Harrison Gone

[NorthCoast]

What about Ike then? Ike may be a bit younger but his #1 attribute is speed. That is the first thing to go with age and that is not good when he is trying to match up against teams #1 WRs.

I would have cut Ike (and sign Lewis) & Colon instead of Harrison. Ike has maybe 1 year left.. and he's worth less than Harrison IMO.

Ike has been an ironman on the corner up to last season, so I don't think the team is devaluing him that much due to age. Ike comes into every season in top shape.

[Chadman]

Guess this puts them $4m under the cap now, right? Still not enough to sign all the RFA's & ERFA's. What a mess.

Might be time to extend Worilds.

[lloydroid]

That group of starters got the Steelers 8-8. I don't see how their loss is that huge, unless you think they were the key to the 8 wins.

Harrison was not healthy until the very end of the season, in which he started lighting offenses up again. Will he be healthy in 2013? IDK. But we can't judge his value from last year until the last few weeks of the season.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

hate to see it.

had to happen.

[Chadman]

Please sign Lewis. That will at least make this FA acceptable.

Losing your starting RB, WR, CB and OLB. Not good.

Pretty sure there still isn't enough money in the bank to re-sign Lewis. The Steelers need to clear $7m under the cap just to re-sign the RFA's & ERFA's. With Harrison's release, they are about $4m under. That means $3m more must be found just to get the RFA/ERFA's signed. Then they can concentrate on Lewis....

[steelz09]

That group of starters got the Steelers 8-8. I don't see how their loss is that huge, unless you think they were the key to the 8 wins.

Lewis was the one bright spot this year. Letting one of your better, younger players walk after he's finally is developed into a starter is moronic. You can't do that as an organization.

When Harrison finally got healthy towards the end of the year, I saw the old James. It was obvious his knee was problematic early on and it took him awhile to get healthy. He fought thru it but obviously it had an impact on his game.

It sucks... Harrison probably has 1-2 solid years left IMO but I would say Ike has 1 solid year left (at most). If I had to pay 9 million for a player, there is no doubt I take Harrison over Ike.

[supersteeler]

It's going to seem odd seeing Silverback in a Brown or Green Bay uniform, wish the guy the best he will be missed
Btw, If he does play for another team and we play that team, could you imagine James and Gilbert against each other?

[NorthCoast]

Everyone keeps pointing to Harrison's injuries as his reason for a down season, and that is just the point. The guy had a back problem that could flair at any moment, especially at his age and the way he uses his body in rushing. Can't keep complaining that the Steelers are paying for old farts past their prime, but then chastise them for letting them go. If we sign him and he misses 4 games this season, would you say it was still worth it? When exactly do you say enough?

[thor75]

Tough loss for sure. Time to restructure Woodley's deal so we don't lose Foster or Lewis as well.

[Jooser]

James Harrison tweets his goodbye to the Steelers

Posted by Darin Gantt on March 9, 2013, 11:50 AM EST
AP
For days, it’s been clear the Steelers and [URL="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/665/james-harrison"]James Harrison[/URL] weren’t getting anywhere in talks about lowering his salary/cap hit.

So now the inevitable has apparently happened, with Harrison tweeting out his goodbye to Steelers fans.

It's been a great run but all good things must come to a end. Thank you Steelers Nation I will miss you all!
—
James Harrison (@jharrison9292) [URL="http://twitter.com/#%21/jharrison9292/status/310431134079131648"]March 09, 2013[/URL]

Harrison played well when he got well last year, but approaching 35 years old and with a $6.57 million salary, the Steelers did what they have done so many times — they walked away from one of their own sooner rather than later.