Steelers pre draft offseason grade and best move and worst move.

[zulater]

This probably wont be pretty! :lol:

My pre draft offseason grade, C. Hard to like what they've done so far, though much is understandable. Could have been worse, could have lost McClendon for instance.

Best move(s). Keeping Ramon Foster and Steve McClendon. Resigning Gay.

Worst move. Losing Keenan Lewis. I would rather have had them make more of an effort to sign Lewis, and if successfull release Ike Taylor.

Losing James Harrison. I don't really fault the Steelers for this, I think they offered him a fair salary. But losing him is going to hurt nonetheless.

[st33lersguy]

Keeping Ramon Foster, Steve McClendon, and bringing back Gay prevents the grade from being an F, but releasing Harrison, then not using the cap space to try and re-sign Keenan Lewis then not trying to re-sign Harrison at a cheaper price to prevent the Bungles from snatching him up was dumb. Also wasting cap space on Spaeth made no sense and I would have prefered more cheaper free agent signings. Overall a D so far.

[Pristas]

Keeping Ramon Foster, Steve McClendon, and bringing back Gay prevents the grade from being an F, but releasing Harrison, then not using the cap space to try and re-sign Keenan Lewis then not trying to re-sign Harrison at a cheaper price to prevent the Bungles from snatching him up was dumb. Also wasting cap space on Spaeth made no sense and I would have prefered more cheaper free agent signings. Overall a D so far.

this. D.

Only Ravens get an F this year. How do you lose Reed, Kruger, Lewis, Pollard, Boldin and a host of others all in one season? That's beyond me. That would be the equivalent of us losing all of our offensive players that we lost, plus Pouncey and Sanders. That would be a fail.

[st33lersguy]

this. D.

Only Ravens get an F this year. How do you lose Reed, Kruger, Lewis, Pollard, Boldin and a host of others all in one season? That's beyond me. That would be the equivalent of us losing all of our offensive players that we lost, plus Pouncey and Sanders. That would be a fail.

Plus tying up a hefty amount of salary cap space into one average player

[zulater]

Man 11 votes and not even as much as a C+.Glad my kids report card doesn't look like that!

On the bright side no F's. Yet.

[steelreserve]

I gave it a D. Wallace was obviously leaving anyway and so was Mendenhall (good riddance), but beyond that, on the positive side:

- Lewis leaving was not as bad as it could've been since we have Allen
- We finally added an apparently competent backup QB
- We kept Burress for cheap
- Ben did not Leader of the Pack himself or have any misdirected hard-ons this time

on the negative:

- We cut Harrison and Colon and still didn't even manage to hold our ground with our other FAs
- We got our asses handed to us with the low RFA tenders; gambling and losing cost us a couple million dollars
- Restructuring Woodley basically makes him uncuttable for the duration of his contract, and his cap hit is going to be shocking in the future
- We did not lock up Allen or Sanders, so we can say buh-bye if either of them has a good year
- We lost Rainey to being a dipshit
- Somehow we'll probably still be $500M over the cap next offseason
- Spaeth is a waste of my motherfucking time

One could also make the case that the offseason started after Week 16, so we made a bonehead decision to voluntarily opt for the 17th pick instead of the 12th.

[Count Steeler]

On the surface, to most fans D. To the front office, that knows what goes on in the locker room and actually talks to the players, B.

I don't think we had a chance to resign Mendenhall, Lewis nor Wallace. Lewis was going to NO no matter what. Wallace was going for the bucks no matter what. Mendenhall needed a change of scenery.

They tried to resign Harrison, but he got greedy. They did low ball the RFAs, but the flat salary cap left them no choice. Even a 5 mil increase would have made a big difference.

We still have a decent secondary. We have a backup QB, finally. Our O Line, if healthy, should be solid. Our QB, if healthy is elite. Our receiving corps is adequate to above average. Our RB situation is less than stellar. Our DL has potential. Our LBers is troublesome, however, if Woodley shows up and Worilds plays decently, we will be top half of the league.

