Complete list of Pittsburgh Steelers 2018 Free Agents

[steelreserve]

The main thing I worry about with Gilbert is - how many players have been suspended for PEDs and then gone on to do anything of note after that? There are maybe a couple examples I can think of, which were Joe Haden and Dwight Freeney, and both of those were for stimulants. Anyone who's tested positive for steroids or hormones has generally played a couple unremarkable seasons afterward before being out of the league. Either they are constantly injured or just can't cut it anymore. Maybe Gilbert is the rare exception to that, but I do not like those odds.

As for the others, Finney is a no-brainer to keep; I think he will eventually replace Ramon Foster as a starter. Feiler as well, as we can keep him for cheap.

It is kind of a good point Gonzo brings up - hard to tell where exactly Hubbard fits in for the money and in terms of his role as a long-term solution. For an interior lineman, I'm perfectly happy with Finney. BUT if the Gilbert thing plays out poorly and we need a guy who can play OT, maybe Hubbard becomes our option by default.

The worst thing IMO would be if Gilbert goes into a steep decline and we keep him around for a couple years trying to force it, and those other guys move on and we've got to start from scratch, possibly without Munchak. That would be a disaster.

[Mojouw]

Julius Peppers
Charles Johnson
Jimmy Smith
Duece McCallister
Brian Cushing
Both Williams DTs from the Vikings a few years back.
Jeremy Kerley

This is not to defend Gilbert or to excuse whatever the heck it was he is or was doing. However, there are many examples of guys testing positive and continuing to have productive NFL careers. Who knows with Gilbert...

[steelreserve]

Julius Peppers
Charles Johnson
Jimmy Smith
Duece McCallister
Brian Cushing
Both Williams DTs from the Vikings a few years back.
Jeremy Kerley

This is not to defend Gilbert or to excuse whatever the heck it was he is or was doing. However, there are many examples of guys testing positive and continuing to have productive NFL careers. Who knows with Gilbert...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but most of those guys either got busted very recently or toward the end of their productive careers, no? (Peppers is the guy I meant when I said Freeney, busted for stimulants not hormones. And the Williams ones were kind of a weird one IIRC for something other than steroids, and one of them did well after that and one didn't.)

Anyway, the only point is that there is a risk, and not an insignificant one. Who knows what Gilbert will do next year or 3 years from now. I don't really care to make some holier-than-thou moral argument on whether he "should" be on the team, but just in terms of performance you have to flag that as a 50-50 shot that we could have a problem.

[pczach]

IMO, Gilbert has been the Steelers best O lineman the past 2 seasons. He has gotten technically sound and there was always discussions early that he was athletic enough to play LT, but never really handled that side. He is probably one of the top 6 RT's in football, so I am good to ride with him. If he gets suspended again, which I don't know why he would, I am sure there is some provision in the CBA for cap relief from suspended players.

Hubbard is kind of a more athletic Willie Colon. Undersized as an OT, but can play it if needed. He should get an offer somewhere to play at Guard, so next man up. That in my opinion is Finney and Feiler. Feiler has the size to play OT, but he shows the ability to maul people in line as an OG. He pulled from LG in the preseason and just flat out blew up a defender in the Rt side A gap and drove him 7 yards downfield.

Yeah, it's hard to argue with that. It's just the doubt that creeps in when you see a player blossom, and then he gets suspended for PEDs.

I hope my concerns are completely unfounded.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Gilbert has looked like his old self without PED's. Were really underselling how skilled he is if were assuming he'll have such a dramatic drop off in play without them.

I think it should also be pulled into account that he was going through some nagging injuries. Its not out of the ordinary for players to use PED's to recover faster.

$2.3 million in savings if we cut him pre June, $4.1 million in savings if we cut him post June. Take into account the cap hit for Chris Hubbard (since we'd be looking to sign him long term if that were the case) and you really didnt accomplish much in terms of cap savings while still having an above average RT. Its a push pull move. Seems overly complicated to make a nominal difference to the team. If we have a strong negatively trending hunch about Gilbert I think we should just trade him. Someones going to take him

[teegre]

I’m not worried about Gilbert being suspended, because if he is, he is. In the meantime, we have one of the best RTs in the league.

[Mojouw]

I find the average fans response to a PED suspension (typically a shoulder shrug) versus recreational drugs (outrage and indignation) to be fascinating.

Aren't both typically players self medicating? Or at least that is what they tell us.


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[teegre]

I find the average fans response to a PED suspension (typically a shoulder shrug) versus recreational drugs (outrage and indignation) to be fascinating.

Aren't both typically players self medicating? Or at least that is what they tell us.


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I’m not worried about Bell being suspended, because if he is, he is. In the meantime, we have the best RB in the league.

[steelreserve]

I find the average fans response to a PED suspension (typically a shoulder shrug) versus recreational drugs (outrage and indignation) to be fascinating.

Aren't both typically players self medicating? Or at least that is what they tell us.


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Personally my reaction to both is "you dumbass." Guys screwing over the team because of poor decisions.

In the case of recreational drugs I think it's maybe a bit more irresponsible because really, what the fuck? If it's steroids it's a bit more sinister given the intent.

I really think there should only be drug suspensions for PEDs; if it's street drugs it should be up to the team whether they want to put up with you or not - not a leaguewide policy. Fuck it, give me a team of all heroin addicts and if they perform well, they can shoot up in the locker room at halftime for all I care.

[Steelerette]

I don't care of someone uses a recreational drug, besides the "you're an idiot" for risking a multimillion dollar career when they could have waited a few years then used all they wanted.

PED to me feels more like cheating, but I guess there's a lot of technicalities involved in PED infractions that it's plausible that positive tests could be by accident, or because of trainers.

