The Steelers are losing the NFL Arms Race

[katmandu]

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2014/3/14/5509416/the-steelers-are-losing-the-nfl-arms-race



By Jack Finn (http://www.sbnation.com/users/Jack%20Finn)  @JackFinn6 (http://twitter.com/JackFinn6) on Mar 14 2014, 5:47p

With the Bronco's and other NFL powerhouses improving their already talented rosters through Free Agent acquisitions, the Steelers are falling behind in an Arms race.


[COLOR=#292929][FONT=Mercury SSm A]If I could characterize the events of the 2014 Free Agency thus far, I would characterize it as an Arms race between NFL Superpowers.
From the get go, it appears that the NFL's best teams have only gotten better. Of course championships are never won on paper, but then again it has never hurt to look like a winner.
The Denver Broncos (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/teams/denver-broncos), fresh off a trip to the Superbowl (http://www.sbnation.com/super-bowl), have thrown their chequebook wide open. The combined signings of Aquib Talib, Demarcus Ware and T J Ward amount to $60 million in guaranteed money, and $110 million over 13 years.
In the space of three days, the AFC's best team added three Pro Bowl level talents at positions where it was needed most. The Broncos secondary was routinely picked on last season, so it as a good thing they have added one of the best CB's in the NFL as well as one of the best run-stopping safeties in the game. In addition, they have combined the pass rushing abilities of Demarcus Ware with a soon-to-be healthy Von Miller (http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/players/131195/von-miller), which must surely be considered illegal.

[Devilsdancefloor]

It is s good read, but the steelers never arm themselves through FA, but this year wow they have been tearing it up in the 1st week :lol: i am concerned about a lot of areas.

[stillers4me]

It would also require the Steelers to sign players from what are essentially the dregs and cast-offs of the Free Agent market and mold them into effective starters/contributors in one off-season. Now that seems rather unlikely does it not?

Very unlikely? Do all of them pan out? Nope.


But.........

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQYUtzrHRmXx0-MHfWJapkntAKFGOXtpbM9PLeRszwSTJ3BGjJ0 (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=maJwIVBZsewJNM&tbnid=Ds8__fmp51MuyM:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbssports.com%2Fnfl%2Feye-on-football%2F22131816%2Fnew-bengals-lb-james-harrison-i-dont-hate-the-steelers&ei=j1skU9-jHaPsyQHc7oG4Bg&bvm=bv.62922401,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNHVbCf9fAmjEEFG4TGwsLRS6QGwMQ&ust=1394978050841753)
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https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTIVZBauans79sf5xxcfODTnFumNZV2G fJN1qdth-aS9nlvxCDvzg (http://www.steelersuniverse.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=cE86bfjPB_O0HM&tbnid=TNcZIV0d5_7uFM:&ved=0CAYQjRw&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fhokiebro76&ei=-10kU9yWL7H_yQGkwYHYDg&bvm=bv.62922401,d.aWc&psig=AFQjCNElTLbSFYcj4Blbb38qeEvHJvUgEA&ust=1394978620104881)


Just to name a few.

[katmandu]

Don't forget Da-Beard.......

http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2011/01/16/1225988/811446-brett-keisel.jpg




and last resort this kid!

http://www.resilience.org/articles/General/2013/10_Oct/Denhaag_kunstwerk_hans_brinker_TRIM_3.jpg

[salamander]

Since when do teams win a season in the first week of free agency?

[stillers4me]

Remember when Nnamdi Asomugha was THE FA to land????


That turned out well.

Mike Wallace, anyone?

[steel striker]

Trying to buy a championship usually does not work so well ask the Washington remember 1992 FA's like Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders?

[Steelersfan]

Funny how the author chose the Bronco's. The Bronco's are in PANIC mode. They have until Peyton Manning's arm turns to a noodle and "old age" catches up with him. That could be this week, next week, during training camp a month into the season or he can go another year or two. But he will age. The Bronco's know their window is about to shut down hard on their asses. When Peyton Manning goes, so does all those players and big money contracts they just signed. They've panicked for what they hope/believe is one LAST run. Reality is, their run could be over by the time the season starts.

They've built NOTHING as far as the future goes.

[GoSlash27]

Funny thing about arms races; the participants rarely end up better- off.

