James Harrison might be released by Steelers

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

Harrison accumulated 4 sacks in 4 years with 8 starts before he became a full time starter in 2007 after Porter's release. The year before Porter's release, he posted 20 tackles & 0 sacks. If you are looking for a comparison, Worilds accumulated 10 sacks in 3 years with 10 starts. Last year, Worilds posted 27 tackles & 5 sacks. Harrison was 29 when he became a full time starter. If Worilds starts next year full time he will be 25.

[supersteeler]

There is more responsibility playing OLB in the Steelers defense than justs sacks like making plays against the run and pass coverage. James when healthy could do well in all three phases.
Worlids might be good in the sack game but struggles everywhere else, its the reason the Steelers are still trying to keep James here otherwise they would just cut him and not even discuss a contract.
The Steelers will be looking for an OLB in the draft especially if James leaves, that tells me they have limited confidence in Worlids and not much at all with Carter.

[pfelix73]

My prediction.... Harrison will remain a Steeler and won't be cut...

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

There is more responsibility playing OLB in the Steelers defense than justs sacks like making plays against the run and pass coverage. James when healthy could do well in all three phases.
Worlids might be good in the sack game but struggles everywhere else, its the reason the Steelers are still trying to keep James here otherwise they would just cut him and not even discuss a contract.
The Steelers will be looking for an OLB in the draft especially if James leaves, that tells me they have limited confidence in Worlids and not much at all with Carter.

First I want to say, I'm not grinding on you supersteeler...This is directed at many posts. Of course there are more responsibilities at OLB in a 3-4. That is also the reason it is difficult to convert and project a 4-3 DE to OLB because he now has to cover as well as rush the passer & defend against the run. I agree 110%...Harrison was great at all three phases. He no longer is and that is why the Steelers are asking him to take a pay cut. Worilds has shown the ability to excel in all of those areas and he has had his struggles. But NOBODY gets better without game minutes.

I keep hearing the "other responsibilities" angle. Everyone take a breath and understand the scheme. I will try and simplify things. Nobody is going to play 3-4 OLB because they are great against the run. Nobody is going to play 3-4 OLB because they are great in coverage. You will be viewed as a 3-4 OLB because you can set the edge and rush the passer. That is why they also look at 4-3 DE to convert...They can get to the QB. That presence and ability is what impacts an OC's gameplan. You don't see anyone trying to turn a MLB into a 3-4 OLB. You don't see anyone trying to turn a SAM or WIL into a 3-4 OLB. Everyone in the Steelers long line of 3-4 OLB have exceled at getting to the QB...First. Out of all of them, some were strong or weak in the other areas and they had to get better. Every single one of us Steelers fans have seen the example. A LB who is ranked up at the top in the league with defending against the run, tackling, pursuit, and coverage. Moves to 3-4 OLB....Just an average player who was a non factor. Timmons time at OLB.

As far as the reasoning about trying to keep Harrison. It has nothing to do about confidence in who is behind him. They made a large investment in him years back. He still has value to the Steelers. You get him to take a signficiant paycut. He won't be in the plans past this year. You cut his minutes and get Worilds on the field. This accomplishes many things. You get to see what Worilds has before he is due his next contract. He needs significant minutes. By keeping Harrison's snap counts down you keep his body fresh for the end of the year & hopefully post season. That is the struggles & downfall of a 35 year old. Keeping Harrison one more year also creates signficant depth at OLB. Add in the leadership of the D & mentor to Worilds and other young OLBs. Last, helps your draft strategy. Now, maybe you don't look inside the 1st two rounds and address other areas where the choices will see the field sooner.

No matter what happens with Harrison they will be looking in the draft. If he stays, Harrison will be gone in 2014. If you slot Worilds as his replacement you need depth. More importantly, you need someone to constantly push Woodley & whomever is the starter. Competition always makes a team better & you could never have enough pass rushers. If that is the plans, you have Carter & Robinson sitting behind them so adding one will push them. Like I said, if Harrison stays, you add a later round and maybe he pushes Carter or Robinson off the 53. One position on a 3-4 team that you need a constant push & depth it is at OLB. Those "hybrid" players are a unique animals and they flourish at different rates. I personally feel that moment may be now for Worilds given Harrison's dip in production. I think at worst it is a parallel move with the arrow pointing up. Many will disagree but I believe my eyes not my heart.

[BigRob]

Your forgetting one thing. Harrison showed some serious potential when he got playing time making it a much more comfortable decision to let Peezy walk.

Worilds improved a lot but I don't know if he's shown enough for the franchise to think he's a legit ROLB starter. He's also had his fair share of injuries in very limited playing opportunities.

