Newsflash for coach LeBeau

[zulater]

Ike Taylor isn't a shutdown corner. You can't match him up one on one with your opponents #1 receiver like you have for the past 10 years. He's lost a step. He's getting killed! He's going to lose us games!

Is Cortez up to the challenge? Probably not. But it's hard to imagine he could be any worse.

Or you're just going to have to keep Ike there, but give him safety help.

But figure something out please. Because Ike isn't good enough anymore to go it alone

[ALLD]

Have Troy help Ike and shop for a new CB. Rice isn't going to run anywhere.

[MrPgh]

Letting Keenan Lewis walk was just utterly stupid. This team needs to get the hell over the 2008 defense. Some of these guys just aren't that good anymore, and it's a huge reason why the Steelers have such big cap issues.

[zulater]

The worst move this team has made in a decade was letting Keenan Lewis leave. They should have found a way to keep him and cut Ike. Bad planning.

[steel9guy]

Lets see how the second half goes. Remember megatron?

[Count Steeler]

The worst move this team has made in a decade was letting Keenan Lewis leave. They should have found a way to keep him and cut Ike. Bad planning.

No chance in hell that Lewis was going to stay. He wanted to go to New Orleans and his buddy Wallace was on the outs all season.

[MrPgh]

The worst move this team has made in a decade was letting Keenan Lewis leave. They should have found a way to keep him and cut Ike. Bad planning.

Todd Haley may have something to say about that.

Close though.

[zulater]

No chance in hell that Lewis was going to stay. He wanted to go to New Orleans and his buddy Wallace was on the outs all season.

They could have tagged him or tendered him differently couldn't they have? I never got the sense the Steeler made Keenan a priority. And a player can tell where he's not especially wanted.

- - - Updated - - -

Just wonder if they're going to repeat the mistake and keep Woodley and let Worildis leave?

[steel9guy]

No way at all we could afford Keenan. He was a foregone conclusion all year.

[Count Steeler]

They could have tagged him or tendered him differently couldn't they have?

- - - Updated - - -

Just wonder if they're going to repeat the mistake and keep Woodley and let Worildis leave?

Tagging him would have meant about $10M. He was not worth that kind of coin. Besides, it would have only delayed the inevitable.

I'm really hoping they grow some and leave Worilds at LOLB. It is too bad that Woodley has a stranglehold on the franchise with his cap situation.

[zulater]

No way at all we could afford Keenan. He was a foregone conclusion all year.

Wallace was a foregone conclusion. I never thought Lewis was a certain goner until he was gone

You could have offset some of the additional cap hit from Lewis by cutting Ike.

[SteelerFanInStl]

Wallace was a foregone conclusion. I never thought Lewis was a certain goner until he was gone

You could have offset some of the additional cap hit from Lewis by cutting Ike.

Lewis wanted to go play in his home town. There was no chance of him staying.

[Devilsdancefloor]

I hate troy play LBer Ike needs help over top plan and simple

[steelerdude15]

Ike Taylor isn't a shutdown corner. You can't match him up one on one with your opponents #1 receiver like you have for the past 10 years. He's lost a step. He's getting killed! He's going to lose us games!

Is Cortez up to the challenge? Probably not. But it's hard to imagine he could be any worse.

Or you're just going to have to keep Ike there, but give him safety help.

But figure something out please. Because Ike isn't good enough anymore to go it alone

I think before we call for Ike's head, I think we should let cooler heads prevail. Ike is definitely having a down year, there is no doubt about that. Quite honestly, he's been awful all season. However, Ike has just come off of two solid, strong years and has been a great corner for this team. I personally think he is being misused and not being played to his strengths. Ike is a press coverage corner and is one of the best in the league. He has the ability to shut down WR's when lined up like this and getting in their face. His play is far superior then when he is lining ten yards off his man. I think if the defense started playing press coverage instead of playing ten yards off the WR, we would see better results from our corners. Just my two cents though.

[Psycho Ward 86]

No chance in hell that Lewis was going to stay. He wanted to go to New Orleans and his buddy Wallace was on the outs all season.

no chance in hell? thats funny, because keenan is being paid less than ike taylor and came ridiculously cheap as the best cornerback on the market last season. a little more guaranteed money could have coaxed him into staying. and of course naturally

- - - Updated - - -




Is Cortez up to the challenge? Probably not. But it's hard to imagine he could be any worse.



you must have not watched any games this season. it can get much worse. hopefully he makes miracle progress next season

[zulater]

I think before we call for Ike's head, I think we should let cooler heads prevail. Ike is definitely having a down year, there is no doubt about that. Quite honestly, he's been awful all season. However, Ike has just come off of two solid, strong years and has been a great corner for this team. I personally think he is being misused and not being played to his strengths. Ike is a press coverage corner and is one of the best in the league. He has the ability to shut down WR's when lined up like this and getting in their face. His play is far superior then when he is lining ten yards off his man. I think if the defense started playing press coverage instead of playing ten yards off the WR, we would see better results from our corners. Just my two cents though.