[Seven]

I gave them a B. Sorry for mucking up the unanimous average and below grades :chuckle:

I don't see how this year has been any different than any other in terms of free agency. I can understand the loss of Keenan Lewis being upsetting to some fans, but beyond that I don't really see any decision made this offseason that anyone should be upset about.

Everyone knew Mike Wallace was gone. We would have had to pay more than $60 million over five years to keep him. Even the most steadfast Wallace supporters couldn't justify that.

Keenan Lewis would have cost more than $26 million over five years. He was a promising young player and I'm sad he is no longer a Steeler, but that contract he got from the Saints is a big time gamble. Everyone is acting like his continued success is a sure thing. It might happen, but it's definitely no guarantee. Rolling the dice on Cortez Allen and saving that money isn't the worst thing in the world. And the fact that the team made such little effort to retain Lewis tells me something.

Losing James Harrison seemed like a forgone conclusion come true. Truth is, we need to get younger guys rushing the passer. Another year or two out of James would have been nice, but there is no guarantee we would get that out of him, and at his price tag it just wasn't worth delaying the inevitable in my opinion.

Bringing back William Gay was a brilliant move. At $4 million over three years he's a bargain. At worst he'll be an excellent nickel corner and at best he'll be a solid starter again if Allen struggles.

Bruce Gradkowski is the guy fans have been begging for over the last three seasons yet no one seems excited to have him on our team. He's durable, gritty and a hell of a lot younger than Batch and Leftwich.

I realize we still need more pop at a few positions. Pass rusher, running back and wide receiver namely being our needs in my opinion. But the rest of the roster is pretty rock solid.

A line of Gilbert/Foster/Pouncey/DeCastro/Adams is a young, promising unit. Heath is on track to make it back faster than anticipated by all accounts. Sanders, Brown, Cotchery and Burress isn't the best group in the world, but add another name through the draft and that list looks a lot better (and I still think Gilreath can do some good things). Miller, Paulson and Spaeth isn't bad depth at tight end. Dwyer, Redman and Batch does leave something to be desired in the backfield, but it's no different than what we ran with for the majority of last year and we had one of our better rushing seasons in years last season. Ben isn't going anywhere and if he does at least we have a leader in Gradkowski behind him. All in all I'm not very concerned about the offense.

Defensively I am slightly more concerned. I like Worilds, but will he put it together if he wins the starting job? That remains to be seen. I'm not saying he can't, I know better than that. But opposite Woodley who has a hell of a lot to prove himself, I think we're shaky coming off the edges at best. I'm not worried about the defensive backfield. I trust Ryan Clark to hold it together at this point. He is getting older, but the arch of his career has gone backwards - his best years have come in his thirties. While I realize that won't be the case forever, he has given me no reason to suspect this year will be the start of his decline. Polamalu will be fine if healthy. Definitely a big if, but I want to see what a guy like DaMon Cromartie - Smith can do. Been waiting to see this kid on the field for a long time. Hopefully with Ryan Mundy out of the way he'll get to show everyone why he has hung around. Ike, Allen, Gay and Brown will be fine. If Allen struggles Gay will come in and be solid as he has been for the last two seasons. Brown should be coming into his own. Very excited to see what Steve McLendon can do this year. Signing him to an extension was a big win for the Steelers. Hood is still proving himself, but outside of the Chiefs game last year I thought he improved. He gets impressive penetration. Kiesel is a stalwart and Heyward is underrated. I wasn't excited to see Larry Foote return, but at the price you can't beat it. He played good enough last year next to Timmons. Not to mention I bet Sean Spence has gotten bigger since we last saw him. The team was slow to bring Sly back into the fold, but I'm glad they did. If nothing else he's an untapped body who knows the system. So there are some questions, but it could be a lot worse. If we get some surprise pass rush, I think the defense will be awesome.

