Could we still be a contender if...

[bornaSteelersfan]

Originally Posted by NSMaster56

Letting Wallace walk should save enough money to retain one or two of those vets, most of whom probably won't be in high demand except by desperate teams.

There is no saving money if Wallace walks. He cost half as much money through his whole career than Woodley will cost us in 2013.

[Riddle_Of_Steel]

Hampton - Good as gone. Played well near the end, but they don't get paid to only play the last 5 games of the season.... Let the McClendon/Ta'amu era begin.

Keisel - Also played great as the year wore on, but see above. Time for Heyward to earn his check.

Wallace - Good riddance. Sell this Trojan horse to the Patriots.

Mendenhall - Should be kept, if possible (for a discount). So far, none of the other RBs on our roster has shown us that they can be THE MAN and carry the rock for 300+ times per season, nor break any long runs around the outside. Redman is great, but not an every-down back. Keep Mendy so we don't need to burn a pick on another RB when our defense has so many holes to fill.

Foote - Descent MLB that we should keep at a discount for depth and leadership.

Lewis - Legit #2 CB. Bring him back at all costs.

Colon - Keep him only if he takes a BIG paycut, because at this point, we would rather Foster's consistency and lack of neutral zone infractions. The Colon has been around for like 10 out of the last 52 games...

Starks - Needs to be kept for depth and in case Gilbert or Mike Adams don't pan out next year, although Kevin Beachum's descent play this year emans that we already do have some depth.

Harrison - Showed that he still has that playmaking ability towards the end of the year. Keep him if he agrees to a discount, as so far, neither Worilds nor Carter has shown that they can fill his shoes. Heck, with the way Woodley has been playing, we might need to look at having to replace him too soon.

Polamalu - As with Harrison, he still has a good year or two left in him, but needs to take a discount to stay around. Has been injured for most of the last two seasons.

[Riddle_Of_Steel]

Originally Posted by PhantomJB93

Not all of them. In Mendenhall, Colon (he's good but he never plays anyway), and Hampton we're not losing much at all, as Dwyer and Mclendon were both more productive and Foster was perfectly fine and has played more recently anyway. Harrison and Keisel have possible replacements lined up but it may take a year for Heyward and Worilds to adjust to being full-time starters. I think I would trust Allen to step up in the event Lewis was let go, but at the same time if THAT many players were released I would sure as hell hope Lewis could be re-signed.

Wallace's production, as much as I hate to admit, will be hard to replace, even after this off-year for him. He gets TDs, plain and simple, not many others do. I'm expecting him to leave but I think his absence will be more noticeable than many are expecting. There is NO reason for Starks to not return unless HE chooses to retire. He's earned the starting LT position and quite honestly I'd be insulted if I were him how every offseason plays out for him recently. He's done nothing but be consistently reliable and I'm not ready to just give that job to Gilbert yet. I'm still assuming Foote will be replaced in this draft, and hopefully Spence could play well for him if not.

We can lose a lot of people and still be a contender, but not everybody. We need to keep one of Lewis/Foote and one of Keisel/Harrison depending on who we draft, and IMO Starks NEEDS to be kept.

I think the reason Wallace scores TDs while the others do not-- is because they don't target them in the red zone enough!

Wallace takes touches away from more capable WRs on our roster the same way Randy Moss was hurting the Patriots in his last year with them. A guy like Wallace or Moss is a huge temptation each play for QBs, and when they fail to produce when the QB tries to force the ball to them, it is double-bad because they took possible scoring opportunities away from the other guys who might have actually produced.

He will make a great Trojan horse for the Patriots.....watch Tom Brady scream and whip that stupid haricut of his around when he starts chucking easy passes to Wallace, only to have them end up on the ground.

[Quackjack]

Hampton - Sorry Casey, we love you, but it's likely you need to go :(

Keisel - HELL NO! Keisel still has 3 years or so left. Keep him!

Wallace - Unless he takes a SERIOUS pay cut, which is unlikely, boot his ass

Mendenhall - Get. Him. Out. Of. Here.

Foote - He's been solid, and he won't ask for much. Keep him

Lewis- Keep at all costs.

Colon - See Hampton.

Starks - We've been through this. I expect him in black and yellow next year.

Harrison - Keep if the money is right.

[steelfury02]

Originally Posted by Quackjack

Hampton - Sorry Casey, we love you, but it's likely you need to go :(

Keisel - HELL NO! Keisel still has 3 years or so left. Keep him!

Wallace - Unless he takes a SERIOUS pay cut, which is unlikely, boot his ass

Mendenhall - Get. Him. Out. Of. Here.

Foote - He's been solid, and he won't ask for much. Keep him

Lewis- Keep at all costs.

Colon - See Hampton.

Starks - We've been through this. I expect him in black and yellow next year.

Harrison - Keep if the money is right.

Just about agree with everything, although - I think we might be surprised to see either Mendy or Wallace back next season. I'm not a Mendy fan - but, I don't see our RB situation improving without him, or being worse off with him back. Dunno - toss up

[Justp94]

Originally Posted by teegre

Player cut :: replaced by

Hampton :: McClendon/Ta'amu
Mendenhall :: Dwyer/Redman
Foote :: Spence
Colon :: Foster

I think that these guys come back, but if not...

Starks :: Gilbert
Wallace :: Sanders
Keisel :: Heyward

This one I hope comes back; he was looking good towards the end (when healed), and he would be difficult to simply "replace"...

Harrison :: rookie/Worilds/Carter

Lastly, Lewis WILL be back.

The Steelers will try to re-sign Mendenhall though...and if Foote doesn't retire then we'll offer him a contract too. They'll also make an offer to Wallace, but I doubt he'll accept because he wants way too much money. Harrison will be back, he'll probably renegotiate his contract to free up some cap space. There's also no reason to think that Keisel won't be back, he's still way better than Heyward and Hood...and Ben likes Starks and he played in all the games last year, so he's durable, so another one year deal won't be difficult.

[NSMaster56]

Originally Posted by bornaSteelersfan

There is no saving money if Wallace walks. He cost half as much money through his whole career than Woodley will cost us in 2013.

Sorry, worded that poorly. I meant 'not spending money on retaining Wallace'.

If the Steelers re-sign Wallace, that's money that can't be used elsewhere (that probably should).

[austinfrench76]

Keisel, Lewis, Foote and Harrison stay at a minimum. But I agree that if we lose them all, we are rebuilding.