If you believe in rumors....

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

If Harrison was playing ILB or OLB in a 4-3, he would be worth keeping under 2 mil. He is not worth keeping for 10 mil as a 3-4 OLB. His play is worth under 2 mil as an OLB in a 3-4 because he may see the bench in 2013. Sorry...He is a favorite but the wheels have come off. There is no way they could fix his contract status so he will be a cut or he "may" listen to the Steelers when they tell him he is done & retire. Harrison & Hampton gave the Steelers a handful of plays where they looked like they were still in the glory. But that amount of plays is nothing to their snap counts.

[RuthlessBurgher]

where's the rumor that they cut Colon and Hampton? Two that are more worthy of ending their Steeler careers. While typing this, Colon held down the caps lock and hampton ate the mouse. Oops, sorry.

Hampton's contract is up. He's an unrestricted free agent who can sign anywhere he wants as soon as the free agent signing period begins this offseason.

[phillyesq]

I know someone that hangs out with Starks and he says Tomlin never liked him. I think Tomlin has a huge ego. Max never needed football to be rich and successful as he is a very smart person. Was voted young mortician of the year for the state of Florida as a teenager. Maybe Tomlin wants to feel intellectually superior to the players and having a guy around that can use bigger words than him is a dent to his ego.

That's interesting. I had always heard that there was a split between coaching staff and the FO on Starks (which seemed apparent from the way he was signed/used) but I was under the impression that it was BA that didn't like him, not Tomlin.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

If Harrison was playing ILB or OLB in a 4-3, he would be worth keeping under 2 mil. He is not worth keeping for 10 mil as a 3-4 OLB. His play is worth under 2 mil as an OLB in a 3-4 because he may see the bench in 2013. Sorry...He is a favorite but the wheels have come off. There is no way they could fix his contract status so he will be a cut or he "may" listen to the Steelers when they tell him he is done & retire. Harrison & Hampton gave the Steelers a handful of plays where they looked like they were still in the glory. But that amount of plays is nothing to their snap counts.

Harrison was playing pretty well by the end of the season, and would be playing well enough to be a starter again next season...but not for $10 million. If he would be willing to take a pay cut, I'd keep him for another go-around.

I don't think Hampton will be back.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Starks wasn't worth the $7 million contract we were paying him a few years ago, but he's worth more than the veteran minimum deals that we've been giving him for the last couple of seasons. He's entering his 10 season in the league and is a solid vet who offers more stability than the likes of Adams or Gilbert for us, but he's not going to be a guy who is necessarily going to break the bank on the free agent market either. Offer him a reasonable short term deal that at least doubles his veteran minimum salary, and let him see if he can get more out on the open market. That about all we can do.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

I agree. Ben will lobby hard for Starks.

I'd like to see Max stay, but I'm a little tired of hearing about this team making personnel decisions based on what Ben wants. Remember one of the last guys Ben lobbied hard for? A certain penalty-machine O-lineman who can't stay healthy but takes up a considerable chunk of cap space?

Ben needs to concentrate on improving his game, and stay out of the personnel decisions.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Harrison was playing pretty well by the end of the season, and would be playing well enough to be a starter again next season...but not for $10 million. If he would be willing to take a pay cut, I'd keep him for another go-around.

I don't think Hampton will be back.

Your "pretty well" comment should be enough to understand why Harrison will be cut. Like I said, Harrison isn't playing well enough as a 3-4 OLB especially at his tag. Simply saying take a pay cut doesn't answer the question. Harrison is scheduled to make a little over 10 mil next season. Based upon vet min, past restructure, & bonuses...The cheapest he could play for is around 5 mil. Harrison would have to agree to that but more importantly...Is he worth 5 mil & could the Steelers afford that money dedicated to a 35 year old in his last year? Answer is no. Worst case scenario...You go with Worilds, Carter, or Robinson. Hopefully a high draft choice wins the spot. You take that 5 mil and keep your young talent.

