Steelers' 2014 Free Agents

[Psycho Ward 86]

no restricted free agents this year. Give me Jerricho Cotchery, Johnathan Dwyer, Hyphen, David Johnson, Fernando Velasco, Cody Wallace, Al Woods, Jason Worilds, Will Allen, and Greg Warren.

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Steelers-2014-free-agent-list/2f3ed7f1-836f-4a61-b106-4dc169305626

UNRESTRICTED (21)
Wide receivers (3): Plaxico Burress, Jerricho Cotchery, Emmanuel Sanders

Running backs (3): Jonathan Dwyer, Felix Jones, LaRod Stephens-Howling

Tight ends (2): David Johnson, Michael Palmer

Offensive linemen (3): Fernando Velasco, Cody Wallace, Guy Whimper

Defensive linemen: (3): Ziggy Hood, Brett Keisel, Al Woods

Linebackers (3): Stevenson Sylvester, Jamaal Westerman, Jason Worilds

Defensive backs (2): Will Allen, Ryan Clark

Specialists (2): Mat McBriar, Greg Warren

RESTRICTED (0)

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS (1)
Offensive linemen (1): Eric Olsen

[Shoes]

I can agree with most of that, but I'd like to know how healthy Stephens-Howling is. And I'd pass on David Johnson. We have a good FB and we need to draft a good TE.

[Seven]

I'd keep: Cotchery, Dwyer, Stephens-Howling, Johnson, Velasco, Wallace, Hood, Woods, Worilds, Allen and Warren.

I think the Steelers will keep: Cotchery, Dwyer, Stephens-Howling, Palmer, Wallace, Whimper, Woods, Worilds and Warren.

[Psycho Ward 86]

i also want hood back but only as a backup, and i think he would be too expensive and out of our price range to be a backup for us. he'll probably end up being a pretty good 4-3 DT for someone out there

[Seven]

i also want hood back but only as a backup, and i think he would be too expensive and out of our price range to be a backup for us. he'll probably end up being a pretty good 4-3 DT for someone out there

We'll see. Sometimes I think we perceive Steelers free agents will have a bigger market than they actually do. I remember a few years ago we all thought Max Starks would get a hefty contract once he hit the market and he ended up on the street. I could see Hood getting a nice deal, but I could also see the interest not being there. If he's relatively cheap, or even market value, I'd probably bring him back. We don't have much at that position. Even if Woods comes back, I think you have to either re-sign Hood or Keisel.

[Steeltreal]

I dont see Dwyer returning to get 1-2 touches a game. Bell showed hes the workhorse back most people thought he was.

[GoSlash27]

Jeez, lookit that list!

People we ought to work to keep:
Cotchery
Velasco
Hood
Sylvester
Allen.

There's a lot of people I'd really like to keep who aren't on this list. Maybe we can get some of them at vet minimum. But we've got to fix our cap situation while building for long term success.

[Psycho Ward 86]

I dont see Dwyer returning to get 1-2 touches a game. Bell showed hes the workhorse back most people thought he was.

We dont know how healthy Hyphen is, and Dwyer we at least know runs hard and blocks extremely well. We know what he can do. Someone has to take some touches from Bell so we dont run the wheels off of the guy.

[GoSlash27]

We dont know how healthy Hyphen is, and Dwyer we at least know runs hard and blocks extremely well. We know what he can do. Someone has to take some touches from Bell so we dont run the wheels off of the guy.

This is true, but we don't have to pay Dwyer UFA money to keep him in that role. If we can get him cheap, good. If not, we can find somebody else. I'd like to keep him on board too, but we just plain can't afford to keep most of them.

[Godfather]

Wide receivers (3): Plaxico Burress, Jerricho Cotchery, Emmanuel Sanders

Running backs (3): Jonathan Dwyer, Felix Jones, LaRod Stephens-Howling

Tight ends (2): David Johnson, Michael Palmer

Offensive linemen (3): Fernando Velasco, Cody Wallace, Guy Whimper

Defensive linemen: (3): Ziggy Hood, Brett Keisel, Al Woods

Linebackers (3): Stevenson Sylvester, Jamaal Westerman, Jason Worilds

Defensive backs (2): Will Allen, Ryan Clark

Specialists (2): Mat McBriar, Greg Warren



The bolded ones are the top priority. I'd like to keep some of the others but they're expendable/replaceable.

[steelerdude15]

no restricted free agents this year. Give me Jerricho Cotchery, Johnathan Dwyer, Hyphen, David Johnson, Fernando Velasco, Cody Wallace, Al Woods, Jason Worilds, Will Allen, and Greg Warren.

