Steelers Source

I am working my way up from the back of the defense and part 2 of my training camp series is on linebackers. The contestants (and there are plenty) in Latrobe this year are:

Last year when the Steelers cut down to their final 53 man roster, then kept 8 linebackers, so a fair number of players listed above are not going to see the regular season. The no brainers are James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley on the outside. The starters at inside linebacker is a little more interesting. I am hoping that this year is really the coming out party for Lawrence Timmons. At the other inside spot there were plenty of screams last season, your truly included, that James Farrior had lost too much speed and could not play on third down any longer. That has to also be on the mind of the Steelers and was in large part the reason for bringing Larry Foote back. I’m going to give Foote the starting nod, and while he’ll make the roster, I wouldn’t be stunned to see this as Farrior’s last year.

For those who are counting that is 5 of 8 spots on the roster filled. Considering their draft positions, it is pretty much a lock that Jason Worilds and Thaddeus Gibson are going to make the team. I see the last spot as a competition between Keyaron Fox, Andre Frazier, and Stevenson Sylvester, with Fox getting the nod. A very real possibility is that the Steelers will put either Worilds or Gibson on the roster as a defensive end and thereby be able to keep Fox plus one.

Lamar Woodley

I have really been a fan of Lamar Woodley since he stepped on the field with the Steelers. After Troy Polamalu he’s my favorite player on the team, and it makes me ill that the Steelers may not be able to resign him. The Steelers normal strategy is to resign their young high impact players in the year before a contract expires and keeping them away from thinking too much about testing the open market.

The problem in the case of Woodley is that the NFL team owners opted out early from the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) thereby eliminating the salary cap for this season. The 2010 season is also operating under a new rule affecting this situation termed the “30 percent rule.” It states that with the exception of signing bonuses, contract extensions cannot be for anymore than 30 percent over the player’s base salary.

Under this formula the maximum base salary for Woodley in 2010 would be all of $598,000; nowhere near his market value. A few teams have gotten around this rule with deals that included enormous signing bonuses. In Woodley’s case, a 5 year contract would entail a signing bonus upwards of $40 million, a figure most likely far beyond the Steelers wallet and tolerance for risk.

I can only see 2 options. One is to rework his deal for the next 2 years with a healthy signing bonus. This would reward him for his contributions since joining the team and is based on the assumption that a second deal will get done when the League and Union get a new CBA in place for 2011. The second scenario is far more draconian. The Steelers can require him to play out his current contract through 2011. Assuming that the franchise tag will return as part of the new CBA in 2011, they could then franchise Woodley in 2012, and most assuredly lose him in 2013.

Sure looks like there are some incentives on both sides to work something out.

The 2009 All-Pro team was announced today and for the first time in a fair number of years, there will be nobody from the black and gold on the roster. In fact there were no performances this year that got anyone even close to being voted to the team. I think that in most quarters the All-Pro team is considered more prestigious as it is voted by a panel of media from the Associated Press, while the Pro Bowl is voted on by the fans. The only Steelers receiving votes this year were Heath Miller, Willie Colon, Casey Hampton, and Jeff Reed each getting 1 vote. At linebacker Lamar Woodley received 4 votes, while James Harrison pulled in 3.

This time of year gives me a headache with all of the scenarios of how teams can or can’t get into the playoffs.  This year is worse than most since half of the league is 8-7, yeah parity.  So the deal with our beloved Steelers is that they have to win in Miami and need New England to beat Houston and need Cincinnati to beat the Jets.  Good luck with that one.  Last favor I can remember New England doing for us was helping out the A/V guys videotape practice.

Back in the day we just won 12 or 14 games and didn’t have to worry about this crap.  I’m a bit disappointed in my man Lamar calling everyone out saying that they are going to lie down this weekend because they are afraid of us.  That may be true, but you know what if we had beat Kansas City, Oakland, or Cleveland we could be the ones lying down. Video of these comments below. Oddly, Ryan Clark seems the most sane of the bunch (as least this week), hopefully he spent the week in his playbook.

So I was reading the Pro Bowl roster and a couple of things struck me.  The Steelers only have 2 members on the team this year, Casey Hampton as a backup, and James Harrison as a starter. Now I don’t place a ton of stock on these types of teams and awards since they are pretty subjective.  However, it is a freaking crime that Houston’s Brian Cushing got the nod at one of the other Outside Linebacker spots over LaMar Woodley and his 11.5 sacks (through 15 games). WTF. Roethlisberger is having a great year statistically but hard to argue him over Manning, Brady, or Rivers. Other than those three, mentioning anyone else’s performance this year in the same breath is a joke.