I didn't say cut him, I'm saying figure out how to better utilize him and keep him from being exploited so often.

- - - Updated - - -


no chance in hell? thats funny, because keenan is being paid less than ike taylor and came ridiculously cheap as the best cornerback on the market last season. a little more guaranteed money could have coaxed him into staying. and of course naturally

- - - Updated - - -



you must have not watched any games this season. it can get much worse. hopefully he makes miracle progress next season

Exactly. The Steelers never made it a high priority to bring back Lewis in my opinion. Had they done so he'd still be a Steeler in my opinion for the reason you just gave.

[SteelerFanInStl]

no chance in hell? thats funny, because keenan is being paid less than ike taylor and came ridiculously cheap as the best cornerback on the market last season. a little more guaranteed money could have coaxed him into staying. and of course naturally

you must have not watched any games this season. it can get much worse. hopefully he makes miracle progress next season

Keenan left because he wanted to go play in his home town of New Orleans. It wasn't for the money, although I'm sure that he enjoyed the raise too. For all we know he told the Steelers that there was no chance that he was staying. He did exactly what he said he wanted to do.

[Psycho Ward 86]

I didn't say cut him, I'm saying figure out how to better utilize him and keep him from being exploited so often.

- - - Updated - - -



Exactly. The Steelers never made it a high priority to bring back Lewis in my opinion. Had they done so he'd still be a Steeler in my opinion for the reason you just gave.

yeah, and naturally, most steeler fans on these boards dismissed the loss of lewis as nothing, because we had someone better in cortez allen.





















meanwhile in pittsburgh...allen is benched for gay early in the season. and its actually a great move smh. i had high hopes for the kid

[zulater]

yeah, and naturally, most steeler fans on these boards dismissed the loss of lewis as nothing, because we had someone better in cortez allen.





















meanwhile in pittsburgh...allen is benched for gay early in the season. and its actually a great move smh. i had high hopes for the kid

It has nothing to do with Cortez. It's all to do with keeping the younger player over a 12 year vet at a position that athleticism means so much.

[Seven]

Ike can still play but he isn't that shut down guy anymore. He needs help. The scheme is going to have to adjust. I have faith the staff will make the necessary moves to improve the pass defense.

Lewis was never going to be the answer. Signing him would have tied up way too much money in the defensive backfield. Had we retained Lewis, we'd be in the exact same position we're in now. We would have Taylor, Lewis and Allen instead of Taylor, Gay and Allen. Lewis has been playing well for the Saints, better now than he had been at the beginning of the year, but I could argue Gay has been even better. So Lewis is really a moot point. $26 million to a player who only had a few solid games under his belt was a bad gamble and even in hindsight I'm glad the Steelers didn't take it. Continue working on Allen, let Gay move into that dependable veteran role and find another Lewis in the draft. Hopefully it doesn't take that hypothetical rookie three years to contribute like it took Lewis. I don't think we'd be much better off with Lewis than we are with Gay.

[zulater]

If it was up to me it would be Lewis, Allen, and Gay right now.

[fansince'76]

It's time for the "freelancing" to stop, especially since it isn't resulting in anything except us getting gashed repeatedly. Once again, Ike was expecting deep help that wasn't there and that cost a TD.

[Seven]

If it was up to me it would be Lewis, Allen, and Gay right now.

Yeah, that would be great, but the team was never going to let go of Taylor so I don't think that' realistic. If we'd have re-signed Lewis we would have never went after Gay, in my opinion. And from what I've seen, Gay is playing just as good as Lewis. So all things equal I don't think re-signing Lewis would have made us a better team at present.

- - - Updated - - -


It's time for the "freelancing" to stop, especially since it isn't resulting in anything except us getting gashed repeatedly. Once again, Ike was expecting deep help that wasn't there and that cost a TD.

Yeah. This is a good point. There are a lot of times Ike gets left alone on an island and takes the outside expecting help deep on the inside that never comes.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Ike can still play but he isn't that shut down guy anymore. He needs help. The scheme is going to have to adjust. I have faith the staff will make the necessary moves to improve the pass defense.

