A 'win-win' trade between the Steelers and Vikings?
By: James Kelly | August 9, 2018 2:00 am ET
On Wednesday, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggested that the Steelers will add a capable offensive tackle sooner rather than later. In support of the thought, he points to the team’s loss of Chris Hubbard to free agency and of the two backups whom the team had thought would replace Alejandro Villanueva, Marcus Gilbert or both should a need arise.
If we understand his logic, the team can hardly expect its remaining developmental OTs to be NFL-ready in time to protect Ben Roethlisberger from violent assault in Cleveland or to open holes for Le’Veon Bell. We agree. Having already lost Hubbard, Jerald Hawkins to injury and Bryce Harris to poor aerobics, the team badly needs a battle-tested offensive tackle. The fact that Villanueva has already missed practices in camp due to injury further supports Bouchette’s premise.
Bouchette suggests that the Steelers trade for a capable OT, and we’d like to propose one: Steelers backup QB Landry Jones for Vikings utility tackle Rashod Hill.
The current Viking QB backups are Trevor Siemian and Kyle Sloter. In our view, Landry Jones is clearly more game-ready than both. He’d therefore upgrade the Vikings’ depth chart at its most crucial position. Considering the Vikes stand high among NFC favorites to reach the Super Bowl, they can ill afford to chance to lose even a single game should Kirk Cousins get hurt.
Hill started seven regular season games at both offensive tackle spots for the Vikings in 2017, and he started two playoff games. A former UDFA like Chris Hubbard, he’s reportedly in the mix for a starting OT spot, so he’d upgrade the Steelers OT depth immediately should they acquire him. Plus, his 2018 cap hit is $630,000 whereas Jones’s is $2.2 million, so the trade could add as much as $1.57 million to the Steelers’ presently razor thin cap space.
Both Jones and Hill are on the last year of their current contracts. The Steelers are unlikely to resign Jones with Mason Rudolph waiting in the wings. It, therefore, makes sense to gamble on losing one more year of his improved play and reliability in exchange for gaining adding insurance toward protecting Ben.
I'd be on 'at like a hobo on a ham sammich
By: James Kelly | August 9, 2018 2:00 am ET
On Wednesday, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggested that the Steelers will add a capable offensive tackle sooner rather than later. In support of the thought, he points to the team’s loss of Chris Hubbard to free agency and of the two backups whom the team had thought would replace Alejandro Villanueva, Marcus Gilbert or both should a need arise.
If we understand his logic, the team can hardly expect its remaining developmental OTs to be NFL-ready in time to protect Ben Roethlisberger from violent assault in Cleveland or to open holes for Le’Veon Bell. We agree. Having already lost Hubbard, Jerald Hawkins to injury and Bryce Harris to poor aerobics, the team badly needs a battle-tested offensive tackle. The fact that Villanueva has already missed practices in camp due to injury further supports Bouchette’s premise.
Bouchette suggests that the Steelers trade for a capable OT, and we’d like to propose one: Steelers backup QB Landry Jones for Vikings utility tackle Rashod Hill.
The current Viking QB backups are Trevor Siemian and Kyle Sloter. In our view, Landry Jones is clearly more game-ready than both. He’d therefore upgrade the Vikings’ depth chart at its most crucial position. Considering the Vikes stand high among NFC favorites to reach the Super Bowl, they can ill afford to chance to lose even a single game should Kirk Cousins get hurt.
Hill started seven regular season games at both offensive tackle spots for the Vikings in 2017, and he started two playoff games. A former UDFA like Chris Hubbard, he’s reportedly in the mix for a starting OT spot, so he’d upgrade the Steelers OT depth immediately should they acquire him. Plus, his 2018 cap hit is $630,000 whereas Jones’s is $2.2 million, so the trade could add as much as $1.57 million to the Steelers’ presently razor thin cap space.
Both Jones and Hill are on the last year of their current contracts. The Steelers are unlikely to resign Jones with Mason Rudolph waiting in the wings. It, therefore, makes sense to gamble on losing one more year of his improved play and reliability in exchange for gaining adding insurance toward protecting Ben.
I'd be on 'at like a hobo on a ham sammich
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