I really don't see what all the fuss is about. The roster doesn't have the same name recognition as usual, but it seems to me there aren't any bigger questions that need answered this offseason than there generally are. If we draft a piece here and a piece there, get a contribution from at least one rookie, maybe two? The team will be absolutely fine. Gay and Gradkowski were quality signings and we've shed some fat. Don't see what's not to like. That's why I gave the team a B.

Standard offseason.

[Psycho Ward 86]

I gave it a C. The only outstanding moves for me were resigning Ramon Foster and extending Steve Mclendon before the packers could f*ck us over. Thought getting gradkowski was a solid move. And we did all of that on the cheap. However, we also couldnt find a way to keep harrison, lost a very valuable backup in will allen (remember the days of anthony smith, tyrone carter, and ryan mundy stepping in for troy/ryan...LOL), ended up getting dangerously close to losing both sanders and wallace, couldnt resign lewis even though he came pretty cheap as well and the cornerback market was a bargain this year. Meh, maybe even less than a C

[zulater]

I gave them a B. Sorry for mucking up the unanimous average and below grades :chuckle:

I don't see how this year has been any different than any other in terms of free agency. I can understand the loss of Keenan Lewis being upsetting to some fans, but beyond that I don't really see any decision made this offseason that anyone should be upset about.

Everyone knew Mike Wallace was gone. We would have had to pay more than $60 million over five years to keep him. Even the most steadfast Wallace supporters couldn't justify that.

Keenan Lewis would have cost more than $26 million over five years. He was a promising young player and I'm sad he is no longer a Steeler, but that contract he got from the Saints is a big time gamble. Everyone is acting like his continued success is a sure thing. It might happen, but it's definitely no guarantee. Rolling the dice on Cortez Allen and saving that money isn't the worst thing in the world. And the fact that the team made such little effort to retain Lewis tells me something.

Losing James Harrison seemed like a forgone conclusion come true. Truth is, we need to get younger guys rushing the passer. Another year or two out of James would have been nice, but there is no guarantee we would get that out of him, and at his price tag it just wasn't worth delaying the inevitable in my opinion.

Bringing back William Gay was a brilliant move. At $4 million over three years he's a bargain. At worst he'll be an excellent nickel corner and at best he'll be a solid starter again if Allen struggles.

Bruce Gradkowski is the guy fans have been begging for over the last three seasons yet no one seems excited to have him on our team. He's durable, gritty and a hell of a lot younger than Batch and Leftwich.

I realize we still need more pop at a few positions. Pass rusher, running back and wide receiver namely being our needs in my opinion. But the rest of the roster is pretty rock solid.

A line of Gilbert/Foster/Pouncey/DeCastro/Adams is a young, promising unit. Heath is on track to make it back faster than anticipated by all accounts. Sanders, Brown, Cotchery and Burress isn't the best group in the world, but add another name through the draft and that list looks a lot better (and I still think Gilreath can do some good things). Miller, Paulson and Spaeth isn't bad depth at tight end. Dwyer, Redman and Batch does leave something to be desired in the backfield, but it's no different than what we ran with for the majority of last year and we had one of our better rushing seasons in years last season. Ben isn't going anywhere and if he does at least we have a leader in Gradkowski behind him. All in all I'm not very concerned about the offense.

Defensively I am slightly more concerned. I like Worilds, but will he put it together if he wins the starting job? That remains to be seen. I'm not saying he can't, I know better than that. But opposite Woodley who has a hell of a lot to prove himself, I think we're shaky coming off the edges at best. I'm not worried about the defensive backfield. I trust Ryan Clark to hold it together at this point. He is getting older, but the arch of his career has gone backwards - his best years have come in his thirties. While I realize that won't be the case forever, he has given me no reason to suspect this year will be the start of his decline. Polamalu will be fine if healthy. Definitely a big if, but I want to see what a guy like DaMon Cromartie - Smith can do. Been waiting to see this kid on the field for a long time. Hopefully with Ryan Mundy out of the way he'll get to show everyone why he has hung around. Ike, Allen, Gay and Brown will be fine. If Allen struggles Gay will come in and be solid as he has been for the last two seasons. Brown should be coming into his own. Very excited to see what Steve McLendon can do this year. Signing him to an extension was a big win for the Steelers. Hood is still proving himself, but outside of the Chiefs game last year I thought he improved. He gets impressive penetration. Kiesel is a stalwart and Heyward is underrated. I wasn't excited to see Larry Foote return, but at the price you can't beat it. He played good enough last year next to Timmons. Not to mention I bet Sean Spence has gotten bigger since we last saw him. The team was slow to bring Sly back into the fold, but I'm glad they did. If nothing else he's an untapped body who knows the system. So there are some questions, but it could be a lot worse. If we get some surprise pass rush, I think the defense will be awesome.

