FA In for a Visit

[Dwinsgames]

may be a good sticky with the FA period opening up to track who we take looks at and give free steak dinners to ....

ProFootballTalk ‏@ProFootballTalk 2m Former Lions safety Louis Delmas is visiting the Steelers today, per league source.

[Mojouw]

Well they must plan on freeing up some cash from somewhere.

I imagine we will be starting a companion thread of "Overpaid Veterans the Steelers Cut" soon enough.

[Dwinsgames]

Well they must plan on freeing up some cash from somewhere.

I imagine we will be starting a companion thread of "Overpaid Veterans the Steelers Cut" soon enough.

or a new contract for Ben moving money to the backend of a new deal and signing bonus with 2014 salary being LOW LOW LOW ?

[Bluecoat96]

On Sunday October 6, 2013, Lion's Center Dominic Raiola was involved in an incident of trash-talking and hate-speech to members of the UW-Wisconsin marching band. Louis Delmas is credited with both apologizing for his teammate's actions and having a word with Raiola off the field.

As a band director myself, I say sign him!

In all seriousness though, he sounds like a high quality guy. Why was he released from the Lions? Injury concerns?

[Dwinsgames]

As a band director myself, I say sign him!

In all seriousness though, he sounds like a high quality guy. Why was he released from the Lions? Injury concerns?

looks like a combination of bad knees and 6.5 million in salary .... link to story below be your own judge

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/po...ense-for-lions

[Bluecoat96]

looks like a combination of bad knees and 6.5 million in salary .... link to story below be your own judge

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/po...ense-for-lions

Sounds like you're right. Damn....

[Psycho Ward 86]

sounds like a potential starter, or an expensive back up. i hope this isnt a vote of no confidence for shamarko

[LLT]

sounds like a potential starter, or an expensive back up. i hope this isnt a vote of no confidence for shamarko

I think its probably just another sign that Clark is gone and they are looking for the best DB corp that they can get within a certain price range. If they can land Delmas, it "possibly" allows us another year to season Shamarko (which is optimal) and we wont have to draft a safety this year. If not, they will start Shamarko and use Allen and a draft prospect as backups.

[Dwinsgames]

like the player , fear the knees ....

[steelreserve]

Looks to me like a guy who is going to have to sign a cheap one-year or two-year deal somewhere to prove himself again, which works in our favor. And his description sounds a little like Ryan Clark five years ago.

Question is, where would he fit on our roster? I don't think a guy in that position would want a backup job if there was anything else available, so my guess is he'd be a 1-for-1 replacement for Clark at about the same salary, and Sharko would stay on as the top backup/eventual Troy successor. That's realistically the only way it could work.

Who knows, though. Maybe we do get lucky this offseason and find a Clark-type signing, whether it's this guy or someone else. At the very least, it would be really nice to not have to worry about drafting a safety for a couple years while we replenish other positions.

[Heinz Hitman]

I would be all for this signing. He would play alongside Troy with Sharknado being Troy's eventual replacement. In Detroit he kind of played both FS and SS, so should be good to do either.

[Steelerette]

FA visits like this one give me the sense that they know what they're doing.

But then I remember Sean Mahan.

[Dwinsgames]

FA visits like this one give me the sense that they know what they're doing.

But then I remember Sean Mahan.

Jay Reimersma ( sp )

Wolford ..
and may many more forgotten nightmares

[st33lersguy]

Looks too expensive for a guy with injury issues. Rather save that money to re-sign Worilds

[steelreserve]

Looks too expensive for a guy with injury issues. Rather save that money to re-sign Worilds

I seriously doubt he'll actually get anywhere near the $6.5M he was on the books for. More like a $1.5M prove-it deal with incentives and/or an option for a second year. Might be right in our price range if that's the case.

[Psycho Ward 86]

https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/s...51105020612608

Former Lions S Louis Delmas will be lining up more visits after the combine. Atlanta and Denver among the interested teams

ESPN.com's Ben Goessling believes the Vikings could show interest in free agent Louis Delmas.
Delmas would need to convert to strong safety, but could be a fit for the Vikings if they decide to upgrade on Jamarca Sanford.


id say he's a goner...i would be unsure about delmas as a potential safety of the future anyways.

