Dan Connor for ILB?

[D Rock]

I think if the Steelers are able to go outside the organization to get a guy, then Connor could fit the bill.

He's been stuck behind All-Pro Jon Beason for years, but he has a ton of skill and is a smart player.

Would he work on the inside in a 3-4?

[phillyesq]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

I haven't seen much of Connor, but wasn't the reason that he slid to the mid rounds of the draft a lack of speed? If the Steelers are going to stick with a slower ILB, I'd prefer Farrior or Foote with a rookie behind them.

[D Rock]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

From what I've been able to find, he missed the combine but lit it up at his Pro Day.

4.67 40 yd dash, 4.25 short shuttle, 35" vertical, 9' 7" long jump

[BigRob]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

[D Rock]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

the same guy you quoted above.


Colbert said they wont have room to make a move before free agency on their own guys. He also said they would like to try and go after some outside guys too if they can...when the FA period arrives.

[BigRob]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

the same guy you quoted above.


Colbert said they wont have room to make a move before free agency on their own guys. He also said they would like to try and go after some outside guys too if they can...when the FA period arrives.

That's interesting. Would you mind linking to an article quoting him saying that?

I currently have it calculated that we need to clear 17 to 20 million more dollars to get under the cap, tender RFA's, and sign draft picks.

How in the world does anyone think we will have room to sign any kind of starting caliber FA's?

I think Colbert made it pretty clear that we won't have room to sign any FA's in the first 2 to 3 months of free agency.

I had dreams of Paul Solia coming here too, but alas I don't think either will be a Steeler unless they take an extreme sweet heart of a deal.

[phillyesq]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

From what I've been able to find, he missed the combine but lit it up at his Pro Day.

4.67 40 yd dash, 4.25 short shuttle, 35" vertical, 9' 7" long jump

I may well have been mistaken, and I certainly haven't seen much of him with the Panthers.

[D Rock]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

the same guy you quoted above.


Colbert said they wont have room to make a move before free agency on their own guys. He also said they would like to try and go after some outside guys too if they can...when the FA period arrives.

That's interesting. Would you mind linking to an article quoting him saying that?

I currently have it calculated that we need to clear 17 to 20 million more dollars to get under the cap, tender RFA's, and sign draft picks.

How in the world does anyone think we will have room to sign any kind of starting caliber FA's?

I think Colbert made it pretty clear that we won't have room to sign any FA's in the first 2 to 3 months of free agency.

I had dreams of Paul Solia coming here too, but alas I don't think either will be a Steeler unless they take an extreme sweet heart of a deal.

It was in a recent post from FordFixer of a Colbert interview...


[url="http://www.planetsteelers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20344"]viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20344[/url]


Q: Are you surprised at how much work you’ve had to do with the salary cap and will it hinder you in putting the roster together?

A: We’ve seen this coming for awhile and we knew we were going to have to make some serious adjustments after this past season because the previous season we didn’t have a salary cap and really we took some liberties that year that we probably would not have been able to in a cap season and some of that carried over into this year. Moving into this year we knew we were going to have serious issues that we were going to have to deal with. I think with a combination of terminations and restructurings that we’ll be able to handle this along with doing new business with our own potential free agents and possibly some others from the outside.

[BigRob]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

From what I've been able to find, he missed the combine but lit it up at his Pro Day.

4.67 40 yd dash, 4.25 short shuttle, 35" vertical, 9' 7" long jump

I may well have been mistaken, and I certainly haven't seen much of him with the Panthers.

Your not mistaken in your belief that he is a run stuffer. He is not a coverage linebacker at all. He would be similar to Foote in our system.

[D Rock]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

From what I've been able to find, he missed the combine but lit it up at his Pro Day.

4.67 40 yd dash, 4.25 short shuttle, 35" vertical, 9' 7" long jump

I may well have been mistaken, and I certainly haven't seen much of him with the Panthers.

Your not mistaken in your belief that he is a run stuffer. He is not a coverage linebacker at all. He would be similar to Foote in our system.

That' what I want in an ILB next to Timmons. Very similar to how the guy next to Troy needs to stay at home and take care of business...The same type of player needs to be next to Timmons.

[D Rock]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

Another reason I like the idea of signing Connor....

[url="http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2012ILB.php"]http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2012ILB.php[/url]

He's not the top guy at his position, or even close to it, available as a free agent this year. He's got 3 or 4 other young and really good players in front of him to pick up the big bucks from the really ILB starved teams.

Tulloch, Lofton, and Jackson are clearly the studs of this years crop for teams to throw big money at.

[BigRob]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

Assuming all you say is correct. I would have two more questions:

1) Is he an upgrade to Foote/Farrior who knows the system very well?

I don't think he could play at any higher of a level than Foote/Farrior. He is not a linebacker with coverage skills. Wouldn't we be better off bringing back on of them and draft a stud ILB replacement for them?

2) Would he be willing to give the Steelers a major discount to come "home" so to speak?

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

If they think that Conner is a starter on this team and comes at a relatively cheap price, that might allow them to release both Farrior ($2.825M savings) and Foote ($3M savings).

The ILB position is deep in this year's FA market, so Connor might come at a reasonable price, and easily cheaper than either of the two we would be releasing.

[BigRob]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

If they think that Conner is a starter on this team and comes at a relatively cheap price, that might allow them to release both Farrior ($2.825M savings) and Foote ($3M savings).

The ILB position is deep in this year's FA market, so Connor might come at a reasonable price, and easily cheaper than either of the two we would be releasing.

Is he an upgrade really?

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Re: Dan Connor for ILB?

Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

If they think that Conner is a starter on this team and comes at a relatively cheap price, that might allow them to release both Farrior ($2.825M savings) and Foote ($3M savings).

The ILB position is deep in this year's FA market, so Connor might come at a reasonable price, and easily cheaper than either of the two we would be releasing.

Is he an upgrade really?

I don't know enough about him to determine if he is an upgrade, my point is that he is affordable despite our cap situation.