[Captain Lemming]

Your "pretty well" comment should be enough to understand why Harrison will be cut. Like I said, Harrison isn't playing well enough as a 3-4 OLB especially at his tag. Simply saying take a pay cut doesn't answer the question. Harrison is scheduled to make a little over 10 mil next season. Based upon vet min, past restructure, & bonuses...The cheapest he could play for is around 5 mil. Harrison would have to agree to that but more importantly...Is he worth 5 mil & could the Steelers afford that money dedicated to a 35 year old in his last year? Answer is no. Worst case scenario...You go with Worilds, Carter, or Robinson. Hopefully a high draft choice wins the spot. You take that 5 mil and keep your young talent.

Actually he is very much worth 5 mil a year. He is STILL our best OLBer, and only Timmons can compare to a 35 year old Harrison among ALL our LBers.

When JH was out our defense was absolutely pathetic. With JH back we climbed back to number one.
He had a sack in 5 of the last seven games. Had 11 tackles in the last game of the season.

Woodley by comparison had around HALF the tackles that Harrison had.

Harrison bested Woodleys CAREER HIGH for tackles in a season where he missed September and came back slowly in October.

Aging Harrison had more total tackles (70) than ANY probowl OLBer in a season when he MISSED A MONTH.

Clay Matthews, a probowler in his prime in full health in 16 games had 43 tackles compared to Harrisons 70.

Aging injured JH is STILL the best run stopping 3/4 OLBER in this league bar none, and he closed the season with a sack in 5 of 7 games an elite pass rush level by any standard.

Were it not for the fear of injury he would be ALL the money he is scheduled to make with no pay cut.

Dude is worth more than 5 mil.....easy.

You think we got guys on the bench who can replace that when PROWBOWLERS cant do what an aging JH does routinely.

Again look at our defense at without JH. Remember what the stinkin RAIDERS looked like against us.

THAT is what you have when JH aint playin.

[papillon]

Actually he is very much worth 5 mil a year. He is STILL our best OLBer, and only Timmons can compare to a 35 year old Harrison among ALL our LBers.

When JH was out our defense was absolutely pathetic. With JH back we climbed back to number one.
He had a sack in 5 of the last seven games. Had 11 tackles in the last game of the season.

Woodley by comparison had around HALF the tackles that Harrison had.

Harrison bested Woodleys CAREER HIGH for tackles in a season where he missed September and came back slowly in October.

Aging Harrison had more total tackles (70) than ANY probowl OLBer in a season when he MISSED A MONTH.

Clay Matthews, a probowler in his prime in full health in 16 games had 43 tackles compared to Harrisons 70.

Aging injured JH is STILL the best run stopping 3/4 OLBER in this league bar none, and he closed the season with a sack in 5 of 7 games an elite pass rush level by any standard.

Were it not for the fear of injury he would be ALL the money he is scheduled to make with no pay cut.

Dude is worth more than 5 mil.....easy.

You think we got guys on the bench who can replace that when PROWBOWLERS cant do what an aging JH does routinely.

Again look at our defense at without JH. Remember what the stinkin RAIDERS looked like against us.

THAT is what you have when JH aint playin.

His replacement isn't on the roster and there isn't a college player stepping and being as productive as #92. He got on the field in about the 4th game and the defense began ist slow ascent to being very good, by the final 4 games of the year the defense had my confidence that they could produce stops when it was necessary. 92 isn't done from an effort and skill standpoint and he's going into the off season healthy for the first time in two years. 5 million, 10 million he's still the best option and worth it, unfortunately the Steelers are in cap hell and that will be the issue, not whether 92 can still play or not.

It's hard to believe the production that fans take for granted with Harrison. 70 freaking tackles (minus 4 games, that's 93 over 16 games folks) for an OLB in 34 defense and a lot of them from the backside and just pure hustle. James should stay by any means necessary, IMO.

Pappy

[D Rock]

Harrison is without a doubt worth his cap numbers from 2009-2011...~6 million
His cap number from 2012 is probably about the max of his value - ~9 million
His cap number for 2013 is gonna be ~10 million as a 35 y.o. LB. I just can't see how that one works out with the current problems the team has with the cap.



Even worse than Harrison's contract is Woodley's....13.24 million cap hit this year and he is no where near the LB'er the 35 year old Harrison will be.