[Shoes]

How many points did that high powered, open checkbook Bronco team put on the board in the SB? We need a good draft and the young guys to kick it in gear and we'll be fine.

[fansince'76]

The Denver Broncos, fresh off a trip to the Superbowl, have thrown their chequebook wide open. The combined signings of Aquib Talib, Demarcus Ware and T J Ward amount to $60 million in guaranteed money, and $110 million over 13 years.

Fresh off an embarrassing thrashing in the SB, is more like it. And Elway is only doing this because he knows their time is short and Manning will be gone soon. Then what? Probably years, (yes, plural) of digging themselves out of salary cap hell while they go 4-12/5-11 in the meantime.

Not to mention Talib has proven to be quite brittle and Ware has been pretty beat up over the last couple of seasons and looks to be on the downhill slide at this point as well.

[Texasteel]

Oh Geee. We are doomed. Everyone else is throwing money left and right, and we have only sign a player or two. I don't think I have ever heard that one before.

[st33lersguy]

Remember when Nnamdi Asomugha was THE FA to land????


That turned out well.

Mike Wallace, anyone?

How about Albert Haynesworth?

[tube517]

TJ should bring his cousin MJD and further inflate the Elways' Donkeys payroll

[86WARD]

In previous years, the roster wasn't as depleted as it is now. It's not about "buying" a championship as it is about filling a roster with half decent players that can contribute. There are nothing but holes and more holes on this team at the moment.

With the exception of QB and K, you'd be hard pressed to find a position that doesn't need to be addressed in one form or another...and that can't be done through the draft.

[Randy06]

I still have confidence that ownership knows what they are doing.

[Mojouw]

The Steelers were harshly criticized for handing out too many contracts to older veteran players. This off-season they have not done that.

In previous off-seasons the team has been criticized for re-signing its own players at an inflated value and getting only replacement level back-up performance from them. This off-season they have not done that.

So now the criticism is that they are not throwing stupid amounts of money around?

New England paid Revis. But lost Talib. So in terms of the structure of their defense, a push. Revis may cost them Wilfork. Any upgrade in the secondary may be off-set by the loss of the big man upfront.

Denver, everyone's off-season champ, is desperately attempting to fi a defense that was exposed in the SB. They have a 3 year window and then a painful rebuild and cap-shedding process to go through.

The best FA signings are the guys no one has ever heard of. That means they are young, on their second contract, are getting paid somewhere close to their performance level, and have room to improve. These big name signings are all about paying 30+ year old veterans for past performance. No thanks.

I will always be content to let other teams win the off season championship.

[Edman]

Who did the Steelers lose this year?

Ryan Clark, whose play has declined.

Manny Sanders, who is an average WR at best.

Ziggy Hood, who is decent but never special. He was at his best in 2010 and that was it.

Lamar Woodley who checked out years ago.

The only bad loss this year was Al Woods. I really wanted the Steelers to keep him. This is the same team in transition that went 8-8 the past two years, with 2013 being an upswing from a disastrous start.

That said, they need a home run draft this year. Especially on Defense.

[Dwinsgames]

In previous years, the roster wasn't as depleted as it is now. It's not about "buying" a championship as it is about filling a roster with half decent players that can contribute. There are nothing but holes and more holes on this team at the moment.

With the exception of QB and K, you'd be hard pressed to find a position that doesn't need to be addressed in one form or another...and that can't be done through the draft.


in a nut shell , THIS ...

we have a huge amount of roster spots , a few million in cap space to spend and just 6 certified draft selection , sure we will probably end up with 2 , maybe 3 comp picks but what all that tells u is every draft pick better make the teams final 53 and be a worthwhile rosters spot taken ....

significant roster turnover is in the works no question about it call it rebuild , call it retool ( if that makes you feel better ) but we easily could see 15-20 new names on the back of jerseys with familiar numbers on them this season .....

we have glaring need at several key spots ... CB , ILB , OLB , WR ,TE , DE ,RB ( in no specific order ) if we take 1 of each in the draft they all need to not just make the team but contribute and do so at a high level and early ...

the only spot I see as secure is S in terms of depth ( so no I am not sold on our depth at QB if an injury would happen to Ben ) so S if the only spot I feel we are capable of sustaining a long term injury and not missing much of a beat with the " next man up " philosophy

and all that is build on the premise that the O-Line is actually a worthwhile unit ( and that is highly debatable at this juncture )

it could be a rocky road again in 2014

[Mojouw]

in a nut shell , THIS ...

