It is looking like many current rfas will be ufas

[steelblood]

As the labor talks progress, many are assuming that one of the owners concessions will be a return to unrestricted free agency after 4 seasons. For the Steelers this means that Colon, Gay, Speath, etc will be UFAs. It also means that more talented players like cornerback Jonathan Joseph of the Bengals will be UFAs.

This may be good news for the Steelers attempt to resign Ike. More FA corners on the market in the early hours of free agency could slow the spending as teams mull their options and try to find the best fit.

Another FA backup plan for Ike likely will be Josh Wilson. He played well for Baltimore last season. He is young and will now likely be a UFA. Unfortunately, he is not big and is not more than a solid #2 corner. But, if we don't get Ike. He could be relatively cheap and serviceable (in short, a Steeler type free agent corner).

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: It is looking many current rfas will be ufas

Report: Players with four or more years of experience will be UFAs

Posted June 21, 2011
By PFW staff

Players without contracts who have four or more years of NFL service are expected to be unrestricted free agents whenever the 2011 offseason begins, according to a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter.

It previously had been thought that some of these players would be restricted free agents, but Schefter tweeted on Tuesday afternoon that all of them will be free on the open market to sign with any team they choose in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Before last year, any unsigned player with four years or more of service could be unrestricted, but the rules were changed last offseason heading into the final year of the previous CBA.

Some of the top free agents who have four accrued years and would be unrestricted in this new deal include RB Ahmad Bradshaw, LB Paul Posluszny, CB Johnathan Joseph, WR Sidney Rice, TE Zach Miller, OT Jermon Bushrod, S Eric Weddle, OT Doug Free, DE Charles Johnson, WR Steve Smith (Giants), LB Stewart Bradley and WR Mike Sims-Walker.

[url="http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/06/21/report-players-with-four-or-more-years-of-experien"]http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/0 ... f-experien[/url]

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: It is looking many current rfas will be ufas

Well, then...turns out that putting the franchise tag on LaMarr Woodley was a smart move, rather than gambling that he would be an RFA for another year.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: It is looking many current rfas will be ufas

for the Steelers, this means the following players will become unrestricted FAs:

-- Matt Spaeth
-- William Gay
-- Willie Colon
-- Tony Hills
-- Daniel Sepulveda
-- Dennis Dixon
-- Ryan Mundy

these guys will be UFAs just like Essex, Moore, Fox and Frazier who were already unrestricted.

they all look replaceable to me...

[steelblood]

Re: It is looking many current rfas will be ufas

That list looks fine. Of course, you'd have to add Ike Taylor to the list for it to be complete. But, if we could resign taylor and get colon on a one year deal so he can prove his health, we'd be in great shape.

[Oviedo]

Re: It is looking many current rfas will be ufas

Report: Players with four or more years of experience will be UFAs

Posted June 21, 2011
By PFW staff

Players without contracts who have four or more years of NFL service are expected to be unrestricted free agents whenever the 2011 offseason begins, according to a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter.

It previously had been thought that some of these players would be restricted free agents, but Schefter tweeted on Tuesday afternoon that all of them will be free on the open market to sign with any team they choose in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Before last year, any unsigned player with four years or more of service could be unrestricted, but the rules were changed last offseason heading into the final year of the previous CBA.

Some of the top free agents who have four accrued years and would be unrestricted in this new deal include RB Ahmad Bradshaw, LB Paul Posluszny, CB Johnathan Joseph, WR Sidney Rice, TE Zach Miller, OT Jermon Bushrod, S Eric Weddle, OT Doug Free, DE Charles Johnson, WR Steve Smith (Giants), LB Stewart Bradley and WR Mike Sims-Walker.

[url="http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/06/21/report-players-with-four-or-more-years-of-experien"]http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/0 ... f-experien[/url]

OMG...you mean we can get Posluszny. How can we pass up that opportunity to get the greatest LB in NFL?

Forget about Ike, lets throw all the money at Posluszny.

[Oviedo]

Re: It is looking many current rfas will be ufas

for the Steelers, this means the following players will become unrestricted FAs:

-- Matt Spaeth
-- William Gay
-- Willie Colon
-- Tony Hills
-- Daniel Sepulveda
-- Dennis Dixon
-- Ryan Mundy

these guys will be UFAs just like Essex, Moore, Fox and Frazier who were already unrestricted.

they all look replaceable to me...

