Tomlin-era bad personnel decisions

[Sugar]

Again, Porter was signed through that season so they only had to pay him what his contract amount was....around 5 million. And it isn't like they had to dump Porter to play Harrison when Clark Haggans was on the other side. Timmons & Woodley had been drafted about 2 weeks prior to the dumping Porter so its not like they woudl of known Woodley would be ready to go year one either.

I'd be curious to know if Harrison and Haggans combined cost what Porter did that year. I'm sure they figured that the rooks could sit behind vets and learn. This seems like good management to me. I recall Joey being loud (no!) about getting paid, so they let him go where he could get paid.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

My beef isn't that they let him go, it's that they let him go for nothing. Somehow the Pats parlay vets into high picks. Why shouldn't we?

[steelz09]

Can't see that releasing Starks was an issue. By all accounts he was unfit to play when they cut him. We put in plan B, which didn't work (in large part due to injuries). Then we got Starks back (at a reduced cap hit?) when he was fit to play again. In that season we went 12-4.

Hard to argue that cutting Starks was some huge mistake. Especially when every other team took a pass on him.

It's not hard to argue that at all. Colon's injury had nothing to do w/ the Starks situation. Gilbert was NOT in the cards to play LT as a rookie either. "Plan B" (J. Scott) as you call it was a poor, poor plan. Starks should get half of Tomlin's salary for last year for saving his butt from looking like a complete fool. In fact, he still looks like a fool for having such a poor backup plan. Just about as poor as our FS, NT, and OG situation.

Are you really criticizing him for releasing Porter? You are really reaching. Porter was not too happy with his contract and his play was on the decline. He got his sacks but he was not that good of an overall linebacker when he left the Steelers. That was very astute to release Porter when he did.

Worilds still has some upside. The entire story is not written on his career. You can jump on Tomlin for that call right now, but in the next few years, you might not look that great.

Worlids still has upside?!?! Wow, thats a relief.... My goodness, if he doesn't have any more upside then our OLB situation is poor.

[feltdizz]

I'd be curious to know if Harrison and Haggans combined cost what Porter did that year. I'm sure they figured that the rooks could sit behind vets and learn. This seems like good management to me. I recall Joey being loud (no!) about getting paid, so they let him go where he could get paid.

Joey was real loud about it on NFL Network about wanting a new contract.

Didn't Cowher coax him into not holding out?

[Northern_Blitz]

It's not hard to argue that at all. Colon's injury had nothing to do w/ the Starks situation. Gilbert was NOT in the cards to play LT as a rookie either. "Plan B" (J. Scott) as you call it was a poor, poor plan. Starks should get half of Tomlin's salary for last year for saving his butt from looking like a complete fool. In fact, he still looks like a fool for having such a poor backup plan. Just about as poor as our FS, NT, and OG situation.

Starks was judged by 32 teams (including Arizona!) not to be fit to play in the NFL. You think if other teams thought he was able to play LT at a high level that he would have been on the street? Basically, we cut him until he got healthy and in shape and signed him when he was ready to play again. How many crappy cast-offs have the Cardinals signed since Whiz went there? How would having him on the roster when he couldn't play have helped the Steelers last year?

If anything, that's shrewd management because (1) we weren't paying him when he wasn't fit to play and (2) we sent a message that you are judged based on your current performance, not your past contributions or who your friends are.

[steelz09]

Starks was judged by 32 teams (including Arizona!) not to be fit to play in the NFL. You think if other teams thought he was able to play LT at a high level that he would have been on the street? Basically, we cut him until he got healthy and in shape and signed him when he was ready to play again. How many crappy cast-offs have the Cardinals signed since Whiz went there? How would having him on the roster when he couldn't play have helped the Steelers last year?

If anything, that's shrewd management because (1) we weren't paying him when he wasn't fit to play and (2) we sent a message that you are judged based on your current performance, not your past contributions or who your friends are.

Tomlin got lucky that Starks was still available.

Oh and btw.... Hampton wasn't "fit" to play a few years back but Tomlin didn't cut him... he just put him on the PUP list and made him lose weight at camp. Rumor has it, Hampton weighed close to 400 lbs and he is MUCH MUCH shorter than Starks.

Bottom line is, Tomln thought J. Scott could replace Starks' production and he let Starks walk. Starks saved Tomlin's @$$ and probably deserved to be offensive MVP last year. Without Starks, our QB would have been in a bodybag by week 3, WR's would've had poor production and this team's overall record would have been sub .500.

