Ranking our Offseason so far..

[Ernie]

I wanted to start a thread to see where folks thought we were at...in terms of personnel moves made this off-season.

Personally, what I have seen as potentially good moves are:

Released: Woodley, Clark
Acquired: Mitchell, Cam Thomas, Mike Munchak
Retained: Troy, Ike (only because of reduced contracts), Cody Wallace, Jason Worilds

Potentially bad moves:
Dwyer (leaves us no depth at RB)
Woods (poised to potentially start this year)

Neutral/Undecided- Hood, Sanders

"What ifs?"
Cotchery signs with panthers
Keisel, Velasco are not re-signed

It appears that, as of this time, we are painfully thin at DL and WR (especially if "What ifs" prevail).. We also may be thin at interior OL if Velasco is not re-signed. RB is also very thin at the present time. As a whole, I think we are 2 mid Tier FA signings from being "even"...meaning no net gain or loss in personnel moves this off-season. In the unlikely event that all else remains the same, I think we are now slightly worse off than where we left off at season's end.
Any thoughts?

[Sugar]

That seems like a good take to me. It was my understanding that nobody will be talking to Velasco for a while because of his injury. The thinking is that he's somebody that they will have to wait until the summer to see how he is progressing before anyone will want to have anything to do with him.

Glad to see all those that were retained. Even though there is turnover every year, you don't want to bleed out too much of your veteran leadership in one year if you can help it.

[squidkid]

at this point i would say our secondary is better, our lb worse, our DL is a lot worse.
our rbs are worse, wrs are worse and OL the same.
im not too concerned about rb. bell will get better and depth can easily be found for cheap thru FA and alate draft pick.
wr is a small concern but a veteran wr or 2 can be had relatively cheap to pair along with an early round draft pick
i expect the oline to be improved thru maturity and coaching
DL is a concern. we need to sign at least one in FA to start and draft one. not sure the drfaft pick will help this year tho.
LB is a concern. questions on worilds health and spences will cause us to sign one in FA and draft one.
Secondary is probably the strongest part of our defense on paper but my gut tells me troy's one year of staying healthy will come to an end.
to be honest, losing the guys we did, or could, doesnt bother me. back to back 8-8 years doesnt have me losing any sleep over retaining any of these guys. i would love to see a bunch of turnover, including the veterans. i dont see much leadership anyways.

[steelsnis]

Impossible to judge free agency until it's over. James Starks is scheduled to visit Pittsburgh on Monday. Lance Moore is scheduled to visit on Wednesday. If they sign here it immediately upgrades the RB and WR positions. Carrington is still out there and supposedly in play for the DLine.

What at looks like a position of weakness today might be a position of strength tomorrow.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Impossible to judge free agency until it's over. James Starks is scheduled to visit Pittsburgh on Monday. Lance Moore is scheduled to visit on Wednesday. If they sign here it immediately upgrades the RB and WR positions. Carrington is still out there and supposedly in play for the DLine.

What at looks like a position of weakness today might be a position of strength tomorrow.

Don't see how we could be signing any more than one of these players...unless we re-structure Ben and free up some more room under that cap.

[squidkid]

Impossible to judge free agency until it's over. James Starks is scheduled to visit Pittsburgh on Monday. Lance Moore is scheduled to visit on Wednesday. If they sign here it immediately upgrades the RB and WR positions. Carrington is still out there and supposedly in play for the DLine.

What at looks like a position of weakness today might be a position of strength tomorrow.

im fairly certain the OP asked about our thoughts as where we are at now, not where we will be at the end or that all moves are over with

[RuthlessBurgher]

Don't see how we could be signing any more than one of these players...unless we re-structure Ben and free up some more room under that cap.

Signing Worilds to a multi year deal with greatly reduce his 9+ million transition tag cap hit. We also will be getting plenty back after June 1 when the majority of Woodley's cap hit gets pushed into 2015.

[steelsnis]

Don't see how we could be signing any more than one of these players...unless we re-structure Ben and free up some more room under that cap.

I think they're still about $3.5-$4 mill under the cap after Thomas' signing. They could easily fit in 2 of those guys without any restructure. Maybe even all 3 if they sign cap friendly deals.

[hawaiiansteel]

Taking Stock

By Ed Bouchette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Good morning,

After the first weekend and nearly a week into free agency, let’s take stock of where the Steelers find themselves.

