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Has Mike Mitchell played his last down as a Steeler?

As I've stated clearly in 20+ threads by now. Mitchell is the definition of a cap casualty.

He's in the last year of his contract
He provided zero splash plays last year and very few plays in general.
The Steelers are over the cap
He saves $5M by being released.

There is a 0% chance that he returns to play for the Steelers next year.
 
Mitchell AND Gay shouldn't be on the team in 2018. If they are, our D will not have improved.
 
Mitchell AND Gay shouldn't be on the team in 2018. If they are, our D will not have improved.

TD, I'm fine with Gay coming back as a safety. He's cheap, he's a vet, and he knows the team. Not up for him being a corner, but I think we have too much youth to keep him there this year anyway.
 
I would have rather had Mitchell of two years ago. But that is in the past.
The Mitchell of two years ago tackled better but he was a penalty machine.
 
The Mitchell of two years ago tackled better but he was a penalty machine.

As were others at the position. It seems Steeler play was defined as hard hitting/you will know you were there type plays. Crackdown on backend defender hits being considered illegal and fines issued were an all time high for the past couple years for all the teams DBs. It just appears those penalized were often doing it. But there was/is no consistency because it’s a judgement call. Sherman has been griping about it forever, but he gets away with it more then anyone else too. Remember Harrison was the poster child for personal fouls on “defenseless” players. Then came the league “across the board” handing out fines to LBs.

Mitchell even harped on it frequently this year during interviews. Ryan Clark, who I thought was instrumental in Troy’s success, got penalized a lot.

Mitchell’s issue that irks the masses here is the mounting off on the field, or celebrating for no reason antics.


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As I've stated clearly in 20+ threads by now. Mitchell is the definition of a cap casualty.

He's in the last year of his contract
He provided zero splash plays last year and very few plays in general.
The Steelers are over the cap
He saves $5M by being released.

There is a 0% chance that he returns to play for the Steelers next year.

liar...you know you never even thought of this until coach brought it up for the 800th time.............
 
As were others at the position. It seems Steeler play was defined as hard hitting/you will know you were there type plays. Crackdown on backend defender hits being considered illegal and fines issued were an all time high for the past couple years for all the teams DBs. It just appears those penalized were often doing it. But there was/is no consistency because it’s a judgement call. Sherman has been griping about it forever, but he gets away with it more then anyone else too. Remember Harrison was the poster child for personal fouls on “defenseless” players. Then came the league “across the board” handing out fines to LBs.

Mitchell even harped on it frequently this year during interviews. Ryan Clark, who I thought was instrumental in Troy’s success, got penalized a lot.

Mitchell’s issue that irks the masses here is the mounting off on the field, or celebrating for no reason antics.


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I don't recall Clark taking severe penalties. He was a hard hitter, which resulted in flags.
Overall, I thought he was a very smart player.


Even a safety of his caliber would be beneficial.
Clark didn't wow you from an eye-test.


But he was always in the right place.
*sigh

The good ole' days
 
I would rather they bring back Limas Sweed to play safety then to see Mitchell play for the Steelers next year.



I don't know if Limas could afford to play here because Cool Shades is fining players and if Coach if fining for drops..........well
Let's just say Coach will be eating well.



Salute the nation
 
My mantra about slow, hard hitting safeties in this nfl hasn't changed since Brent Alexander and Lee flowers spent several seasons being a few steps shy of making a play in every big game ever.... their ilk are done as contributing factors... draft guys who can cover and are sure tacklers...

I think hard hitters are a liability in today’s NFL... all a hard hit accomplishes is drawing a flag. Nowadays, you need safeties that can play the run, but most importantly they must have ball skills and be able to cover. You need a defense that can force turnovers. The formula for winning now is you must have a consistently productive offense that averages over 30 a game, and a defense that can make just a few big plays a game. With all the rule changes and the way games are officiated, you’re gonna give up yards. The key is being good in the red zone where it’s easier since you don’t have much field behind you to defend, and forcing at least one turnover that you either score on (pick 6) or give your offense a short field and let them do it. I don’t think we’re ever going to see dominating defenses in the NFL ever again.
 
As I've stated clearly in 20+ threads by now. Mitchell is the definition of a cap casualty.

He's in the last year of his contract
He provided zero splash plays last year and very few plays in general.
The Steelers are over the cap
He saves $5M by being released.

There is a 0% chance that he returns to play for the Steelers next year.

Generally a player in, or approaching their last contract year, puts it all on the line to validate why they deserve the next payday.
Mitchell clearly hasn't done that. I'm all for a low signing as long as he is willing to mentor, but it would have to be for crumbs.
 
Generally a player in, or approaching their last contract year, puts it all on the line to validate why they deserve the next payday.
Mitchell clearly hasn't done that. I'm all for a low signing as long as he is willing to mentor, but it would have to be for crumbs.



