lewis said the Steelers made a mistake by not locking him up to a long-term deal earlier.

Lewis may prove tough to re-sign and the franchise tag for a CB is over $10 million/year...

[harrison'samonster]

shit

[steelfury02]

fudgems

[kan_t]

"I was misquoted by a reporter saying it was a mistake not to give me a contract last year. Try to make my image look bad, but here Wat it is, I'm not money greedy, I had my exit meeting today and it went great. I know we in the right direction as far as a contract, I believe strongly I would be apart of Steeler Nation next season. To do a three peat as the number one pass defense period. Here we go"

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/kiqgvn

Let's get it done. C. Allen has shown that he can play but CB will have zero depth if Lewis leaves. He's a player which the Steelers should keep.

[Hawaii 5-0]

Keenan Lewis (@KeenanLewis23)

Posted Wednesday 2nd January 2013 from TweetCaster

"I just want to clear this up: I never said anything about @steelers making a mistake by not signing me last season. I love the Rooneys, Organization & fans. I only stayed that my agent will handle the contract talks."

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/kiq5dj

[cowherpower]

Originally Posted by lloydwoodson

"Only two cornerbacks in the NFL have been targeted more than Lewis, but the big, physical defensive back has excelled this year. Lewis has allowed only 5.62 YPA and a 74.9 passer rating in 2012. With cornerback Ike Taylor out, Cortez Allen has also been thrust into the starting lineup. The 5.84 YPA and 80.0 passer rating he’s yielded are right on par with Lewis.

If there’s a weak spot in Pittsburgh’s secondary, it’s nickel corner Curtis Brown. In limited action, Brown has allowed a 75.0 completion percentage, 9.67 YPA, and a passer rating of 132.6. Look for the Cowboys to utilize three-receiver sets, whether they want to run or pass, to get Brown on the field."

Found this on the Dallas Cowboys site. Hope it sheds some light on our cbs for you. Lewis is actually pretty good.

There is a reason he is targeted so much. Because like William Gay, he cannot stay with the receivers. I watch every game and DVR for slow motion and nothing anyone says will make me believe he is much more than average. He will be 27 next season and will be expecting too much money if yours and some others opinions of him dictate his demands. The only corner they have drafted who I thought could be special was Crezdon Butler but he was jettisoned for some reason. There are only a handful of teams with worse secondaries than us.

Sure statistically you can point to them being good but they had a very easy schedule against non elite offenses. Both Lewis and Allen are average in coverage, both aren't that fast, and as shown by their lack of INT as a group, they along with the others fail to get the turnovers. If we don't draft cb, or safety with our first rounder we are in serious trouble. Troy is done, Ike had his worst season and the cupboard is bare

[kan_t]

Originally Posted by cowherpower

There is a reason he is targeted so much. Because like William Gay, he cannot stay with the receivers. I watch every game and DVR for slow motion and nothing anyone says will make me believe he is much more than average. He will be 27 next season and will be expecting too much money if yours and some others opinions of him dictate his demands. The only corner they have drafted who I thought could be special was Crezdon Butler but he was jettisoned for some reason. There are only a handful of teams with worse secondaries than us.

Sure statistically you can point to them being good but they had a very easy schedule against non elite offenses. Both Lewis and Allen are average in coverage, both aren't that fast, and as shown by their lack of INT as a group, they along with the others fail to get the turnovers. If we don't draft cb, or safety with our first rounder we are in serious trouble. Troy is done, Ike had his worst season and the cupboard is bare

Easy schedule or not, they have the No.1 passing defense for a reason, and I know the reason is not the pass rush. Lewis doesn't have good hands but he is clearly an above average CB this season. Allen has also shown that he could be a play-maker when he was given oppurtunities in the last few games .

Also I don't know how you could you draw the conclusion that Troy is done after watching the last two game he played. Injury-prone? Yes. But he's far from being done.

[teegre]

Originally Posted by Hawaii 5-0

Keenan Lewis (@KeenanLewis23)

Posted Wednesday 2nd January 2013 from TweetCaster

"I just want to clear this up: I never said anything about @steelers making a mistake by not signing me last season. I love the Rooneys, Organization & fans. I only stayed that my agent will handle the contract talks."

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/kiq5dj

Sweeeeeeet!!!!!!!!!

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

I cant remember who the OSU alum that was posting on this board when Keenan Lewis was drafted.....he was just bashing him for not being that good. Anybody remember who the poster was?

[pete74]

On Tuesday afternoon, word spread around the SteelerNation’s Twittersphere that Keenan Lewis was apparently headed for the free agent market. Hopes of getting the high priority free agent back in Pittsburgh immediately came into question more than before, but Lewis cleared the air later Tuesday evening.

It started with Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review tweeting out that Steelers free agent Cornerback Keenan Lewis wants to test the free agent market, and is apparently looking for the big pay day he thinks he’ll get from another team: ”Alan Robinson@arobinson_Trib : Keenan Lewis plans to test free agency. He told #Steelers “they made a mistake” by not offering multi-year deal before 2012 season.”

After Steelers fans across the social media world starting started whipping into a frenzy, Lewis clarified the misquote by Robinson and set the record straight:
“I was misquoted by a reporter saying it was a mistake not to give me a contract last year. Try to make my image look bad, but here Wat it is, I’m not money greedy, I had my exit meeting today and it went great. I know we in the right direction as far as a contract, I believe strongly I would be apart of Steeler Nation next season. To do a three peat as the number one pass defense period. Here we go”

-Keenan Lewis

Lewis has been a very humble player throughout his young career from what I’ve seen. When approached by the media he is usually quick to give credit to his teammates and coaches, and often interacts with his fans on Facebook and Twitter. It seemed odd that Lewis would make such a bold statement in the first place, but hey free agency can do that to people; it brings out the crazy all too often. I admit I started questioning his tactics when I read the report too.

Let’s be fair, every NFL player has an ego, I don’t care who it is but fortunately Lewis seems to have a good head on his shoulders. They want to get their share of the wealth, and rightfully so. The average length of an NFL career isn’t exactly that of your average 9-5 office type job. He’s well within his rights to seek out all the money he can, and knowing how the NFL works there will always be someone willing to overpay a player. The Steelers would be wise to lock him up as soon as possible though just to be safe.
Lewis finished 2012 with 71 tackles, 23 passes defensed, and 1 forced fumble. Like the rest of the Steelers Defensive Backs though, there seems to be this continuous issue with coming down with the ball when given the chance. Hopefully with more work under Carnell Lake, the good cover corners for 2013 will also become more ball hawks.

From the Steelers front office point of view, nobody should blame Kevin Colbert for not giving a big, fat contract to Lewis until they saw what he was going to do in 2012. If you look at his career stats, he played mostly NB in 2011 and registered 37 tackles, 6 passes defensed, and 1 interception. Before that, in 2009 and 2010, he played in a combined 13 games and had 12 total tackles. Clearly 2012 was his best year and hopefully that trend continues. Omar Khan and Colbert are more than willing to pay out fair money for a player they feel is worth it, and after this past season Lewis has shown he’s capable of holding up his end of a bargain.

I personally think, like most others, that Lewis is a must have free agent keep for the Steelers, his growth into a solid overall cover corner will be extremely valuable to the future of the Steeler defense.