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Steelers-2014-free-agent-list/2f3ed7f1-836f-4a61-b106-4dc169305626

UNRESTRICTED (21)
Wide receivers (3): Plaxico Burress, Jerricho Cotchery, Emmanuel Sanders

Running backs (3): Jonathan Dwyer, Felix Jones, LaRod Stephens-Howling

Tight ends (2): David Johnson, Michael Palmer

Offensive linemen (3): Fernando Velasco, Cody Wallace, Guy Whimper

Defensive linemen: (3): Ziggy Hood, Brett Keisel, Al Woods

Linebackers (3): Stevenson Sylvester, Jamaal Westerman, Jason Worilds

Defensive backs (2): Will Allen, Ryan Clark

Specialists (2): Mat McBriar, Greg Warren

RESTRICTED (0)

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS (1)
Offensive linemen (1): Eric Olsen

The players who I have bolded are the ones who I would try to resign.

[Iron Steeler]

as much as I love these guys I think that Keisel and clark have to go

[Seven]

I dont see Dwyer returning to get 1-2 touches a game. Bell showed hes the workhorse back most people thought he was.

Well, just because Bell is a workhorse doesn't mean he'll be the only back on the roster. Dwyer should be cheap and is proven effective. I see no reason not to retain him.

[salamander]

Well, just because Bell is a workhorse doesn't mean he'll be the only back on the roster. Dwyer should be cheap and is proven effective. I see no reason not to retain him.

Agreed. I think Bell and Dwyer are a nice one-two punch.

[steelreserve]

There's honestly nobody on that list who it would kill us to lose. Although we need to bring back at least 1 of our 2 backup centers, and I'd hate to see Woods go.

It would be great to keep Worilds, but not at the prices some are predicting. Who knows, maybe he was under the radar enough that we could still get him for a reasonable price like $4M or $5M. If it's $7M or $9M, forget it; just not worth it and we can't do it.

I think that under the new CBA, restricted free agents are basically a thing of the past; the contract structure for drafted players means it just won't come up because rookie contracts are 4 years. Only with undrafted free agents would it ever come up, and then most of the time it would still be pointless because everything except the highest tender would result in a competing team giving up no draft picks anyway. Maybe if a drafted rookie was cut and signed on with another team, and then played for 3 years? But at that point, after you're first cut by the team that drafted you, I think you're just a plain free agent.

[X-Terminator]

There is no way in hell Worilds signs for $4 or $5 million a year. Everyone loves the idea of getting young and talented players like him on the cheap, but the reality is these days, they command hefty contracts. You may not like it, I may not like it, but that's just the way it is. Expect him to get at least $7 million a season, whether it's from the Steelers or another team.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Here are the 2014 free agents: http://nfltraderumors.co/2014-nfl-free-agents/

looking at the competition and comparison, i dont think worilds will be able to break the bank like Kruger did last season. Im feeling $6-$7million a year

[one side only]

I wouldn't make an extraordinary effort to sign any of them, except maybe Cotchery. If they come cheap, all is well and good. I wouldn't get into a bidding war for any of their services.

[Mojouw]

Worilds' chances at getting shown some silly money by a team or two really depends on what happens to some other pass-rushers first. On the list of FAs, figure that Orakpo gets the first big deal, assuming his health status checks out. After that, Worilds looks pretty good as far as pass-rushing OLB's go. Situation totally changes if Woodley gets released along with some of the other high $$ guys rumored to be on the block. There has been speculation by Baltimore area reporters that Suggs gets released due to a high cap charge. Those two on the open market, likely depress Worilds contract offers. Take them off the market, and Worilds becomes one of the better 3-4 OLB's available on the market...contract offer goes up. Maybe into Kruger territory.

On a side note, too bad the Steelers don't have any cap room. There are actually free agents out there this year at positions of need for this team that are not simply aging veterans on the back-side of their careers.

[KeiselPower99]

Worilds is gonna get paid somewhere and it probably wont be in Pittsburgh. I dont blame the front office for him or Lewis last year. They showed nothing until their contract years.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Worilds is gonna get paid somewhere and it probably wont be in Pittsburgh. I dont blame the front office for him or Lewis last year. They showed nothing until their contract years.

If you expect our players to show a lot before their contract years (particularly our defensive players who need to adjust to what has been considered a very difficult defense to learn), you are going to lose a lot of good players. And for the record, keenan was a great nickel corner and then grew into a great starter the following year.

His 1st season with the Saints only reinforces this fact, as he was the top corner on a team that ranked 4th in scoring defense, 4th in total defense, 2nd in pass defense, and 19th in run defense. This on a team that lost jabrari greer midseason and kenny vaccaro on the tail end. Keenan Lewis has gained respect across the football world as elite, as he is listed as a pro bowl snub by ESPN, Huffington Post, Buzztap, Muckrack, Inagist, and Daily News EN. Just to name a few.

So he showed 2 good years with us. Most of these draft pick rookie contracts are going to be 3 years, 4 if they're 1st rounders. So how long are you expecting them to show something substantial, 3 years or more? So basically you are implicitly saying if they arent good from the get go then we should let them go. That cant happen, especially not when players in this defense need time to learn.

Even though Worilds hasnt shown nearly as much as keenan lewis did when he was with us, he is the closest thing we have to a proven commodity at OLB. Woodley hasnt had his shit together for a long time, and we have no idea what were getting from jarvis jones yet.