More tough decisions remain for Steelers

[mesaSteeler]

More tough decisions remain for Steelers
Shrewd moves helped team get under the cap, but more difficult personnel decisions remain
Saturday, March 03, 2012
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tough decisions have been made and executed. Now, the Steelers face more of a different kind.

They picked the ones to go, now they must try to keep the ones they want. Among them are wide receivers Mike Wallace and Jerricho Cotchery.

The Steelers will issue Wallace a $2.7 million tender as a restricted free agent next week. That will allow them to match a contract he might sign elsewhere, or receive a first-round pick from the signing team in return.

Cotchery is an unrestricted free agent and they have been negotiating with his agent, Jack Scharf, to sign a new deal before he hits free agency March 13, although general manager Kevin Colbert predicted they would sign no free agents before then.

The success of their efforts will turn on how much the Steelers can offer another receiver, and whether Cotchery, who has declared his desire to remain with the Steelers, will accept a role as low as No. 4 receiver behind Wallace, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has lobbied for Cotchery's return, telling the Post-Gazette this week that "I think you have to do everything you can to sign Jerricho back.''

But those two are not the only ones on the Steelers' agenda.

Veteran backup quarterbacks Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch are unrestricted free agents, as is Dennis Dixon, whom the Steelers expect to leave.

Other UFAs: Starting cornerback William Gay, starting left tackle Max Starks, punter Daniel Sepulveda and versatile backup offensive lineman Trai Essex.

Colbert has conjectured that with Willie Colon back at right tackle, Marcus Gilbert will move to left tackle.

That will take Starks, who had ACL surgery in January, out of the equation.

Besides Wallace, the Steelers have some interesting decisions to make on other RFAs, which include starting guards Doug Legursky and Ramon Foster, fullback/tight end David Johnson, No. 3 cornerback Keenan Lewis and backup safety Ryan Mundy.

The Steelers have four choices on their RFAs. Like Wallace, they can give them a tender that comes to $2.742 million. They can tender them at $1.927 million with a second-round draft pick as compensation. They can tender them at $1.26 million with compensation a draft pick in the same round in which the player was originally drafted (Legursky and Foster were undrafted and thus bring no compensation if this is the choice). All of those choices would also give the Steelers the right to match any contract.

The final choice would be to offer them nothing, which would make them unrestricted free agents.

The Steelers may have little choice but to tender Legursky and Wallace at least at $1.927 million or risk losing both, and with Chris Kemoeatu gone they don't have many guards left. That would cost them nearly $4 million in cap space, and leave Lewis, Johnson and Mundy still to deal with.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12063...#ixzz1o3vrortK

[MasterOfPuppets]

i'd put the low tender on legursky and lewis, let the rest walk.

[tanda10506]

No reason to let Starks go, he may miss some time, but eventually we will be wishing we kept him, when either Colon gets hurt again, or when/if Gilbert gets hurt and/or can't hang at left tackle. O line is not a place we can get thinner at. Interesting to see if we keep Lewis and Gay. I dont see anybody wanting Foster or Legursky, so we should be ok there, and hopefully at least one of them is a back up next to a new guard. We need to keep Cotchery and Wallace, I see Cotchery passing Sanders on the depth chart this year.

[tony hipchest]

starks is an injured free agent. he is already gone.

[SteelCity4Life]

Originally Posted by tanda10506

No reason to let Starks go, he may miss some time, but eventually we will be wishing we kept him, when either Colon gets hurt again, or when/if Gilbert gets hurt and/or can't hang at left tackle. O line is not a place we can get thinner at. Interesting to see if we keep Lewis and Gay. I dont see anybody wanting Foster or Legursky, so we should be ok there, and hopefully at least one of them is a back up next to a new guard. We need to keep Cotchery and Wallace, I see Cotchery passing Sanders on the depth chart this year.

I agree. Remember the improvement that Starks brought to the OL? I think the guy is worthy of staying.

Lewis and Gay should stay. People were complaining about the recent releases, and wondering why Gay didn't also get the boot. Any real Steelers fan could see the improvement Gay made in 2011. He can still get burnt, but maybe he needs more time to solidify.

I also think Wallace and Cotchery should be hard pressed to be kept. Cotch has earned his place on this team; I was impressed with him. I don't see why people think letting a speedster like Wallace walk away. That's his strong-suit and we could do with it!

[sluggermatt15]

Forget Cotchery and bring back Ward instead. Hines said he will take a pay cut to stay with the team, and in fact it could be less than what the team has to offer Cotchery.

Steelers should bring back Sepulveda, one of the backup QBs (I'd take Batch), and Starks. I don't care who else comes back, but they NEED these guys.

[Bayz101]

Originally Posted by sluggermatt15

Forget Cotchery and bring back Ward instead. Hines said he will take a pay cut to stay with the team, and in fact it could be less than what the team has to offer Cotchery.

Steelers should bring back Sepulveda, one of the backup QBs (I'd take Batch), and Starks. I don't care who else comes back, but they NEED these guys.

I disagree with that altogether. Every bit of it. Cotchery is younger, faster and will bring about more production. Ward is done. As for Sepulveda, he ends each season on the IR and hasn't paid off for this team whatsoever. Kapinos nearly exceed's his production when he takes over. Starks is an injured free agent. He's gone, Gilbert's taking over at LT. Batch may come back. He's done well when called upon, but it's about time he take the third string job and we begin getting a youth backup prepared to fill in when needed.

At this point in their careers:

Cotchery>Ward
Kap>Sep

Starks and Batch are both still productive, but both could very well be done.

I'm guessing Cotchery, Kapinos and Batch will return. Ward, Starks and Sepulveda are done.

[NoFieldFive]

I'll take Kapinos as the punter. at least he can pin the ball inside the 10 instead of 10 yards into the end zone.

David Johnson???? I hope they are not considering keeping this guy. he runs right thru the holes so well he might as well have the ball as he ain't gonna block anyone.

We better not see a tight end again as a fullback.

[TRH]

Originally Posted by sluggermatt15

Forget Cotchery and bring back Ward instead. Hines said he will take a pay cut to stay with the team, and in fact it could be less than what the team has to offer Cotchery.

Steelers should bring back Sepulveda, one of the backup QBs (I'd take Batch), and Starks. I don't care who else comes back, but they NEED these guys.

I'd love to bring Sepulveda back if we can trust his health this time. Geezus, the guy even looks at anything or anyone, he gets injured. The guy's made of freakin' paper. He has the tools to be and should be the best in the game.

[steeltheone]

Originally Posted by Bayz101

I disagree with that altogether. Every bit of it. Cotchery is younger, faster and will bring about more production. Ward is done. As for Sepulveda, he ends each season on the IR and hasn't paid off for this team whatsoever. Kapinos nearly exceed's his production when he takes over. Starks is an injured free agent. He's gone, Gilbert's taking over at LT. Batch may come back. He's done well when called upon, but it's about time he take the third string job and we begin getting a youth backup prepared to fill in when needed.

At this point in their careers:

Cotchery>Ward
Kap>Sep

Starks and Batch are both still productive, but both could very well be done.

I'm guessing Cotchery, Kapinos and Batch will return. Ward, Starks and Sepulveda are done.

I always liked Sep, but Kapinos is just fine....Sep will be successful whereever he goes if he stays healthy. I don't believe Ward is done. I think for a mill five plus incentives he can be a nice add.