[Dwinsgames]

https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/s...51105020612608

Former Lions S Louis Delmas will be lining up more visits after the combine. Atlanta and Denver among the interested teams

ESPN.com's Ben Goessling believes the Vikings could show interest in free agent Louis Delmas.
Delmas would need to convert to strong safety, but could be a fit for the Vikings if they decide to upgrade on Jamarca Sanford.


id say he's a goner...i would be unsure about delmas as a potential safety of the future anyways.

the red bold

[Psycho Ward 86]

well, now that i read up on him it looks like he was a 2x pro bowl alternate, so that gave me a little excitement about his abilities. still, i have to wonder what this says about shamarko even if he's only going into his 2nd season




seems like a good vocal leader that the team sorely needs. too bad other teams need him more

[Dwinsgames]

well, now that i read up on him it looks like he was a 2x pro bowl alternate, so that gave me a little excitement about his abilities. still, i have to wonder what this says about shamarko even if he's only going into his 2nd season

I have zero worries about his ability as a player , I have every concern about his ability to be available to play in extended capacity and learn the system .... he can play no question about it ...

his biggest issue in Detroit ( minus the 6.5 million cap hit ) was he was borderline injured all the time with his knee , he could not practice most of the week ( Troy like for a few years ) difference being Troy knew the system and had cohesion with his team mates Delmas does not have that here with us ....

in order to obtain continuity he would have to practice and that would further expose his already bad knee ( a problem dating back to college )

so him not signing quickly here is probably a good thing as him going to make rounds probably secures him a job elsewhere and we can get a healthy body via the draft or another cast off with talent

[Devilsdancefloor]

last year he played all 16 games i really wanted the steelers to draft him 5 years ago. i think this would be another great FA signing and the team could put off drafting a safety this year Troy is at the end of his career

[Dwinsgames]

last year he played all 16 games i really wanted the steelers to draft him 5 years ago. i think this would be another great FA signing and the team could put off drafting a safety this year Troy is at the end of his career

he played all 16 games but rarely practiced ...

that would be an big issue in a new system and new surrounding cast that he has no continuity with IMO

Unlike Nate Burleson, who was also released Thursday as a cap cut, Delmas was done in by his injury history. While Delmas, who like Burleson was a loud presence in the huddle and in pregame, played all 16 games this season, he could barely practice during the week.



Louis Delmas leaves big shoes to fill in Detroit's defense as far as leadership is concerned.


And there were little guarantee his knees would be able to hold up in the long term, even as he took care of them well during the 2013 season.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/po...ense-for-lions

[salamander]

His knees scare me...the last thing this team needs is another injury-prone guy. Plus I'm sure other teams will offer him more than we can afford.

[Steelman]

I had a feeling we might take a look at him, but unless he comes REALLY cheap I don't see how he'd get on the roster. He could be a good stop-gap replacement for Clark. But I don't think we want or need that.

[steeldawg]

He is an injury risk but if you can get him for the right price he is worth the chance. When healthy he is an upgrade over Clark. As far as shamarko goes the jury is still out on him, I keep hearing he will replace Troy but he hasn't shown a lot.

[Dwinsgames]

He is an injury risk but if you can get him for the right price he is worth the chance. When healthy he is an upgrade over Clark. As far as shamarko goes the jury is still out on him, I keep hearing he will replace Troy but he hasn't shown a lot.

honestly my eyes tell me Shamarko is better suited to replace Clark than Troy but that's just me , he is more of an open field hitter than a extra man in the box kind of player at this level IMO but I am not a Steelers coach so he will be whatever they make him be for better or worse

[st33lersguy]

I rather have Shamrko starting for the Steelers next year than Louis "glass knees" Delmas. Let's see what our 2nd year guys can do and allow them to grow, don't just discard them after one year of playing very little when the coaching staff won't play rookies

[LLT]

I rather have Shamrko starting for the Steelers next year than Louis "glass knees" Delmas. Let's see what our 2nd year guys can do and allow them to grow, don't just discard them after one year of playing very little when the coaching staff won't play rookies

I dont think signing a FA is equal with "discarding" a player. The reality is that we are going to need TWO new starting safeties in the very near future and the FO may very well be thinking ahead to a tandem of safeties involving Shamarko and a Free Agent.

[Psycho Ward 86]

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2014/03...-the-dolphins/

signed with the dolphins. 1 year worth up to $3.5 million

[Dwinsgames]

Gerry Dulac ‏@gerrydulac 2m San Diego Chargers NT/DE Cam Thomas will visit #Steelers on Friday too. His nickname is "Baby Zilla." He's 6-3, 330.

[Randy06]

Cam Thomas? YES PLEASE