we have a huge amount of roster spots , a few million in cap space to spend and just 6 certified draft selection , sure we will probably end up with 2 , maybe 3 comp picks but what all that tells u is every draft pick better make the teams final 53 and be a worthwhile rosters spot taken ....

significant roster turnover is in the works no question about it call it rebuild , call it retool ( if that makes you feel better ) but we easily could see 15-20 new names on the back of jerseys with familiar numbers on them this season .....

we have glaring need at several key spots ... CB , ILB , OLB , WR ,TE , DE ,RB ( in no specific order ) if we take 1 of each in the draft they all need to not just make the team but contribute and do so at a high level and early ...

the only spot I see as secure is S in terms of depth ( so no I am not sold on our depth at QB if an injury would happen to Ben ) so S if the only spot I feel we are capable of sustaining a long term injury and not missing much of a beat with the " next man up " philosophy

and all that is build on the premise that the O-Line is actually a worthwhile unit ( and that is highly debatable at this juncture )

it could be a rocky road again in 2014

I will agree with that. But again, I don't think you can evaluate an off-season until it is over. That includes the rest of the FA period and the draft. The lack of a corner to this point in FA looks bad. Does it change if Gilbert or Dennard is drafted?

[Dwinsgames]

I will agree with that. But again, I don't think you can evaluate an off-season until it is over. That includes the rest of the FA period and the draft. The lack of a corner to this point in FA looks bad. Does it change if Gilbert or Dennard is drafted?

It will change if we draft a high round CB , but it does not change the fact we are down multiple pieces ...

our normal off season MO is to go into the draft with no glaring need , this year as it stands we have MANY glaring need and dependent upon where you sit to which need is greater , some say WR is top need , others believe CB is , still others are cemented in the fact we desperately need an upgrade on the O-Line and yet some others say ILB is a must ... same can be said at NT or DE ...

we cant address it all ( not even close ) what hurts is once again we fail to make proper evaluations on potential FA's , we missed the boat on some guys who signed elsewhere for low $ amounts that would have helped this football team and eliminated the need to take a high round pick at the pos...

we finally looked at our own with a neutral eye and that is good but it seems like Colbert is only ever good at getting half the job done and never the full job .... first half of the draft usually is decent ( not always ) , second half rarely a pick worthy of mentioning

Free agent period same thing he got our part right but has missed on several guys who could have helped this team dramatically that signed below market value deals elsewhere and we never even had them in for a visit

could have cured the ILB pos in FA for 4 mill a year and passed ....

could have signed a good young CB for 3.5 mill and never spoke to the man or his agent ...

could have got a WR for 3.5 mill and lessened that need but again never spoke to him let alone work him out ....

left a guy leave who is better than what we signed to replace him over 500k a year ....

singularly none of these mean a whole bunch when we have so much need but when you stack it up its a pretty big pile of poor efforts ....

he better have the draft of the decade or we as fans will pay a dear price for his lackadaisical efforts

[katmandu]

singularly none of these mean a whole bunch when we have so much need but when you stack it up its a pretty big pile of poor efforts ....

he better have the draft of the decade or we as fans will pay a dear price for his lackadaisical effortsI agree.

Colbert and Co. needs to hit a home run on this year's Draft in a big way.

[Mojouw]

It will change if we draft a high round CB , but it does not change the fact we are down multiple pieces ...

our normal off season MO is to go into the draft with no glaring need , this year as it stands we have MANY glaring need and dependent upon where you sit to which need is greater , some say WR is top need , others believe CB is , still others are cemented in the fact we desperately need an upgrade on the O-Line and yet some others say ILB is a must ... same can be said at NT or DE ...

we cant address it all ( not even close ) what hurts is once again we fail to make proper evaluations on potential FA's , we missed the boat on some guys who signed elsewhere for low $ amounts that would have helped this football team and eliminated the need to take a high round pick at the pos...

we finally looked at our own with a neutral eye and that is good but it seems like Colbert is only ever good at getting half the job done and never the full job .... first half of the draft usually is decent ( not always ) , second half rarely a pick worthy of mentioning

Free agent period same thing he got our part right but has missed on several guys who could have helped this team dramatically that signed below market value deals elsewhere and we never even had them in for a visit

could have cured the ILB pos in FA for 4 mill a year and passed ....

