Steelers Can't Extend Starks

[Flasteel]

yea i posted a reply to that on the trib. did they TRY to extend him? I get the feeling that they didn't...

If they didn't try, why bother with the transition tag? I seemed as though the rest of the league balked at a potentially high price tag anyway. The Steelers couldn't have liked this guy that much, could they have?

You're a good guy to ask about this, birt...how did Starks look in college, based upon your best recollection? Was he very good and just never developed any additional skills to help him in the pro game or was he always just about the same as he is now? Was he an overachiever? Did he simply gain too much weight to be effective?

One thing's for sure: someone in the Steelers FO has a real hard on for this guy. For $6.9M, that one expensive hard on!

yea, the reason I like starks so much is because how good he was here. He played both RT and LT and LG and was pretty damn good at all of them. His question mark in college was run blocking. seems he flipped. Of course we didnt' have the greatest run game at the time (Wynn, Graham, Gillespie*I think was still here) but we were a very good passing team. The last I heard was that he was close to signing a long term deal (from one of his old teammates that I coach with). I asked Mo Mitchell (his old teammate) to bring me some of their tapes so I could watch them again but he hasn't gotten them to me yet.
A friend of mine who has been friends with Max for a long time and played against him (Reggie Washington who played at Vandy) told me that the transition that Tomlin is moving to with the OL doesn't fit Max too well and he's having trouble with aspects of it. he didn't go into detail but he said that max had been working his a$$ off in Arizona. He went on to say that Max got A LOT stronger and that he changed his routine in the weight room. Max comes into Gainesville every now and then. I'm going to try to catch him the next time he's here.
two asides:
Mo was at Dallas Bakers place a few weeks ago and worked out with him and he said that Dallas is in GREAT shape. very fast and fluid.
I have been trying to get in touch with the strength coach at UF I have been wanting to ask him the routine they use for the OL and have him outline it for me. I'll casually mention Max and see what he says... lol.

Great inside info jbirt. The contract dish you got was off, but hopefully the rest of it will prove to be money. That would jive with what I've read and seen from Starks in the off-season.

Haters be ready.

[birtikidis]

well i can tell you this much, Max was pretty unhappy that the deal didn't get done. I don't know what the hold up was, and both Reggie and Mo didn't give me the heads up. Mo in particular doesn't like to talk about the NFL since his career there got cut short. Reggie was pretty confident that he was gonna resign but, in the NFL nothing is set in stone.

[Flasteel]

well i can tell you this much, Max was pretty unhappy that the deal didn't get done. I don't know what the hold up was, and both Reggie and Mo didn't give me the heads up. Mo in particular doesn't like to talk about the NFL since his career there got cut short. Reggie was pretty confident that he was gonna resign but, in the NFL nothing is set in stone.

That gives us some pretty good insight to the situation. It would seem that the team wants to use this season to evaluate both he and Smith, then make their move before the free agency market is set, if one is deemed worthy of committing to. It could blow up in our face if Starks and/ or Smith play themselves out of our range but it's not an entirely unsound strategy. I would also imagine that that chunk of coin being tossed at Max would placate him a little, so he can't be too pissed.

[birtikidis]

well, the way i see it, they are going to be able to keep one. they are planning on paying their LT alot of money. now they get to see how the season unfolds and they can sign one. the $ will be there. 7 mil off the books from starks and then smiths contract off the books. what is that 13 mil? they'll use that to sign one of them then they'll draft for depth.

[Flasteel]

well, the way i see it, they are going to be able to keep one. they are planning on paying their LT alot of money. now they get to see how the season unfolds and they can sign one. the $ will be there. 7 mil off the books from starks and then smiths contract off the books. what is that 13 mil? they'll use that to sign one of them then they'll draft for depth.

Agreed.

[buckeyehoppy]

Thanks to the Gator Baiters for some top notch analysis.

I'm pretty hard on Max Sucks, but I always welcome him to prove me wrong. He has the potential and based on what we've read here, the guy has talent. There shouldn't really be any excuse for him not to have a great season.

I think they will sign either him or Smith to an extension after the season. But they are really behind the 8-ball on Starks, so the smart money says Smith is more likely, especially if he's healthy.

[Mr Smartmonies]

yea i posted a reply to that on the trib. did they TRY to extend him? I get the feeling that they didn't...

A friend of mine who has been friends with Max for a long time and played against him (Reggie Washington who played at Vandy) told me that the transition that Tomlin is moving to with the OL doesn't fit Max too well and he's having trouble with aspects of it. .

Birt, Max played terribly in 2006. Steelers were graded #31st worst at Right tackle
in 2006. And that was with Cowher.

[birtikidis]

msm just curious, where do you get that stat. I was digging for another player that was totally unrelated and i can't figure out where you found that about max...

[Mr Smartmonies]

msm just curious, where do you get that stat. I was digging for another player that was totally unrelated and i can't figure out where you found that about max...

[url="http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol2006.php"]http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol2006.php[/url]

2nd Table down once you click on Link above. That's why he lost his Job in 2007.

[birtikidis]

do they have any through the end of that season? I ask because of this:

It's early in the season, so take these numbers with a grain of salt.

(last sentence before the 2nd chart)
it's good stuff though, i'm just wondering if it is the whole season and if not, at what point does it leave off?