NKySteeler
05-11-2009, 08:32 PM
The significance of Ward’s deal
Bob Labriola, a Pittsburgh native, has been editor of Steelers Digest since its inception in 1988. This page offers him an opportunity to provide additional insights into the Steelers, the NFL and the events that are making news.
It was a classic NFL-style quid pro quo, to be sure, but there are some other things worth noting about the Steelers’ move to sign Hines Ward to a five-year extension.
The quid pro quo was that while the team got some needed salary cap maneuverability by doing an extension with Ward as he entered the final year of the contract he had signed in 2005, Ward got a nice chunk of money to sign and the security that comes with being a 33-year-old with a multi-year deal.
But the other aspect to this has to do with Steelers history, and Ward always has expressed pride in being a part of that. Already holding every significant receiving record in franchise history, Ward is on the precipice of being one of the few post-free agency period star players to spend an entire career with the Steelers.
The point first was brought up by Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette during a lull in two-a-day minicamp practices. Not many players in Steelers history have a chance to do what Ward seems certain to accomplish, with what certainly will be this final contract extension: join Dermontti Dawson and Joel Steed as the only ones to start and finish in a Steelers uniform since free agency became part of the NFL in 1993.
Think about it. Jerome Bettis never left, but he started with the Rams. Greg Lloyd played for Carolina, Tunch Ilkin a season in Green Bay. Rod Woodson, Joey Porter, Alan Faneca, Levon Kirkland, Carnell Lake, Gary Anderson, Jason Gildon, Barry Foster. Even Kordell Stewart and Neil O’Donnell. A complete career with the Steelers was easier to accomplish before free agency, but even Franco Harris and Mike Webster played out the string with a different team.
“It’s a big honor for me to start my career here and evidently end my career here,” said Ward, who already has 800 career catches and is only 220 yards short of 10,000. “For me, I really don’t want to put on another uniform. That was never my intention. To assure I will always wear a black-and-gold uniform, I’m relieved.”
BAIT AND SWITCH
Byron Leftwich spent free agency looking for a team that would give him a fair shot to be a starting quarterback again, and he signed with Tampa Bay. As it turned out, the Buccaneers weren’t that team.
The contract Leftwich signed was reported as a two-year deal worth $7.5 million, significantly higher than what the Steelers were willing to pay anyone to be Ben Roethlisberger’s backup, but the whole thing looks like a mirage. First of all, $3.5 million of that total will come in a roster bonus not payable until March 2010 with $2 million more in salary for the 2010 season, which didn’t seem so bad until the Buccaneers traded up in the first round to pick Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman.
During a draft-day chat with NFL.com, Freeman revealed he knew all along that Tampa Bay was his primary suitor. “I felt that all along,” wrote Freeman of the Buccaneers’ interest, “even when they picked up Byron Leftwich. It was something they told me. They told me it was a smoke screen, (that) everybody would think they didn’t want a QB.
They said they were ready to trade up. I think it worked out great. I was sitting there with my family and enjoying it, and I got to go to the team that I wanted to go to.”
The Steelers had expressed an interest in re-signing Leftwich, who signed a one-year deal last August to be the team’s backup after Charlie Batch injured his shoulder in the preseason opener. Soon after Leftwich signed with Tampa Bay, Batch, who also had been an unrestricted free agent, re-signed with the Steelers.
KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE
Whether offensive tackle Michael Oher, the Ravens’ first-round draft pick, turns into another All-Pro like Jonathan Ogden won’t be known for years, but what’s known right now is that Oher can work a room from behind the microphone.
During the news conference in Baltimore called to introduce him to the city, Oher said, right at the start, “I’m going to do everything I possibly can to get them to beat Pittsburgh.”
Nothing like stoking a rivalry six months in advance.
Bob Labriola, a Pittsburgh native, has been editor of Steelers Digest since its inception in 1988. This page offers him an opportunity to provide additional insights into the Steelers, the NFL and the events that are making news.
It was a classic NFL-style quid pro quo, to be sure, but there are some other things worth noting about the Steelers’ move to sign Hines Ward to a five-year extension.
The quid pro quo was that while the team got some needed salary cap maneuverability by doing an extension with Ward as he entered the final year of the contract he had signed in 2005, Ward got a nice chunk of money to sign and the security that comes with being a 33-year-old with a multi-year deal.
But the other aspect to this has to do with Steelers history, and Ward always has expressed pride in being a part of that. Already holding every significant receiving record in franchise history, Ward is on the precipice of being one of the few post-free agency period star players to spend an entire career with the Steelers.
The point first was brought up by Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette during a lull in two-a-day minicamp practices. Not many players in Steelers history have a chance to do what Ward seems certain to accomplish, with what certainly will be this final contract extension: join Dermontti Dawson and Joel Steed as the only ones to start and finish in a Steelers uniform since free agency became part of the NFL in 1993.
Think about it. Jerome Bettis never left, but he started with the Rams. Greg Lloyd played for Carolina, Tunch Ilkin a season in Green Bay. Rod Woodson, Joey Porter, Alan Faneca, Levon Kirkland, Carnell Lake, Gary Anderson, Jason Gildon, Barry Foster. Even Kordell Stewart and Neil O’Donnell. A complete career with the Steelers was easier to accomplish before free agency, but even Franco Harris and Mike Webster played out the string with a different team.
“It’s a big honor for me to start my career here and evidently end my career here,” said Ward, who already has 800 career catches and is only 220 yards short of 10,000. “For me, I really don’t want to put on another uniform. That was never my intention. To assure I will always wear a black-and-gold uniform, I’m relieved.”
BAIT AND SWITCH
Byron Leftwich spent free agency looking for a team that would give him a fair shot to be a starting quarterback again, and he signed with Tampa Bay. As it turned out, the Buccaneers weren’t that team.
The contract Leftwich signed was reported as a two-year deal worth $7.5 million, significantly higher than what the Steelers were willing to pay anyone to be Ben Roethlisberger’s backup, but the whole thing looks like a mirage. First of all, $3.5 million of that total will come in a roster bonus not payable until March 2010 with $2 million more in salary for the 2010 season, which didn’t seem so bad until the Buccaneers traded up in the first round to pick Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman.
During a draft-day chat with NFL.com, Freeman revealed he knew all along that Tampa Bay was his primary suitor. “I felt that all along,” wrote Freeman of the Buccaneers’ interest, “even when they picked up Byron Leftwich. It was something they told me. They told me it was a smoke screen, (that) everybody would think they didn’t want a QB.
They said they were ready to trade up. I think it worked out great. I was sitting there with my family and enjoying it, and I got to go to the team that I wanted to go to.”
The Steelers had expressed an interest in re-signing Leftwich, who signed a one-year deal last August to be the team’s backup after Charlie Batch injured his shoulder in the preseason opener. Soon after Leftwich signed with Tampa Bay, Batch, who also had been an unrestricted free agent, re-signed with the Steelers.
KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE
Whether offensive tackle Michael Oher, the Ravens’ first-round draft pick, turns into another All-Pro like Jonathan Ogden won’t be known for years, but what’s known right now is that Oher can work a room from behind the microphone.
During the news conference in Baltimore called to introduce him to the city, Oher said, right at the start, “I’m going to do everything I possibly can to get them to beat Pittsburgh.”
Nothing like stoking a rivalry six months in advance.