Quote Originally Posted by NorthCoast View Post
What evidence do you have of this statement?

Was Lewis successful in covering AJ Green 2x last season? or Troy Smith? has Lewis ever had to defend a C Johnson? there simply is no evidence to support your claim.
We'll never have that evidence because we decided to keep an aging, costly player over Lewis. I think you are missing the fundamental point. Ike has been a very good Steeler. He has been very durable over the years and has blanketed many teams #1 WRs over the years. No one is disputing that.

The argument is that you could have locked up a younger player at the CB position for a very reasonable cost. Maybe he isn't a #1 but he's definitely a #2. If Lewis is unproven as a starter then what does that make Cortez Allen? That is not a knock on the guy. He's still good enough to be a #2, at worst and he's proven that. If Allen turns out like we hope, he will be our #1 for years to come.

Essentially, we could have locked up our future #1 and #2 CB for years to come. Instead, we let our future #2 (at worst) walk. For what reason? To keep Ike Taylor for ONE MORE YEAR (he'll likely get cut next year anyway) ?!?!? Now, we have to draft and develop another CB for a couple of years when we already had that CB on the roster. Let's not forget, the Steelers have a ton of holes on this team. It would have been nice to say, "CB isn't a need" going into this draft. Now, it is along with numerous other positions. Hell, we don't even have enough draft picks to cover all the team needs as it currently stands.

Cutting Ike this year causes some dead cap $ but you save ALL of his 10.5 dollar salary next year. Ike isn't making "good CB money". He is making ELITE CB money. Cutting Ike this year and signing Lewis was close to a wash from a financial standpoint. However, next year you save the full 10.5 million. In addition, the Steelers would have their #2 (at worst) CB still on the team and you could use some of that 10.5 million of cap space next year to sign your anticipated #1 (Cortez Allen). Not a bad strategy IMO. Unfortunately, the Steelers FO weakened this team's future from a positional standpoint and from a salary cap standpoint (due to Ike's salary for this year and next).