should we let Jeff Reed go?

[Discipline of Steel]

The Q&A from Aronson seems to be little more than baseless speculation.

As I've said before, I think we're all really going to regret it if Reed leaves. He is nearly automatic on FGs. The Bears game is the only game I can remember in the past few years where he didn't come through. If we run him out of town, who is going to replace him? I think he's a lot harder to upgrade than many people assume.

The Steelers were seen talking with K Brett Swenson from Michigan St at the Senior Bowl, Swenson is also known for his long kickoffs. I think he would be worth a 7th round selection to give Jeff Reed some competition.

Brett Swenson helps draft stock

BY SHANNON SHELTON
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER


Michigan State kicker Brett Swenson recently delivered an impressive performance in the Senior Bowl that should help him in his quest to play in the NFL.

Kicker Brett Swenson, who finished his career as MSU's leader in field goals (71), extra points (164) and points scored (377), accounted for seven points in the Senior Bowl on Saturday in Mobile, Ala. Swenson kicked a 43-yard field goal and made four PATs to help the North team to a 31-13 win over the South.

Nfldrafscout.com has Swenson projected as a seventh-round pick.

I would love to get another Spartan on the team. Last one I remember eventually ended up in jail after shooting himself in a nightclub. And I thought it was so cool when I met him at training camp one year. Reed was last in kickoffs this year people, that has to be taken into consideration.

[SteelAbility]

He forgot to mention Reed's crazy-mad tackling skills. Surely that's reason to keep him, right? ... Right? :P

[hawaiiansteel]

he can't kick off or tackle, but he sure knows how to continually embarrass the Steelers organization...and now that the Raiders have given Janikowski the largest contract ever for a kicker, Reed's price if we tag him just went up.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

maybe I should get a drinking problem...

You'd probably do better if you were a millionaire who played for the Steelers. :P

[ikestops85]

he can't kick off or tackle, but he sure knows how to continually embarrass the Steelers organization...and now that the Raiders have given Janikowski the largest contract ever for a kicker, Reed's price if we tag him just went up.

I don't think that is true because the tag is based on salaries from last year ... not the upcoming season.

[frankthetank1]

I don't go for, "Reed kicks better than any other kicker who comes to Heinz Field because it's his home field. " Remember Chris Brown? Reed's kickoffs are nothing to write home about but if another Chris Brown comes to Heinz it will cost the Steelers many more games than the kickoffs.

i dont buy that either. the other two reasons make sense but not that one. kris brown was horrid. he is the reason i want the steelers to re-sign reed. i cant watch another kris brown come in and stink it up. reed's kickoffs are awful but kickoffs are not half as important as kicking field goals. reed is about as automatic as any field goal kicker in the league. i also think he will grow up. he is around 30 i believe. he got arrested a couple times so maybe now he will clean his act up. he seems like he has a drinking problem which is a shame.

why do you get the impression that it seems like Reed has a drinking problem?

because he gets drunk and beats up towel dispensers and all the other stupid crap he pulls. its the only logical explanation that or he is just an idiot. i personally would rather be an alcholoic than an idiot.

[hawaiiansteel]

I don't go for, "Reed kicks better than any other kicker who comes to Heinz Field because it's his home field. " Remember Chris Brown? Reed's kickoffs are nothing to write home about but if another Chris Brown comes to Heinz it will cost the Steelers many more games than the kickoffs.

i dont buy that either. the other two reasons make sense but not that one. kris brown was horrid. he is the reason i want the steelers to re-sign reed. i cant watch another kris brown come in and stink it up. reed's kickoffs are awful but kickoffs are not half as important as kicking field goals. reed is about as automatic as any field goal kicker in the league. i also think he will grow up. he is around 30 i believe. he got arrested a couple times so maybe now he will clean his act up. he seems like he has a drinking problem which is a shame.

why do you get the impression that it seems like Reed has a drinking problem?

because he gets drunk and beats up towel dispensers and all the other stupid crap he pulls. its the only logical explanation that or he is just an idiot. i personally would rather be an alcholoic than an idiot.

me too, when you're an alcoholic you can wake up the next day and be sober again. when you're an idiot, you wake up the next day and you're still an idiot...

