Ed: No Downside to Signing William Gay Monday, 04 March 2013 07:37 Written by Ed Bouchette Good morning,
There’s a surprising negative feedback on William Gay’s return to the Steelers, if indeed that happens today. Not long after word filtered out through Gay that he was coming back, fans began slamming the move.
Their reaction, judging by response on my Twitter account, had to be 10-1 negative.
Here are some of those responses:
--- “This has to be a joke. William Gay stinks!!!!”
--- “Nooo.’’
---“Nooooooo.’’
--- “Noooooooooooo.’’
--- “They’re going to let Lewis walk and take back the worst liability on the team in the last 20 years??”
--- “Gay is terrible!!! Are we giving up on the 2013 season? Ugh. Hope he fails the physical.’’
--- “Yo Steelers front office, YOU ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY.’’
--- “Say it ain’t so!!!”
Well, you get the idea. It’s not a popular move at the moment. But what would the Steelers be doing by signing Gay? Hurting themselves? Hardly. They will be better at cornerback, deeper, with more experience.
Signing Gay will have no effect on whether they keep Keenan Lewis or not. It might show they fear losing Lewis, and they’re trying to shore up the position any way they can. If Lewis receives an attractive offer in free agency, he’s gone because they Steelers won’t be paying him a ton to stay.
Where does that leave them? With Cortez Allen starting at left cornerback and Gay playing in the slot in the nickel – unless one of the young cornerbacks asserts himself and takes the job from him. It’s a no-lose situation for the Steelers. They have a 90-man roster through training camp, so where’s the downside?
Gay also is not old. He’s 28 and, if by chance he would start, he would be the youngest starter in their secondary. In my opinion, he was at his best when he played the nickel, but he did start 15 games at cornerback in 2010 and the Steelers came within six points of winning the Super Bowl that season.
Adding Gay to their mix at cornerback only helps the Steelers
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