could have signed a good young CB for 3.5 mill and never spoke to the man or his agent ...

could have got a WR for 3.5 mill and lessened that need but again never spoke to him let alone work him out ....

left a guy leave who is better than what we signed to replace him over 500k a year ....

singularly none of these mean a whole bunch when we have so much need but when you stack it up its a pretty big pile of poor efforts ....

he better have the draft of the decade or we as fans will pay a dear price for his lackadaisical efforts

All fair points. I just wonder about how much we really know. They could have talked to agents for all the players you mentioned and have been told "no thanks". We will never know.

I think, and had said all along that Verner, Nicks, and Spikes would have looked good here. But I guess the FO disagrees. If after the draft there is not a solid corner propsect (meaning someone with more potential than Terry Hawthorne) a decent WR (Sanders or better potential) and a LB that looks better than Kion Wilson on paper then it will be the disaster that we all fear.

I'm just not ready to panic until all the results are in. I will admit that it does not look good right now.

[86WARD]

I agree.

Colbert and Co. needs to hit a home run on this year's Draft in a big way.

And they have to come to the plate more than once in free agency...

[Dwinsgames]

All fair points. I just wonder about how much we really know. They could have talked to agents for all the players you mentioned and have been told "no thanks". We will never know.

I think, and had said all along that Verner, Nicks, and Spikes would have looked good here. But I guess the FO disagrees. If after the draft there is not a solid corner propsect (meaning someone with more potential than Terry Hawthorne) a decent WR (Sanders or better potential) and a LB that looks better than Kion Wilson on paper then it will be the disaster that we all fear.

I'm just not ready to panic until all the results are in. I will admit that it does not look good right now.

Woodyard , Thurmond , Nicks ... combined 10.5 mill a year for 3 starter quality players in 3 pos of need

[Mojouw]

Woodyard , Thurmond , Nicks ... combined 10.5 mill a year for 3 starter quality players in 3 pos of need

I totally agree. All of those players would have been great additions and were/are totally affordable. In fact they are likely to turn out to be bargains.

We will just never know if the Steelers contacted any of those guys or not.

[XxKnightxX]

Colbert is going all in with saying this are one of the deepest drafts. I think he's ready to let young guys step up to the plate and "let them play"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dwinsgames]

Colbert is going all in with saying this are one of the deepest drafts. I think he's ready to let young guys step up to the plate and "let them play"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

it is one of Histories deepest drafts ( on paper but proof in in the pudding /playing ), but when you have 6 ( solidified selections ) and up to 3 potential comp selections and need to yield a dozen players .... you can't be screwing up with any missteps along the way

[katmandu]

Colbert is going all in with saying this are one of the deepest drafts. I think he's ready to let young guys step up to the plate and "let them play"
There's not going to be much choice for Rookies playing right off the bat.

This could be one of the most inexperienced Steeler's teams ever to hit the field this year. That "could" turn out to be a good thing down the road once they get their feet wet and learn/apply what they are to do.

[HollywoodSteel]

One of the issues we have is that our defense is complicated, especially for linebackers. That is one position of need that we are not going to fill through the draft (at least not that will be a major contributor this year). We started rookies at the ILB position last year only because of injuries. That said, I'm hoping that those guys will be better this year now that they have a year in the system under their belts. And at OLB, we have to pray that Jones shows us some major improvement. I'm hoping he's spending the offseason perfecting some technique. He should become best friends with Jared Allen and start going to MMA classes with him.

As far as safety goes, having Troy stay healthy this year is key. We need a vet back there who knows our defense and who can direct traffic.

I'm not sure how starting a rookie corner would affect us. If we went corner with our #1 pick I guess we'd have to hope he is a lockdown machine so that we wouldn't have to rely on him with complicated blitzes and zone schemes. Perhaps DL isn't so complicated though: take up space and hopefully get double teamed. We are going to need to get really lucky in the later rounds with those guys.

But at least we signed Whimper! Woo-hoo! :puke:

[oneforthetoe]

There's not going to be much choice for Rookies playing right off the bat.

This could be one of the most inexperienced Steeler's teams ever to hit the field this year. That "could" turn out to be a good thing down the road once they get their feet wet and learn/apply what they are to do.