[Northern_Blitz]

Bottom line is, Tomln thought J. Scott could replace Starks' production and he let Starks walk. Starks saved Tomlin's @$$ and probably deserved to be offensive MVP last year. Without Starks, our QB would have been in a bodybag by week 3, WR's would've had poor production and this team's overall record would have been sub .500.

I guess I disagree. The fact that no other team wanted him (he had even worked out a couple times IIRC) tells me that he wasn't ready to play until around the time we picked him up. It's important to remember that he wasn't just out of shape, but coming back from a neck injury which is likely one of the reasons the Steelers (and other teams) were leery.

We brought Max back on Oct 5 ([URL]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/05/steelers-bring-back-max-starks/[/URL]). Before that, we had lost 2 games.

I can't see how having Max on the field is worth 29 points, so I'm going to say that he doesn't help us win week 1 against the Ravens.

Maybe having Max against the Texans puts us in the Win column there (we lost by 7), but I'm not convinced that he's worth an extra 7 points if he's not at 100%.

If we didn't cut Max, but put him on the PUP at the beginning of the year, then he can't practice or play for 6 weeks so he'd miss the Texans game and maybe more. So, cutting him worked out better than putting him on the PUP. Again, I think cutting Starks was a good move. Would he have been as motivated to prove himself if he wasn't on the street?

[steelz09]

If we didn't cut Max, but put him on the PUP at the beginning of the year, then he can't practice or play for 6 weeks so he'd miss the Texans game and maybe more. So, cutting him worked out better than putting him on the PUP. Again, I think cutting Starks was a good move. Would he have been as motivated to prove himself if he wasn't on the street?

Hampton was put on the PUP by Tomlin because of his weight issues and he didn't lose 6 weeks. Why would Starks lose 6 weeks?

[URL]http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/08210/900038-66.stm[/URL]

And btw, no other team wanted James Harrisons either (on multiple occasions) but he turned out ok.

I can't imagine what last year would have looked like without Starks returning. Did you not watch the 2 games w/ J. Scott starting?

And I was a fan of J. Scott because I thought he would step up. I don't know if it was nerves or just talent but he was absolutely terrible the 1st 2 games. TERRIBLE. I swear you could have placed 2 lawn chairs in place of J. Scott and the defenders would have had a more difficult time.

[feltdizz]

Starks didn't save Tomlin's backside... we saved money and Starks got back into form. Starks wasn't ready for the start of the season.

[steelz09]

He didn't? Hahah

Tomlin's extension would be in jeopardy if it wasn't for Starks. Last year with J. Scott as our starting LT = sub .500 record.

[Sugar]

He didn't? Hahah

Tomlin's extension would be in jeopardy if it wasn't for Starks. Last year with J. Scott as our starting LT = sub .500 record.

Even if I accepted the idea that they would have had a sub .500 record without Starks (which I don't), why would that have put Tomlins extension in jeopardy? He's been to two SB's in the short time he's been here and had winning records other years. I don't think one losing season puts him on the hot seat. Do you?

[RuthlessBurgher]

Even if I accepted the idea that they would have had a sub .500 record without Starks (which I don't), why would that have put Tomlins extension in jeopardy? He's been to two SB's in the short time he's been here and had winning records other years. I don't think one losing season puts him on the hot seat. Do you?

Considering they kept Cowher through 3 consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs (with only 1 Super Bowl appearance and no championships on his resume at that point in his coaching career), I'd think not.

[steelz09]

Even if I accepted the idea that they would have had a sub .500 record without Starks (which I don't), why would that have put Tomlins extension in jeopardy? He's been to two SB's in the short time he's been here and had winning records other years. I don't think one losing season puts him on the hot seat. Do you?

With the Cowher and Colbert team... oops.. did I say that

Now, that the team is aging... we're seeing this team starting to sink like a ship starting to take on water.... very very slowly. Are we replacing players... yeah, kinda.... but those players are not producing at the same level as the players they were meant to replace.

[SteelAddicted]

I would say that Timmons, Hood, and Heyward have performed less than stellar. Timmons had 1 decent season but.... we could have drafted Beasley.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

I would say that Timmons, Hood, and Heyward have performed less than stellar. Timmons had 1 decent season but.... we could have drafted Beasley.

Throw in dropping a 1st round pick on Mendenhall.....what a waste of a pick.....