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: It is looking many current rfas will be ufas

Big free-agency class will create a buyer’s market

Posted by Mike Florio on June 24, 2011



With last year’s free-agency restrictions limiting the size of the class and with the threshold for unrestricted free agency expected to move back from six years to four, many are expecting a crazed, frenetic market once a new labor deal is finalized and the lockout ends.

But with all fourth-year, fifth-year, and sixth-year players whose contracts have expired (and who haven’t received the franchise tag designation) hitting the shelf at once (along with players with expired contracts who have seven years of experience or more, and who haven’t received the franchise tag designation), that could be a bad thing for plenty of the players. Each team will have a budget; even with the cash expenditure requirement expected to move well north of 90 percent of the salary cap, teams don’t have to spend all of that money on free agents. They can choose to extend the contracts of players already on the team.

And so, to a certain extent, a game of musical chairs will be played, with only so many players getting huge money, with plenty of players getting good money, and with a decent number forced to take whatever they can get, once teams have met their needs.

The good news is that some teams may choose to sign veteran free agents over giving undrafted free agents a chance to make the team, given that there will be limited opportunities to catch the team’s attention in training camp and the preseason. Still, veterans who are signed in lieu of rookies could have a hard time making the final 53-man roster. Which would keep them from earning whatever base salaries they receive. (Also, the presence of a veteran in lieu of an undrafted rookie could make it harder for a veteran already under contract to keep his job.)

Since supreme confidence tends to be one of the prerequisites for success in pro sports, the men who are poised to hit the market if/when the lockout ends surely are thinking they’ll be getting the big paydays early in the process, and not settling for whatever scraps they can get after the music stops. And the fact that the process has been delayed by more than three months surely is making them more anxious for the process to start.

Still, with so many guys hitting the market, however, plenty of them are destined to be disappointed.

[url="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/24/big-free-agency-class-will-create-a-buyers-market/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... rs-market/[/url]

[TallyStiller]

Re: It is looking like many current rfas will be ufas

Should be good for the B & G whether we're talking re - signing Ike to a friendly deal or signing a reasonable replacement, of which there are actually several hitting the market.

While I recognize that Pete Prisco is a tool, he did a list of his top 50 FA's regardless of position, and since he's a tool who gets paid by a major sports network to write for it's website, his opinion gets a lot of run amongst fan bases at any rate... and he had Ike 7th amongst available CB's. His tortured, brutal logic had Johnathan Joseph, Carlos Rodgers, Antonio Cromartie, Brent Grimes and Chris Carr besides Nnamdi Asomugha as better CB's than Ike going forward. If we can't sign Ike, maybe one of those guys comes in and decides he wants to play where he's got a shot at a ring rather than in a dysfunctional circus like Cincy, Washington, etc.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: It is looking like many current rfas will be ufas

Colon's agent not optimistic he'll hear from Steelers

THURSDAY, 30 JUNE 2011 WRITTEN BY RAY FITTIPALDO


Willie Colon will be one of the Steelers' 14 unrestricted free agents once the lockout ends. Colon and cornerback Ike Taylor are the only two starters in that group, but Colon's agent does not expect to hear from the Steelers about a new contract once the lockout ends.

"They haven't called about Willie in three years," said agent Joe Linta. "I'm not expecting them to call because they haven't yet. That's the way they do business, and that's fine. But if they do call we'll pick up the phone."

Colon's preference is to stay in Pittsburgh. He was the starting right tackle before an Achilles injury ended his season last year, and he is good friends with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

"He loves the team and love the city," Linta said. "But they have to want him, and they haven't shown that yet."

*I spoke to one other agent on Wednesday about the impending free agency period. Ralph Cindrich, a local agent who represents many NFL players, said both sides should be "running to the table to get this deal done."

Cindrich spent the past month in Florence, Italy teaching American Law to students at a university. He believes the current financial unrest in Europe could help spur the owners on to making a deal because many of them have international financial interests. He painted a picture of doom and gloom with the European economy and said it's likely to have a ripple effect in this country soon. That, he said, should scare owners from trying to nickel and dime the players in the final stages of the negotiations.

"If this doesn't get done in July then we might be waiting a long time," he said.

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