They released two starting linebackers, Larry Foote and LaMarr Woodley and retained another, Jason Worilds. They lost in free agency wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, defensive ends Ziggy Hood and Al Woods, halfback Jonathan Dwyer and tight end David Johnson.

Raise your hands if you are truly stunned by any of those moves. I was a bit surprised they released Foote and that they did not retain Woods. But Woods did not suddenly become Reggie White because he left. He was a bit player who might have competed for a starting job. They signed Cam Thomas to do the same. We can debate into next season what was the better move.

Keeping Worilds over Woodley was important for now and their future on defense.

I don’t know anyone who thought they might re-sign Ryan Clark, so signing free agent Mike Mitchell to replace him was a bonus. It eases the pressure on them to find a safety in the draft because they now have four, two vets in Troy Polamalu and Will Allen and two younger players in Mitchell and Shamarko Thomas.

They also retained two veterans many thought might be cut for salary cap purposes, Polamalu and Ike Taylor.

Jonathan Dwyer was not a surprise; remember, they cut him before the 2013 season opener and only brought him back after the injury to LaRod Stephens-Howling. No one thought they would keep Sanders. Ziggy Hood went to Jacksonville to be a backup!


So while little they lost was a surprise, are they better today than they were even last season? I would say not, especially on defense. They really gained nothing on defense other than get younger and maybe better at free safety.

They have real depth problems at halfback and linebacker, although they also had them last season, unless you liked watching Felix Jones come on for a series or two at halfback.

James Starks of Green Bay reportedly will visit with them this week and his signing would change the perception immediately at halfback with him behind Le’Veon Bell. The rest you can fill in with rookies and/or others.

The real problem for them now is if they lose Jerricho Cotchery, who reportedly will visit with the Carolina Panthers today. They wanted him back and Ben Roethlisberger has pleaded for them to retain him. He would be hard to replace. Lance Moore, released by the Saints, also reportedly will visit the Steelers this week.

Moore had a career year in 2012 when he caught 65 passes for 1,041 yards, an average of 16 yards per reception, which is in the old Mike Wallace area. But he fell way off last season with 33 for 384 (11.6) as he struggled with injuries and fell down the depth chart. He turns 30 Aug. 31 and while he could provide depth and another deep threat, if healthy, he’s not a replacement for the reliable, possession receiver of Cotchery.

Still, if Cotchery leaves, they would be left with Antonio Brown, Marcus Wheaton (six catches as a rookie) and Derek Moye (two catches in 2013).

That probably is not what GM Kevin Colbert meant when he said about Ben Roethlisberger, “What we have to do is surround him with the best talent.”

Still, it’s only March and the Steelers do not line up for a real game for another six months.

[URL]http://sportsblogs.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers-steelers-blog/2014/03/17/Taking-Stock.html[/URL]

[steelblood]

The Steelers would prefer to go into the draft without any huge holes. That will probably still happen, though there may be one (DL or WR).

When I look at the current roster I see...

QB - Good. May want to draft someone late to push the kid from Oklahoma. But, no needs.
RB - After Bell, we don't have much here. We will need to add at least one more vet at some point. But, the rest of the squad can be found in the draft or as udfas or waiver wire pick ups
WR - Add a vet who is an efficient route runner and reliable target. Brown, Wheaton, and a rookie can provide speed and playmaking.
OL - With Whimper and Wallace, we now have 8 guys (and backups to all starters). Add a draft pick and/or udfas and camp bodies to mix.
TE - It would be nice to add a playmaking rookie. But it is not necessary.
DL - must add another vet and a draft pick to round out this group.
CB - All starters return. That is good and bad. This is a group that must be upgraded as Allen's contract will expire soon and Taylor is old. Must draft someone in first three rounds or so. A vet would be a luxury that I'm not sure we can afford.
S - We have starters and two or three backups. We are set.
ILB -If Spence can play, this could turn into a position of strength. OTherwise, we could look to draft someone to play next to Timmons.
OLB -We need depth and future/spot starters. The draft and UDFAs look like the likely route after we invested so much in Worilds.

Yeah, a vet DL and a vet WR/possession guy and perhaps a RB look like FA needs right now. But, the steelers could go with youth and multiple draft picks and then scour the waiver wire during preseason at any or two of the positions. They would probably find good value doing that.

All in all, a typical Steelers offseason. We will likely only have one, or perhaps no, glaring need(s) going into the draft after we add a couple more low cost vets.