I still don't see any rookies starting on D. We are probably going to resign Kiesel now. I would be surprised if Ike didn't start the season at corner even if we draft one in the first round. Granted we could have rookies starting due to injuries and even making a more significant contribution in spot situations, but where do people see all these rookies starting?

[Dwinsgames]

I still don't see any rookies starting on D. We are probably going to resign Kiesel now. I would be surprised if Ike didn't start the season at corner even if we draft one in the first round. Granted we could have rookies starting due to injuries and even making a more significant contribution in spot situations, but where do people see all these rookies starting?


dependent upon how we draft

Potentially ILB

Potentially CB

Potentially DE

Potentially NT

Potentially WR

Potentially TE ( if we start some games in 2 TE sets )

its hard to tell right now , but we still do not have a starter quality DE on one side .. nor do we have what I consider a starting quality ILB opposite Timmons , CB opposite Allen ...Wheaton has almost nothing on a rookie WR esp if it is one drafted in first 2 rounds ... lots of potential places Rookies would upgrade this team as starters but probably not a lot of them will start but potentially 3 with relative ease ...

example ...

if we draft CB at 15 it will be Gilbert or Dennard both start over Ike IMO
if we trade down for value in round 2 and pick up a 3rd round pick for moving down 6-8 spots and take Moncrief he would probably earn the start over Wheaton
using the 3rd we got for trading down and take CJ Fedorowitz he gets 2 TE set starts with Miller easily over Spaeth or say we go LB Skov here starts over Vince Williams
a 3rd round comp gets us Josh Mauro DE he is an instant starter ....

while all this is highly unlikely it is quite possible and 4 guys could easily start from the rookie class

[oneforthetoe]

I don't disagree with your assessment of talent but I know papa Lebeau's utter distaste for starting rookies. I would be surprised if Ike didn't start the year regardless of whom we draft. Also I doubt we start any rookies at LBacker unless it is due to injury. D'line is a better possibility. I'd say the most likely would be a at nose tackle.

[Dwinsgames]

I don't disagree with your assessment of talent but I know papa Lebeau's utter distaste for starting rookies. I would be surprised if Ike didn't start the year regardless of whom we draft. Also I doubt we start any rookies at LBacker unless it is due to injury. D'line is a better possibility. I'd say the most likely would be a at nose tackle.

who exactly do we have at ILB that makes you so certain we would not start a rookie there ?

I am not picking on you honest I am not ... my point is Vince Williams on his best day is a 2 down linebacker and a severe liability in coverage and is solely responsible for Troy playing 80% of his snaps in the box last year weakening our pass defense because of the commitment to cover up Williams flaws ( and I am not picking on Vince Williams either he is what he is )

do you think for a moment ( even as reluctant Lebeau is to starting rookies ) he is so dumb to not realize masking 1 weakness to expose yet another is far worse than playing the superior player even if he is a rookie who will grow as time goes on and help eliminate those weaknesses ....

I know Lebeau is stubborn , but I also know he is not a stupid man ...

that is my point ... again was not picking on you , you just sort of made yourself available in context of conversation :drink:

[oneforthetoe]

Well, it is obviously too early to tell since free agency is not finished, the draft isn't here and we don't know yet how the younger players on our roster might improve, but I still think your argument sounds more like "who should start" as opposed to who likely will. I would be truly stunned if 4 rookies ever start for Lebeau defense, unless the necessity is injury driven.

[Dwinsgames]

Well, it is obviously too early to tell since free agency is not finished, the draft isn't here and we don't know yet how the younger players on our roster might improve, but I still think your argument sounds more like "who should start" as opposed to who likely will. I would be truly stunned if 4 rookies ever start for Lebeau defense, unless the necessity is injury driven.

well actually with the example above it was 2 potentially 3 on D ... 1 potentially 2 on O but 4 total

[oneforthetoe]

well actually with the example above it was 2 potentially 3 on D ... 1 potentially 2 on O but 4 total

Well that makes it a little difference, Still think it will be less though. but we will see. A lot will depend on the resigning of Kiesel and how our young linebackers from last year improve.

[Dwinsgames]

Well that makes it a little difference, Still think it will be less though. but we will see. A lot will depend on the resigning of Kiesel and how our young linebackers from last year improve.


doubt Vince Williams got any faster , and that is a large part of the problem in coverage