Vet minimum determines lowest wage possible and for some reason I think Mitchell vet minimum is near the 1mil mark, crumbs in today's NFL.




Salute the nation
 
TD, I'm fine with Gay coming back as a safety. He's cheap, he's a vet, and he knows the team. Not up for him being a corner, but I think we have too much youth to keep him there this year anyway.

I'm OK if they try him out there in the pre-season but I wouldn't plan on him being there very long. I would rather draft someone with the intent that they would start at some point this year. Also, one of the PG guys said they will move Davis to Mitchell's spot and put the new safety in Davis' spot. So, that's something to consider as well.
 
Vet minimum determines lowest wage possible and for some reason I think Mitchell vet minimum is near the 1mil mark, crumbs in today's NFL.




Salute the nation

I recall it being around 900k but I think only 790k counts towards the cap, since he is a established veteran (at least 5 years).


EDIT: Minimum Vet salary against the cap is 790k not 470k


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As I've stated clearly in 20+ threads by now. Mitchell is the definition of a cap casualty.

He's in the last year of his contract
He provided zero splash plays last year and very few plays in general.
The Steelers are over the cap
He saves $5M by being released.

There is a 0% chance that he returns to play for the Steelers next year.

Devils advocate-
Since his salary is going to be displaced by a 500k slot, do you offer Mitchell something like 2 years and 4m dollars? 1M to sign, 1m base this year, 2m base next year? I mean I absolutely hate mitchell with the passion of a thousand suns but if I can keep him for 1.5M i at least think about doing it. Still saves 3.5m vs the cap this year.

But yeah, otherwise he's the definition of cap casualty saving us 4.5M once his slot is replaced by a minsal.

Also who is JJ Wilcox? 3.125 in salary this year, seems like a ton.
 
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Id like to see maybe an older shut down corner convert to FS. Someone with a nose for the ball.



William Gay somewhat fits this description but I'm afraid his wheels have rusted to the point of WAVE good bye. I bet we draft big for this specific position, this and ILB of course.




Salute the nation
 
I dont feel like they need a star at ILB. Just a lot better than Sean Spence. Maybe mid range FA at ILB and draft a beauty at FS. Important to remember that Metekavich will have shoulder surgery. He was not the same player after injury.
 
I'm OK if they try him out there in the pre-season but I wouldn't plan on him being there very long. I would rather draft someone with the intent that they would start at some point this year. Also, one of the PG guys said they will move Davis to Mitchell's spot and put the new safety in Davis' spot. So, that's something to consider as well.

I'd be up with that as well. 2 rangy playmaking Safeties that can tackle? That's what I've always wanted!

Gay is a stopgap. He's only a FS, but he can tackle better and plays the ball in the air better than Mitchell already. And he's position flexible in case we have a rash of CB injuries. Even as a backup Safety/Emergency CB, Gay's salary has value in this role.
 
Devils advocate-
Since his salary is going to be displaced by a 500k slot, do you offer Mitchell something like 2 years and 4m dollars? 1M to sign, 1m base this year, 2m base next year? I mean I absolutely hate mitchell with the passion of a thousand suns but if I can keep him for 1.5M i at least think about doing it. Still saves 3.5m vs the cap this year.

But yeah, otherwise he's the definition of cap casualty saving us 4.5M once his slot is replaced by a minsal.

Also who is JJ Wilcox? 3.125 in salary this year, seems like a ton.

I wouldn't let Mitchell play for us at all. His play last year shows me, he's not worth any salary. If he takes a pay cut, it would be down to $2-$3M range, and I personally don't think he's good enough to earn that salary. As a Vet the lowest he could earn is about $1M, and I'd rather use that money elsewhere.

Best to pay him nothing and move on.

And worst case as we stand today, if we gut Wilcox, and Mitchell, we still have Dangerfield and Gay to possibly switch. I also really liked Hagen last preseason. I'm not sure where he is now. He was making flashes in preseason just like Hilton. Surprised he didn't stick with the dudes the kept. I was hoping he would have taken Golden's spot on the roster.
 
**** Ike, .........do you really want him as a back up???? His presents would hinder the actual play of a rookie. Tomlin wouldn't want to start a true rookie and thus you'd have your "back up" Mitchell in there "until the rook is ready" bullshit. I know back up depth is important but Mitchell is NOT very good and better depth at way less money could be had. Maybe I'm seeing a different Mitchell out there but I've never seen a player take such poor angle on BALL projection as Mitchell does. He runs himself out of the play then has to try and make back up the poor projectors play. Useless and how do you go a FULL season with Zero interceptions at his position, insane. So to surmise I would NOT persue anykind of deal / retainmeant but I would hold the door open and try to kick his butt on the way out.



Salute the nation

I don't think he even had balls thrown directly to him has he? :)
 
By Skott I think you dropped the ball on this one.

Bwahahaha...Limas Sweed jokes never get old.

th
 
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