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ESPN Insider gives Pittsburgh Steelers' Free Agency a 'C'

Spike

Spike

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so, we coulda done worse

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Pittsburgh Steelers

Grade: C

Key re-signings/additions: RB DeAngelo Williams, OLB James Harrison, WR Darrius Heyward-Bey

Key subtractions: CB Antwon Blake, RB Ben Tate, DE Brett Keisel, CB Brice Mccain, DE Clifton Geathers, CB Ike Taylor, OLB Jason Worilds, WR Justin Brown, WR Lance Moore, TE Michael Palmer, S Robert Golden, S Will Allen, FB Will Johnson

The Steelers resemble the Ravens in that both teams remain competitive without much offseason activity. Having stability in the front office, on the coaching staff and at quarterback helps.

"Nice job as usual," Bill Polian said. "DeAngelo Williams provides a terrific backup, which was badly needed. That is the perfect role for him at this stage of his career."

Williamson felt better about the Steelers' offseason once the team signed Harrison.

"They have watched a ton of outside linebackers and corners sign everywhere else," Williamson said. "They did get Harrison and I like that now. He played very well last year. So if you go into next season with Jarvis Jones, who might be a bust, plus Moats and then Harrison as a rotational guy, that is OK. But their secondary is still junk. The need at corner is so huge now that you wonder if they finally have to take one in the first round."

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...der-gives-pittsburgh-steelers-free-agency-a-c
 
But Geathers is back, does that make it a C+?
 
Blake just signed his according to his twitter...........
 
Blake, golden and will Johnson got rfa tags. They are still with the team
 
Behave Coolie! Well, lets all not panic here and just let this thing play out. I'm anxious like the rest of you to see what happens in the draft. I'd like an OLB but at 22 I'm not holding my breath on that one. I'm thinking we can still land a pretty damn good CB in Peters or the kid from Wake Forrest. I would imagine a heavy draft of defense with a TE and OL added in the middle to late rounds. Yes I'm disappointed we didn't get active to some degree in the early stages of FA and I really thought we would but I guess they have a plan and we'll have to see how that plays out.
 
This is more like it :)

Pittsburgh Steelers, Grade: C+

Key re-signings/additions: RB DeAngelo Williams, OLB James Harrison, WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, CB Antwon Blake, FB Will Johnson, DE Clifton Geathers, S Robert Golden, QB Tajh Boyd, OLB Shayon Green, OLB Shawn Lemon, P Richie Leone

Key subtractions: RB Ben Tate, DE Brett Keisel, CB Brice Mccain, CB Ike Taylor, OLB Jason Worilds, WR Justin Brown, WR Lance Moore, TE Michael Palmer, S Will Allen, S Troy Polamalu*
 
We will never be above a C+ in free agency until we learn how to let older veterans on the decline go, and become wiser on who get's their 2nd and 3rd contracts.

ESPN in this case is correct.
 
Tibs said:
This is more like it :)

Pittsburgh Steelers, Grade: C+

Key re-signings/additions: RB DeAngelo Williams, OLB James Harrison, WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, CB Antwon Blake, FB Will Johnson, DE Clifton Geathers, S Robert Golden, QB Tajh Boyd, OLB Shayon Green, OLB Shawn Lemon, P Richie Leone

Key subtractions: RB Ben Tate, DE Brett Keisel, CB Brice Mccain, CB Ike Taylor, OLB Jason Worilds, WR Justin Brown, WR Lance Moore, TE Michael Palmer, S Will Allen, S Troy Polamalu*
Click to expand...

Polamalu isn't released......................



yet
 
I will give them a C+, not overspending is a good decision too. Yet I think they could have done something more for the defensive backfield (a CB to compete with Blake and Allen, a Safety to compete with Shamarko and Golden)
 
We also didn't lose Justin Brown in FA. We cut him to sign Ben Tate during the Blount debacle...
 
Key subtractions: CB Antwon Blake, RB Ben Tate, DE Brett Keisel, CB Brice Mccain, DE Clifton Geathers, CB Ike Taylor, OLB Jason Worilds, WR Justin Brown, WR Lance Moore, TE Michael Palmer, S Robert Golden, S Will Allen, FB Will Johnson

I don't consider Brett Keisel, Ike Taylor, or Jason Worilds "key subtractions". Is is their time - but has Ike Taylor officially been released? As stated above, Golden, Allen, and Johnson are apparently still with the team and they just signed Clifton Geathers and Blake.

This means our "real" losses are Ben Tate, Brice McCain, Justin Brown, Lance Moore, and Michael Palmer. Outside of McCain, has anyone else on this list been signed by another team and actually unavailable?
 
I don't know if you can even consider Justin Brown as a "key" loss. He was only active on game days for 1/2 th season and only made 12 catches on the year. When they brought Tate in, it was Brown that they waived to make room on the roster. The Bills picked him up on waivers, it wasn't like he was a free agent and they failed to land him because he decided not to return to the team. Hell, by the time he was waived, they were trotting Heyward-Bey out there to eat up his limited snaps.

http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/nfl/8589/justin-brown
 
Let me guess, perennial losers like the Raiders, Redskins and Dolphins all get A pluses. :rolleyes:
 
Key subtractions: CB Antwon Blake, RB Ben Tate, DE Brett Keisel, CB Brice Mccain, DE Clifton Geathers, CB Ike Taylor, OLB Jason Worilds, WR Justin Brown, WR Lance Moore, TE Michael Palmer, S Robert Golden, S Will Allen, FB Will Johnson
Click to expand...

Other than Worilds, who would have been nice to keep, is there anyone who would want to keep on that list? I know I additions have not been great but sometimes it is addition by subtraction.
 
A "C" grade is about right, although it could have easily been an "I" -- Incomplete.
 
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