Lewis was never going to be the answer. Signing him would have tied up way too much money in the defensive backfield. Had we retained Lewis, we'd be in the exact same position we're in now. We would have Taylor, Lewis and Allen instead of Taylor, Gay and Allen. Lewis has been playing well for the Saints, better now than he had been at the beginning of the year, but I could argue Gay has been even better. So Lewis is really a moot point. $26 million to a player who only had a few solid games under his belt was a bad gamble and even in hindsight I'm glad the Steelers didn't take it. Continue working on Allen, let Gay move into that dependable veteran role and find another Lewis in the draft. Hopefully it doesn't take that hypothetical rookie three years to contribute like it took Lewis. I don't think we'd be much better off with Lewis than we are with Gay.

many of us wanted lewis and wanted to cut ike in his place and taken the cap hit that goes with it

[Seven]

many of us wanted lewis and wanted to cut ike in his place and taken the cap hit that goes with it

I don't remember the specific number, but wasn't that cap hit huge? Ike isn't as good as he was a few years ago but he's still a starting caliber corner. Overpaid? No doubt. But combine Lewis' contract with a massive cap hit from losing Ike and I don't see how that's much better than where we are now. Obviously the ideal situation would have been to cut Ike, re-sign Lewis and sign Gay, too, as Zulater expressed. But I think no matter what the configuation of corners (Taylor/Lewis, Taylor/Gay, Gay/Lewis) we'd be in roughly the same position financially and on the field. The major difference would obviously be we'd be a lot younger.

I really don't think corner is the biggest issue right now, though. Safety play has been awful. I understand wanting to let Troy play his game but it isn't working anymore. When Taylor expects help to be there it should be there. That goes for Clark and Allen, too.

[Steeldude]

Ike Taylor isn't a shutdown corner. You can't match him up one on one with your opponents #1 receiver like you have for the past 10 years. He's lost a step. He's getting killed! He's going to lose us games!

Is Cortez up to the challenge? Probably not. But it's hard to imagine he could be any worse.

Or you're just going to have to keep Ike there, but give him safety help.

But figure something out please. Because Ike isn't good enough anymore to go it alone

Taylor's problem is the same as always. He has no fundamentals etc... to fall back on. He is purely a speed guy. You would think the DB coaches would teach him a few things, but no.

[zulater]

The Steelers must learn from the Keenan Lewis debacle. After last season — after he said the Steelers declined to make him an offer — Lewis signed a modest five-year, $22 million contract with the Saints. He has become a shutdown star.


Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/joestarkey/5139689-74/worilds-steelers-money#ixzz2mCV5WjHa
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

[Count Steeler]

The Steelers must learn from the Keenan Lewis debacle. After last season — after he said the Steelers declined to make him an offer — Lewis signed a modest five-year, $22 million contract with the Saints. He has become a shutdown star.


Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/joestarkey/5139689-74/worilds-steelers-money#ixzz2mCV5WjHa
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Than one must ask themselves why would the Steelers not even make an offer?

1) The Steelers already knew what Lewis' intentions were, ie wanting to sign with his home town team.

2) The Steelers were cleaning out their locker room of "cancers". (He is reportedly very good friends with Mike Wallace)

3) The Steelers thought they had depth at DB and he was expendable.

4) The Steelers had a blind commitment to Swag and were more comfortable with a known commodity over someone who had just developed and looked like he may have a nice future, but he could also regress. (Cortez Allen looked ready to step in last year. This year, not so much.)

5) The Steelers were having a string of bad decisions, probably predicated on a stagnant cap and a commitment to keep the SB window open.

6) The author of the article has an ax to grind and is embellishing. He did not quote Lewis directly, it could very well be a paraphrase.

[MrPgh]

Than one must ask themselves why would the Steelers not even make an offer?

1) The Steelers already knew what Lewis' intentions were, ie wanting to sign with his home town team.

2) The Steelers were cleaning out their locker room of "cancers". (He is reportedly very good friends with Mike Wallace)

3) The Steelers thought they had depth at DB and he was expendable.

4) The Steelers had a blind commitment to Swag and were more comfortable with a known commodity over someone who had just developed and looked like he may have a nice future, but he could also regress. (Cortez Allen looked ready to step in last year. This year, not so much.)

5) The Steelers were having a string of bad decisions, probably predicated on a stagnant cap and a commitment to keep the SB window open.

6) The author of the article has an ax to grind and is embellishing. He did not quote Lewis directly, it could very well be a paraphrase.

I can simplify this:

1.) The Steelers seem to not understand how to operate in the cap era.

2.) They can't let go of the 2008 defense.