I really don't see what all the fuss is about. The roster doesn't have the same name recognition as usual, but it seems to me there aren't any bigger questions that need answered this offseason than there generally are. If we draft a piece here and a piece there, get a contribution from at least one rookie, maybe two? The team will be absolutely fine. Gay and Gradkowski were quality signings and we've shed some fat. Don't see what's not to like. That's why I gave the team a B.

Standard offseason.

Thanks for the hope! :

[Seven]

Thanks for the hope! :

We shall see Zu, if we go 6 - 10 you guys will have an entire offseason to slaughter me for my optimism :chuckle:

[zulater]

We shall see Zu, if we go 6 - 10 you guys will have an entire offseason to slaughter me for my optimism :chuckle:

They might, I wont. I'm a glass half full guy. Nothing wrong with taking the optimistic approach.

[steelreserve]

I gave them a B. Sorry for mucking up the unanimous average and below grades :chuckle:

I don't see how this year has been any different than any other in terms of free agency. I can understand the loss of Keenan Lewis being upsetting to some fans, but beyond that I don't really see any decision made this offseason that anyone should be upset about.

Everyone knew Mike Wallace was gone. We would have had to pay more than $60 million over five years to keep him. Even the most steadfast Wallace supporters couldn't justify that.

Keenan Lewis would have cost more than $26 million over five years. He was a promising young player and I'm sad he is no longer a Steeler, but that contract he got from the Saints is a big time gamble. Everyone is acting like his continued success is a sure thing. It might happen, but it's definitely no guarantee. Rolling the dice on Cortez Allen and saving that money isn't the worst thing in the world. And the fact that the team made such little effort to retain Lewis tells me something.

Losing James Harrison seemed like a forgone conclusion come true. Truth is, we need to get younger guys rushing the passer. Another year or two out of James would have been nice, but there is no guarantee we would get that out of him, and at his price tag it just wasn't worth delaying the inevitable in my opinion.

See, a lot of these things, plus the necessity to lowball the RFAs due to cap space, came about because of past decisions coming back to haunt us. Our shitty cap situation wasn't just there for no reason; we put ourselves there. So maybe it's a little unfair to pile it on in this one year; they made the best of the situation ... but it was our fault for being in that situation.* So if the D this offseason is unfair, maybe the A's of past years were a little unfair too; it all evens out.


*also, don't take this the wrong way, like I'm the typical naysayer who goes "OMG we hung on to aging veterans too long and it's killing us, we're retarded!" Yes, we took extreme measures to keep the team together for several years, with the intention of trying to win the Super Bowl, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out overall. It was just bound to catch up with us one day, so in the meantime, that sucks.

[Steeltreal]

D

Best move: RBs on the cheap! Doors open for a starter to emerge via Draft, FA, Dwyer, Redman

Worst move: Colons 4 mil + cap hit in 2014, Cornerback situation, pressure on IKE to not be next years Harrison.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Cornerback situation, pressure on IKE to not be next years Harrison.

there wouldnt be pressure on ike to not be next years harrison if we had signed keenan and put pressure on him to be the next ike taylor. pressure that he could have handled for cheaper and a younger body. That goes down as my most disappointing move of the offseason

[zulater]

See, a lot of these things, plus the necessity to lowball the RFAs due to cap space, came about because of past decisions coming back to haunt us. Our shitty cap situation wasn't just there for no reason; we put ourselves there. So maybe it's a little unfair to pile it on in this one year; they made the best of the situation ... but it was our fault for being in that situation.* So if the D this offseason is unfair, maybe the A's of past years were a little unfair too; it all evens out.


