Off Season Moves- If I were in Charge

[Steelers5895]

I look at this team as not being one player away so I think its going to take a series of moves, even ones that may sacrifice 2013 to reload this team for another 4-6 years of playoff runs. We are not far off but the arrow is pointing down on this roster not up. I dont see many things to get excited about and more things that concern me. So here I go:

Re-Signing:
-Keenan Lewis
-Mike Wallace to a franchise tag- out of character for the steelers. he has talent so either we will get a 1st and 3rd or we put Mike in a position to sing for his supper for a long term contract
-Resign Plexico Burress- with our wr injury history and stalling red zone offense a big weapon like buress could turn the fgs into tds. burners like sanders, wallace and brown are ineffective inside the 20.
- Max Starks
- Jonathan Dwyer- has the most upside between him and Redman. this is back up money contract
- Legursky and Foster- key back ups who can play at multiple positions
- McClendon- replaces Hampton

Cuts:
- Brett Keisel- time to start Heyward and see what he can do with consistant play. can't stunt the growth of our first rounders. If he can't make it, we know we need to look in that direction in the 2013 off season
- Lamaar Woodley- too injury proned, no impact plays, he is more of a stat compiler the last 3 seasons than someone who has made an impact. his size and lack of speed makes him too one dimensional for his salary
- Willie Colon- cant stay healthy

Restructure:
-James Harrsion- he finally got healthy last quarter of the season and was the impact player we need. Going into the off season without needing a surgery and somewhat healthy could mean big things in 2013...at a reduced rate.
-Troy Polamalu- see above- same thing

Let hampton, batch, mendy, redman, sanders, foote, leftwich, mundy, sylvestor go

Free Agent signings:
- #2 qb- Tyler Thigpen, Kellen Klemens type guy, low money, seen action, can fill in for 2-3 games if needed. we lose Ben for any longer our season is shot anyway so wont matter who we have at #2
- Joique Bell- RB- DET- runs hard, can catch out of the backfield, wont demand big money and can be a starter.
- Alan Branch- DL- SEA- former first round pick who hasnt panned out. Size and speed could make him versitle on our line as a veteran as we see what we have with our young 1st round picks- can come cheap
- Rolando McClain- struggling first round pick available for cheap. Has speed to play OLB or ILB. Raiders arent exactly a great place to develop LBs, we are. Could be a huge reward player given a second chance

Cant be over active with Free Agents based on cap room. Need to find gems

The Draft:

Trade down from 17 to 26-32 and get another late 2 and a 4. No one at 17 is going to step in and start so lets get more players to develop for 2014.

Rd 1- ILB
Rd 2- DT
Rd 2- S
Rd 3- OLB
Rd 4- RB
Rd 4- burner WR
Rd 5- QB
Rd 6- TE
Rd 7- DL

A defensive heavy draft to get some youth for a VERY old defense. I feel our offense, although it didnty play well at the end of the year is closer to being fixed than the defense is to staying productive.

[Quackjack]

Wtf why do you people hate Keisel all of a sudden. He was our best end. Looking for an excuse?

[Quackjack]

If I was in charge...

Re-Sign: Lewis, not matter what. We need him as our 2nd CB.
Plaxico Burress. He was solid.
Mike Wallace ONLY if he is willing to sign lower.
Starks. See Burress.
Dwyer. Solid back up.
Foster. Healthier than Colon.
McClendon. Will replace Hampton sooner or later.
Hampton IF and ONLY IF he is worth GOOD money

Cut Sean Spence only if he isn't 100%

Let Batch, Leftwich, Sylvestor and Mendy go.

Restructure Harrison and Woodley

Sign a #2 QB, a D lineman, HB, secondary player and WR if they are available.

Draft:
R1- LB
R2- HB
R3- WR
R4- SS
R5- DL
R6- LB
R7- TE

[Bayz101]

Cut Woodley?

Thank god your not in charge.

[Darkstorm05]

Restructuring is how we got into the cap situation we face now. It doesn't make all that money magically vanish, otherwise every team would be paying out 500 million in bonuses to bypass the cap rules.

The only options with Harrison and Troy and are to pay them their price, or CUT them and resign at a lesser rate. I don't care what anyone says about their last 5 games, these guys didn't contribute 20 million worth of plays, which is what they got paid.

[Quackjack]

Well then cut and resign Troy, Woodley and Harrison.

Only one I think will hesitate is Woodley.

[Hawaii 5-0]

Originally Posted by Bayz101

Cut Woodley?

Thank god your not in charge.

I wouldn't cut Keisel yet either...

[Quackjack]

Originally Posted by Hawaii 5-0

I wouldn't cut Keisel yet either...

Who the fuck would?! He was our best end AT AGE 34!!

[austinfrench76]

Thank you for the write up. Opinions are what these forums are about but some of the stuff you said is crazy talk. Sorry bro.

[Set-Man]

Thanks for the post.

I would not cut Woodley or Keisel. I know everybody is down on Woodley but he is the only really good OLB we have. He did have a down year but seemed limited by his hammy.
If Harrison doesn't restructure his contract I would cut him. He is looking old and won't hold up for a full year.

I would also get rid of a lot of the names mentioned: Leftwich, Wallace (they won't franchise him and he isn't worth 10 million in my opinion), Hampton, Pope, Colon, & Mendenhall.

It is time for Mclendon, Hood, and Heyward to play. Keisel can be there in case Heyward doesn't cut it.
I would definitely not cut Spence until we see what he has after recovering from his injury.

We should be able to pick up a decent RB off the free agent wire. Did you see Harris last night playing for the Pack? He looked like a smaller Marshawn lynch for the few plays I saw him play.

Any free agent p/u's would be great if we can get them.

I am sorry but Troy's best days are way behind him. he can't stay healthy and is a liability in the secondary in terms of coverage. Time to start looking at the FS from Florida if he is available at #17.