[Captain Lemming]

Harrison is without a doubt worth his cap numbers from 2009-2011...~6 million
His cap number from 2012 is probably about the max of his value - ~9 million
His cap number for 2013 is gonna be ~10 million as a 35 y.o. LB. I just can't see how that one works out with the current problems the team has with the cap.

Agreed.....but the idea of not even attempting a restructure is ridiculous. 5 mil is a STEAL. I'd suggest 7 or 8 per season is fair, due to injury concerns.

[phillyesq]

Actually he is very much worth 5 mil a year. He is STILL our best OLBer, and only Timmons can compare to a 35 year old Harrison among ALL our LBers.

When JH was out our defense was absolutely pathetic. With JH back we climbed back to number one.
He had a sack in 5 of the last seven games. Had 11 tackles in the last game of the season.

Woodley by comparison had around HALF the tackles that Harrison had.

Harrison bested Woodleys CAREER HIGH for tackles in a season where he missed September and came back slowly in October.

Aging Harrison had more total tackles (70) than ANY probowl OLBer in a season when he MISSED A MONTH.

Clay Matthews, a probowler in his prime in full health in 16 games had 43 tackles compared to Harrisons 70.

Aging injured JH is STILL the best run stopping 3/4 OLBER in this league bar none, and he closed the season with a sack in 5 of 7 games an elite pass rush level by any standard.

Were it not for the fear of injury he would be ALL the money he is scheduled to make with no pay cut.

Dude is worth more than 5 mil.....easy.

You think we got guys on the bench who can replace that when PROWBOWLERS cant do what an aging JH does routinely.

Again look at our defense at without JH. Remember what the stinkin RAIDERS looked like against us.

THAT is what you have when JH aint playin.

Very well said.

We saw what happened when the Steelers tried to plug the gap with Carter - the results were abysmal.

The player who was perhaps most impacted by Harrison is Timmons. Prior to Harrison's return, Timmons averaged a mere 4 tackles per game and made no splash plays. After Harrison returned, he averaged about 7.25 tackles per game and recorded all of his sacks, INTs, etc.

Harrison not only remains a force - he elevates those around him.

The issue with Harrison is this - he's going to take up a lot of cap space regardless of whether he's kept or not. Can they replace his production for less than the dead money + salary of the replacement -- the answer to that is almost certainly no.

[D Rock]

Agreed.....but the idea of not even attempting a restructure is ridiculous. 5 mil is a STEAL. I'd suggest 7 or 8 per season is fair, due to injury concerns.

That's not a realistic option for Harrison because he only has 2 years left on his contract. [url]http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers/james-harrison/[/url]

To restructure him this year you have to take some base salary and turn it into bonus between this year and next year. If you do that then you ensure yourself even more cap problems next year when you have no choice but to keep him on the roster or cut him and take all of that money you just restructured from 2012 and eat it as dead money.

I'd say you either make the choice now and cut him and suffer the consequences of worse play, or keep him at his full value this year and probably cut him with minimal dead money next year. Neither one seems like a particularly good option.

[Oviedo]

Harrison is without a doubt worth his cap numbers from 2009-2011...~6 million
His cap number from 2012 is probably about the max of his value - ~9 million
His cap number for 2013 is gonna be ~10 million as a 35 y.o. LB. I just can't see how that one works out with the current problems the team has with the cap.



Even worse than Harrison's contract is Woodley's....13.24 million cap hit this year and he is no where near the LB'er the 35 year old Harrison will be.

That is exactly why we are in the cap mess we are in. We have done everything on earth to keep a defense together in a league that more and more is all about the offense.

This is why I constantly harp about how we can no longer afford to have defensive player take a two year train up period. We need to have a defense they can step into and contribute right away because we may not be able to keep everyone we want to keep for their second contracts. The numbers just won't work and the system is unsustainable to get minimal production for two years out of a player when they are on three year contracts.

[lloydroid]

where's the rumor that they cut Colon and Hampton? Two that are more worthy of ending their Steeler careers. While typing this, Colon held down the caps lock and hampton ate the mouse. Oops, sorry.

hahahahah