*also, don't take this the wrong way, like I'm the typical naysayer who goes "OMG we hung on to aging veterans too long and it's killing us, we're retarded!" Yes, we took extreme measures to keep the team together for several years, with the intention of trying to win the Super Bowl, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out overall. It was just bound to catch up with us one day, so in the meantime, that sucks.

That's a fair and realistic way of putting things.

[Seven]

See, a lot of these things, plus the necessity to lowball the RFAs due to cap space, came about because of past decisions coming back to haunt us. Our shitty cap situation wasn't just there for no reason; we put ourselves there. So maybe it's a little unfair to pile it on in this one year; they made the best of the situation ... but it was our fault for being in that situation.* So if the D this offseason is unfair, maybe the A's of past years were a little unfair too; it all evens out.


*also, don't take this the wrong way, like I'm the typical naysayer who goes "OMG we hung on to aging veterans too long and it's killing us, we're retarded!" Yes, we took extreme measures to keep the team together for several years, with the intention of trying to win the Super Bowl, and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out overall. It was just bound to catch up with us one day, so in the meantime, that sucks.

That's fair. I've never said tight cap space isn't an obstacle, but I maintain it is an obstacle that can be worked around easier than most people think. I didn't really factor the cap situation into my grade due to that belief, but if we're going to consider it then I think the B is even more reasonable grade.

Your point about past offseasons being graded 'A' is an interesting one because, to me, this offseason really isn't much different than those of the past. I feel like we always lose key players. Farrior, Smith and Ward last season, Wallace, Lewis and Mendenhall this. Players come and go. It's the nature of the league and it's what sets the Steelers apart from the Browns. Teams that can consistently overcome the loss of key players are the ones that win championships. I just have no reason to believe we won't overcome these losses like we always have.

[Texasteel]

there wouldnt be pressure on ike to not be next years harrison if we had signed keenan and put pressure on him to be the next ike taylor. pressure that he could have handled for cheaper and a younger body. That goes down as my most disappointing move of the offseason

It's hard for me to make a judgment on the Keenan situation, because I still have a feeling that there was more to it than meets the eye.

[Psycho Ward 86]

It's hard for me to make a judgment on the Keenan situation, because I still have a feeling that there was more to it than meets the eye.

interesting. what do you mean?

[Count Steeler]

interesting. what do you mean?

"I'm very excited to be able to come back to my hometown," Lewis said. "Having grown up here I understand the passion that the fans have for the Saints and I'm blessed to be able to have the chance to play in front of them here in the future. I had a great visit with the Saints and am thankful for the time I spent with the Pittsburgh Steelers and wish them continued success."

The Steelers are "cheap" to begin with and I don't think they would get into a bidding war with New Orleans, especially since Lewis had his heart set on a home coming.

It will be interesting to see the team dynamic this year. Let's see if Wallace was more than a disgruntled presence.

[GBMelBlount]

C.

Losing Harrison hurt the most but we made him a fair offer - nothing more we could do.
Losing Lewis was troubling but less so because I feel Allen has as much or more potential.
Losing Wallace was inevitable so not a factor for me.
We had many lesser signings that were very solid.
Concerns linebacker & QB pressure.
With a healthier team, a better attitude and Haley having a year under his belt no reason we can't have a winning season and be a contender imo.

[Dwinsgames]

signing Spaeth the second time around was more pathetic than drafting him in the first place IMO and gets and F on its face value merit and that hurts the overall grade that would not have been that high to begin with IMO ....

