Three defensive players were signed to big contracts this past offseason:
Troy Polamalu--4 years, 36.5 million
LaMarr Woodley--6 years, 61.5 million
Lawrence Timmons--6 years, 50 million
Were these good investments?
Per their production, one year in, doesn't look so great. Hopefully all will rebound and have huge seasons next time around.
Your take? Would we have been better off letting one or two of these players go and using the money elsewhere?
8.3 million for Timmons' sack was worth every penny
Woodley and Timmons are young and talented. Good teams don't let young and talented players just walk away. Both are just entering their prime. Woodley was 26 at the start of this season (27 now), and his contract runs until he's 32 years old. Those are the best years of a player's career. Timmons is still just 25 years old. He'll still be in the prime of his career when this current contract expires at age 30. He'll be young enough to negotiate a 3rd contract when this one expires. Meanwhile, Troy is arguably the best ever at his position (and frankly, Ronnie Lott is the only other player that could make a legit claim for that title). He's at the peak of his career right now at age 30 (hasn't shown signs of slowing down yet), and should still be an effective player when this contract ends at age 33. Drafting well and then re-signing your own players is what has kept this team a consistent contender since the merger (minus a few lean years in the 80's). This is how a good team spends its money, rather than making a huge splash by signing a marquee big name free agent from another team (who may or may not fit in your system). Personally, I still applaud the work that Kevin Colbert and Omar Khan pulled off last season.
Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.
Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.
We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.
We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.
I'm guessing there are 30 some other teams who would made the investments if we passed on them. Wood was hurt but has proven his worth. Timmons played out of position alot of this year but Lebeau said that he was the key to why this defense did well this year aside from the injuries, and if you really even have to ask about whether Troy was worth keeping I would question if you watch Steeler football.
As far as money is concerned, there isn't a player in the NFL that is really worth the huge sums of money that they are making, But if you are asking whether these guys are key to our future success I would have to say yes.
Timmons did have high expectations this year, but worth the money great talent. he played a lot at OL too this year, and I wonder if he was placed more in coverage rather than blitz
Pol was great, but without the splash plays we are all use to.
Woodley at one point was sack leader in NFL before his injury that lingered.
They were all better than the investment in Colon.
$$$Originally Posted by flippy
Add Colon into the discussion.
But it was more based on the fact, that we had no depth at tackle going in. Hotel was cut, Starks was also injured, Hills never panned out, and J. Scott was a defintely not the answer as we saw the limited snaps he received this year.
I am curious how they address the OT position this year.
Starks and Colon again finished on IR.
J. Scott is going to be cut to get under the cap.
THAT LEAVES ONLY GILBERT, WITH OUT ANY QUESTION MARKS, GOING INTO FA/DRAFT !
I don't think this team can address all it's needs solely through the draft; cut some dead weight in order to pursue a decent OL help in FA.
You also forgot Ike Taylor in your original messge. We are paying premium prices on defense and then complaining about the offense.I don't think this team can address all it's needs solely through the draft; cut some dead weight in order to pursue a decent OL help in FA.
I totally agree that we need to part ways with some veterans like Farrior, Smith, Hampton, Foote, Bmac, etc and use some of that money to get a good OL. We need to invest in this area and quit giving LeBeau a garage full of Ferrari's and then complaining that Arians isn't doing enough with Honda Accords.
"My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"
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