[stlrz d]

I don't go for, "Reed kicks better than any other kicker who comes to Heinz Field because it's his home field. " Remember Chris Brown? Reed's kickoffs are nothing to write home about but if another Chris Brown comes to Heinz it will cost the Steelers many more games than the kickoffs.

i dont buy that either. the other two reasons make sense but not that one. kris brown was horrid. he is the reason i want the steelers to re-sign reed. i cant watch another kris brown come in and stink it up. reed's kickoffs are awful but kickoffs are not half as important as kicking field goals. reed is about as automatic as any field goal kicker in the league. i also think he will grow up. he is around 30 i believe. he got arrested a couple times so maybe now he will clean his act up. he seems like he has a drinking problem which is a shame.

why do you get the impression that it seems like Reed has a drinking problem?

because he gets drunk and beats up towel dispensers and all the other stupid crap he pulls. its the only logical explanation that or he is just an idiot. i personally would rather be an alcholoic than an idiot.

Or maybe he has issues with anger and alcohol breaks down his inhibitions?

Or he's just immature?

[hawaiiansteel]

Kickers' salary bar rises for Steelers' Reed
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


Jeff Reed's agent walked off a Florida golf course to a sight more satisfying than any birdie putt: His cell phone chirped with the news that the Oakland Raiders had just made Sebastian Janikowski the most expensive kicker in NFL history.

"I don't know what to tell you," Don Henderson said Tuesday afternoon. "The ironic part is, if you take a look at field-goal kickers the last three years, Jeff Reed leads the league in field-goal percentage."

Henderson said Steelers negotiator Omar Kahn called him Monday, apparently to begin negotiations on a new contract for Reed, who will become an unrestricted free agent March 5 without one. The news one day later that Janikowski signed a four-year, $16 million deal with the Raiders that includes $9 million in guaranteed money could not have come at a better time for Reed.

"Omar on Monday asked my opinion, and I said all I can tell you is what the stats tell me: that Jeff is the field-goal percentage leader in the NFL," Henderson said.

Reed has made 88.5 percent of his field-goal tries the past three years, 77 of 87. He was 27 of 31 this past season as well as in 2008 and kicked two field goals in Super Bowl XLIII. Janikowski, a former first-round draft choice known for his booming leg, has been good on 80.2 percent of his field-goal tries the past three seasons (73 of 91), including 26 of 29 in 2009.

Reed also kicks in one of the toughest home stadiums and in perhaps the toughest division for kickers in the NFL.

Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations, said Friday that Reed, nose tackle Casey Hampton and free safety Ryan Clark are the team's three priorities to negotiate contract extensions before free agency starts. All would become unrestricted if they do not. Colbert said the team would wait until the end of this week to begin negotiations.

The Steelers offered a contract to Reed just before the 2009 season began that was rejected.

"We tried to get something done before season and it just didn't work out," said Henderson, who said the amount of Janikowski's new contract did not surprise him. "We want to be in Pittsburgh and they know we want to be there."


NOTES -- Two Steelers are recovering from shoulder surgeries. Starting center Justin Hartwig and safety Ryan Mundy both underwent procedures of unknown nature after the season and have been going through rehabilitation. ... Coach Mike Tomlin filled the final opening on his staff when he hired Scottie Montgomery to coach the Steelers' wide receivers. Montgomery, 31, coached the wide receivers at Duke the past four seasons. He played the position for the Denver Broncos from 2000-02 after finishing among the career leaders at Duke.

[SteelAbility]

I don't go for, "Reed kicks better than any other kicker who comes to Heinz Field because it's his home field. " Remember Chris Brown? Reed's kickoffs are nothing to write home about but if another Chris Brown comes to Heinz it will cost the Steelers many more games than the kickoffs.

i dont buy that either. the other two reasons make sense but not that one. kris brown was horrid. he is the reason i want the steelers to re-sign reed. i cant watch another kris brown come in and stink it up. reed's kickoffs are awful but kickoffs are not half as important as kicking field goals. reed is about as automatic as any field goal kicker in the league. i also think he will grow up. he is around 30 i believe. he got arrested a couple times so maybe now he will clean his act up. he seems like he has a drinking problem which is a shame.

why do you get the impression that it seems like Reed has a drinking problem?

because he gets drunk and beats up towel dispensers and all the other stupid crap he pulls. its the only logical explanation that or he is just an idiot. i personally would rather be an alcholoic than an idiot.

Now if we can just get him to channel some of that aggression away from towel dispensers and towards tackling better the case for keeping him will strengthen.