Not going after the TE from Washinton ( Davis ) instead was very short sighted IMO F

Not making a more solid attempt to retain Harrison after he was cut was also short sighted if for nothing else insurance if Worilds proves to be a non factor yet another F

signing Gay ( if to be the nickle backer ) was a solid B because that is a role he can perform at a fairly high level in this system , he is just not an outside CB but we have Allen for that

Ramon Foster is a A IMO , his leap from average to pretty damn good in the span of 1 year was an exceptional leap in ability and if he has the same sort of leap this year he will be the Bargain of the off season

Gradkowski , he is nothing special , he has grit and is a gamer but he is not special in the talent department C

over all D-D+

[zulater]

OK who gave the A? If that grade was given as something other than a joke I'd love to hear the rationale behind it.

- - - Updated - - -


C.

Losing Harrison hurt the most but we made him a fair offer - nothing more we could do.
Losing Lewis was troubling but less so because I feel Allen has as much or more potential.
Losing Wallace was inevitable so not a factor for me.
We had many lesser signings that were very solid.
Concerns linebacker & QB pressure.
With a healthier team, a better attitude and Haley having a year under his belt no reason we can't have a winning season and be a contender imo.

Nice assessment GB. :applaudit:

[Steeltreal]

Question, we lost 3 URFA and signed 2 ,so we might get a high Comp pick for Wallace?

[steelreserve]

That's fair. I've never said tight cap space isn't an obstacle, but I maintain it is an obstacle that can be worked around easier than most people think. I didn't really factor the cap situation into my grade due to that belief, but if we're going to consider it then I think the B is even more reasonable grade.

Your point about past offseasons being graded 'A' is an interesting one because, to me, this offseason really isn't much different than those of the past. I feel like we always lose key players. Farrior, Smith and Ward last season, Wallace, Lewis and Mendenhall this. Players come and go. It's the nature of the league and it's what sets the Steelers apart from the Browns. Teams that can consistently overcome the loss of key players are the ones that win championships. I just have no reason to believe we won't overcome these losses like we always have.

I know what you mean, we sort of go through the same thing every offseason where people go "omg look at all the important players they lost" but we turn out to be fine because of exactly what you said. We lose players who look crucial to the outside observer because they're big names, but those who have been following the team closely know that those players have had declining roles anyway and we're ready for their departure. That's why it's different this year and I'm a lot more uneasy.

Farrior, Smith and Ward were on the downside of their careers, and we knew we had replacements who weren't a huge drop-off. You could say the same about Hampton and Starks this season. The guys we lost this year sting a little more, and behind them we basically have question marks. Yeah, I know, Wallace, Lewis and Mendenhall were all either bad deals or just weren't in the cards, but at the end of the day, we're not left sitting in a position of strength after they departed, like we were in years past. Part of it you can blame on worse depth, part on cap problems, but the outcome is still a little uneasy.

[Steeldude]

The bad:

No LT on the roster with Starks gone.

No ROLB on the roster with Harrison gone. He is also the only intimidating force on the defense

Woodley wasn't asked to take a pay cut to relieve cap pressure

Lewis was allowed to sign elsewhere

Didn't cut Kiesel to relieve the cap. It also lets Heyward get on the field before being lost to free agency

The good:


Re-signed Foster, Mclendon and Gay

Found a more competent backup with Gradkowski

Let go Colon, Wallace and Mendenhall : )

[GBMelBlount]

The bad:

No LT on the roster with Starks gone.

No ROLB on the roster with Harrison gone. He is also the only intimidating force on the defense

Woodley wasn't asked to take a pay cut to relieve cap pressure

Lewis was allowed to sign elsewhere

Didn't cut Kiesel to relieve the cap. It also lets Heyward get on the field before being lost to free agency

The good:


Re-signed Foster, Mclendon and Gay

Found a more competent backup with Gradkowski

Let go Colon, Wallace and Mendenhall : )


Sooooo....is that an "A" or a "B"? :chuckle:


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TM5AfW8pD7k/TVl6-fEMeiI/AAAAAAAAAiY/b3FsFfZrigM/s400/Eeyore.jpg