Possible 53 man roster

[D Rock]

Players under contract are in normal font. Drafted rookies are in italics. Free agents who would have to be re-signed are in bold. Those players listed in blue are the ones who either need to earn or re-sign to get a roster spot.

Current players signed to contracts: [url="http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/steelers_2011_roster_as_it_stands_today_players_un der_contract/4622280"]http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/artic ... ct/4622280[/url]

Free agent list: [url="http://www.steelersdepot.com/2010/09/early-look-at-steelers-2011-free-agents-players-in-final-year-of-contract/"]http://www.steelersdepot.com/2010/09/ea ... -contract/[/url]

I think it is safe to say that Bright, McCoy (TE), Jolly, McCaskill, Battle, Lyons, Johnson (RB), Ivy, McCoy (LB), Atkins, Ellis, Harris, and Warren (DB) will not make the team barring a huge development. I will not list them in the following assessment.



QB: Roethlisberger, Leftwich, ________ Dixon, Batch
RB: Mendenhall, Redman, Dwyer, ________ Batch, Moore
WR: Ward, Wallace, Sanders, Brown, _______ El, Sweed, Grisham
TE: Miller, Johnson, _______ Spaeth
T: _______, Starks, Gilbert, _______ Adams, C. Scott, Colon, Hills, J. Scott
C: Pouncey, _________ Legursky
G: Kemoeatu, Foster, _______, ________ Williams, Essex, Brooks


DE: Smith, Keisel, Hood, Heyward, ________ Harris, Eason,
NT: Hampton, ________ McClendon, Hoke
OLB: Harrison, _______, Worilds, ________ Woodley, Carter, Frazier
ILB: Farrior, Timmons, Sylvester, ________ Fox, Foote
CB: McFadden, _____, Brown, _____, _____, _____ Taylor, Lewis, Butler, Allen, Gay, Madison
FS: Clark, ______ Cromartie-Smith, Mundy
SS: Polamalu, Allen



K: __________ Waters, Suisham
P: __________ Kapinos, Sepulveda
LS: _________ Warren

[D Rock]

Re: Possible 53 man roster

QB: Try to resign Dixon for low money. At least Batch is already on the roster if needed.
RB: Batch will be signed asap. Offer Moore something small. Can't afford to overpay here for a 3rd option RB.
WR: El was demoted to 5th WR by the end of last year. Too expensive for what he offers. Grisham is too similar to the other guys. I think Sweed sticks based on his size and that he is the only guy on the roster that would offer that.
TE: Take it to the open market. Name a price the team would be comfortable paying a 2nd TE and offer it to every available FA in order of who they would want, including Spaeth.
T: I can't see Colon resigning knowing he will have to earn a spot every year for the duration of his contract. Too much money needed at other spots anyways. Hills is useless. Jonathan Scott should be offered the first chance as the backup tackle on game day. Adams stays around for one more year, he wants to do it and they need him to do it. Chris Scott will have to earn this one. He was only a 5th round pick anyways. He is the fall back plan if J. Scott can't be signed.
G: If Essex or a similar FA isn't signed, Williams and Brooks could make the roster by default.
C: Imperative to resign Bronco Legursky as a backup and the first guy off the bench at C/G, or possibly even starting at G. If not, then another FA needs to be brought in.

DE: Thanks for the good years Eason, but times up. They wont make a play to resign him unless Smith gets cut, which should absolutely not happen this year (possibly next).
NT: I'm torn. They liked McClendon enough to keep around, and Hoke is up there in age. I think they might make a run at a mid-level NT. There isn't enough money anymore to pay Hoke to be the backup NT. He's too good at it.
OLB: Obviously Woodley is the top priority for the team to resign. I think Carter beats out Frazier, who keeps hanging around but has never really done much of anything.
ILB: I'd let Fox walk. Can't pay a guy to fight for the 4th ILB spot this year.
CB: Taylor needs to be resigned. I think they keep 6 because of the evolution of the game. I actually feel like Gay should be resigned to a very reasonable contract too. Allen should almost be handed a roster spot (6th CB), while Lewis, Gay, and Butler should fight to see who the odd man out is (I'm thinking Lewis)
FS: Mundy may be offered a decent contract by someone else because he has gotten some playing time in recent years. Only sign him for a bargain basement price. Allen can back up both spots for now, and Cromartie-Smith has potential.
SS: This is set.

K: Need to bring in a new leg. Waters is an unknown guy and Sushi is nothing special.
P: Please sign Sepulveda. Kapinos can do it for a year if needed, but I hope not.
LS: Might as well sign Warren.