[Mojouw]

Personally my reaction to both is "you dumbass." Guys screwing over the team because of poor decisions.

In the case of recreational drugs I think it's maybe a bit more irresponsible because really, what the fuck? If it's steroids it's a bit more sinister given the intent.

I really think there should only be drug suspensions for PEDs; if it's street drugs it should be up to the team whether they want to put up with you or not - not a leaguewide policy. Fuck it, give me a team of all heroin addicts and if they perform well, they can shoot up in the locker room at halftime for all I care.

I would tend to agree. I have never understood why leagues get all hot and bothered about street drugs. It is all about PR. Outlaw street drugs but hand out opiods like PEZ?...Anyways, that is a soapbox for another time and place.

Again, I wasn't coming at anyone directly or with any specific intent. I just find it really intriguing that when guys get suspended for PEDS it is typically swept under the rug and not really talked about and we all buy into the "mistakenly taken something on the banned list argument" and move on. When it is narcotics, the player is "selfish" and "irresponsible/immature" and often their is an initial wave of public discussion about trading or cutting the player to preserve the integrity of the roster and all of that.

[steelreserve]

I would tend to agree. I have never understood why leagues get all hot and bothered about street drugs. It is all about PR. Outlaw street drugs but hand out opiods like PEZ?...Anyways, that is a soapbox for another time and place.

Again, I wasn't coming at anyone directly or with any specific intent. I just find it really intriguing that when guys get suspended for PEDS it is typically swept under the rug and not really talked about and we all buy into the "mistakenly taken something on the banned list argument" and move on. When it is narcotics, the player is "selfish" and "irresponsible/immature" and often their is an initial wave of public discussion about trading or cutting the player to preserve the integrity of the roster and all of that.

I don't know how many people buy into the "oops, I didn't know what I was taking" argument for PEDs. Maybe the most gullible fans do. I think there's rarely any mistake on the athlete's part and that's just the easy go-to excuse. Or, maybe some people want to believe everyone on their favorite team is fundamentally good and not a cheater, and PEDs are a worse transgression in that respect - so they're more open to any reason that lets them give the player the benefit of the doubt. All kind of interesting psychological theories that could explain it, but that could go on for days.

Regardless, anyone who gets suspended for either kind of drug violation presents a problem for the team. If it came down to it, and I had to pick which was the bigger future risk between Gilbert and, say, Bryant, I honestly don't know. Obviously Bryant had a pattern of bad decision-making ... but on the other hand if a guy was really wrapped up in steroids, that can be a pretty dark road to go down, and getting busted for weed seems pretty silly by comparison. Either one is a pretty similar risk for the team, I'd say.

[BlackAndGold]

Hubbard to Browns.

[Devilsdancefloor]

Hubbard to Browns.

that is crazy money oh wait its the browns

[steelreserve]

Hubbard to Browns.

Well, I suppose that amount of money precluded it from being worth it for us to take a shot at keeping him.

Crazy, since I saw projections that he might go in the $4-5M range. I guess $8M is now table stakes for a "maybe" starter on the offensive line, which is incredible to me.

[Mojouw]

Well, I suppose that amount of money precluded it from being worth it for us to take a shot at keeping him.

Crazy, since I saw projections that he might go in the $4-5M range. I guess $8M is now table stakes for a "maybe" starter on the offensive line, which is incredible to me.

Things are going to skyrocket this year. Multiple teams have ridiculous amounts of cap space. You need to hit the salary floor. Many of the teams that have cap space also really really stink.

I predict lots of just eye-popping overpays.

[steelreserve]

Things are going to skyrocket this year. Multiple teams have ridiculous amounts of cap space. You need to hit the salary floor. Many of the teams that have cap space also really really stink.

I predict lots of just eye-popping overpays.

You may be right about that. I can't ever recall so many teams with $50M, $60M, even $100M of cap space. It's not like there are any more free agents than usual, so the money's got to go somewhere. I guess we are going to have to wait for the dust to settle before we figure out if even the mid-tier guys to fill holes are going to be available for a realistic price.

[Mojouw]

You may be right about that. I can't ever recall so many teams with $50M, $60M, even $100M of cap space. It's not like there are any more free agents than usual, so the money's got to go somewhere. I guess we are going to have to wait for the dust to settle before we figure out if even the mid-tier guys to fill holes are going to be available for a realistic price.

Yeah. This feels like one of those years that we all just have to recalibrate "normal" for certain positions. For instance, Hubbard just got low end LT money and more than Gilbert.

In no previous "market rate" does Hubbard come close to that -- but here we are.

[hawaiiansteeler]

Browns sign OT Chris Hubbard (5 years, $37.5 million; $18 million guaranteed): B+ Grade

The Browns entered the offseason with a strong offensive line with one definite hole, which was at right tackle. That's no longer a problem in the wake of the Chris Hubbard signing. If Hubbard lives up to this money, and Joe Thomas doesn't retire, Cleveland will have one of the top offensive lines in the NFL next year.

As for Hubbard, this is a ton of money for a player who wasn't a regular starter last year. Hubbard filled in at right tackle whenever Marcus Gilbert was out of the lineup, and he did a very solid job. Hubbard is also just 26, so he has good potential to improve his game even more.

Something else that needs to be considered is the lack of talent available at tackle this offseason. Excluding Hubbard, Nate Solder and Mike McGlinchey (via the draft), there are no sure things. I guess you can say Hubbard isn't a sure thing either, but he's the closest thing to one besides Solder and maybe McGlinchey. The scarcity of tackles drove up the price, so I definitely understand the Browns giving Hubbard this kind of cash. Thus, I'm willing to award them with a B+.

http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php