I love when this gets brought up.

Do you realize Harrison only started one game before we cut porter? Go look at Harrison's stats and career production prior to 2007. Then compare it to Worilds.

Worilds actually has a larger body of work compared to James in 2007. James Harrison was a pretty big unknown in 2007. When we cut Porter in 2006, people crawled out of the wood work with hate about the move.

Everyone like James Harrison because he had one good start in 2004 against CLE, an interception in 2005 against SD, and body slammed a Browns fan in 2006.

James had one start on his resume prior to 2007. It is revisionist history to say we knew what we had in James Harrison when we let Porter go.

Does anyone remember we had Clark Haggans to pair with James Harrison in 2007?

I'll take Worilds and Woodley over Clark Haggans any day of the week.

[Sugar]

You're making an assumption there ("still better than almost every other 3/4 OLB in the NFL"). You are assuming that his slight uptick in production toward the end of the year wasn't circumstantial. The rest of the year, he was slow and plodding.

Put it this way:
In '98, Lloyd was cut--the club was right in letting him go
In '08, Peezy was jettisoned--the club made the right choice
This year, it's Harrison--I'm pretty sure the writing is on the wall.

Explain what you mean by "circumstantial?" In my view, the circumstances were football games where he was getting healthy after knee surgery. The D played better toward the end of the year. Maybe that had nothing to do with him, but from what it looked, he was the primary driver of that.

Again, just because the team got lucky after Porter or even Lloyd, doesn't mean they get lucky again. Let's hope they do.

[BigRob]

Explain what you mean by "circumstantial?" In my view, the circumstances were football games where he was getting healthy after knee surgery. The D played better toward the end of the year. Maybe that had nothing to do with him, but from what it looked, he was the primary driver of that.

Again, just because the team got lucky after Porter or even Lloyd, doesn't mean they get lucky again. Let's hope they do.

Your giving short shrift to Timmons, Cortez Allen, and Keenan Lewis as the reason for the improvement. Allen and Lewis played very well at the end of the season.

[lloydroid]

The drafting and personnel decisions over the past 5+ years has been very suspect.

No it hasn't. Pgh is pimp at drafting. Just ask them, they will arrogantly tell you.

[BigRob]

No it hasn't. Pgh is pimp at drafting. Just ask them, they will arrogantly tell you.

Let's do the math. Last five years...two Super Bowl appearances. Yep, they have no reason to be confident.

[Sugar]

Your giving short shrift to Timmons, Cortez Allen, and Keenan Lewis as the reason for the improvement. Allen and Lewis played very well at the end of the season.

That is not my intention. They had been playing well. As Deebo got healthier it appeared that they were freed up to be even stronger.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

The defense success last year was in large part because of the CB play. When you have 3 starting caliber CBs on the field....Good things happen. I keep hearing as he got better & healthy the defense got better. So when was he healthy? Would you say by week 11, 12, & 13 when he posted a sack in each of those games including a 7 TTs 1 SK 1 FF aginst the Ravens in week 13? 24 TT 3 SK 1 FF over three games....That looks healthy doesn't it? 7-5 after they beat the Ravens...Very much alive in must win playoff mode. So over the next three games (2 home & 1 away) Harrison recorded 10 TT 1 SK 1 FF....Total in three loses. Again, his only sack was a sack against the Bengals late in the 4th for 0 yards when a shogun snap was bad and Dalton ran to the LOS to keep them in FG range.

When was he healthy? The meter went up and then fell back down in the red. It did that because a 35 year old with knee and back injuries just can't go for a whole season at the level needed to be productive. The Steelers aren't going to pay him his biggest contract year when he is not playing anywhere close to his contract. That pattern isn't going to get better over the next year and moving forward. As much as we would all hope, We will never see the James Harrison difference maker. He left the building in 2011...He won't be coming back. Saying it, admitting it, or seeing it isn't disrespecting Harrison. I would bow down to the great Harrison if I stood in front of him and give thanks to the memories and what he meant to the Steelers. But my focus and heart always is in the future...Not the past.

[Oviedo]

There is more responsibility playing OLB in the Steelers defense than justs sacks like making plays against the run and pass coverage. James when healthy could do well in all three phases.
Worlids might be good in the sack game but struggles everywhere else, its the reason the Steelers are still trying to keep James here otherwise they would just cut him and not even discuss a contract.
The Steelers will be looking for an OLB in the draft especially if James leaves, that tells me they have limited confidence in Worlids and not much at all with Carter.

Given that we are near a two decade low for the number of sacks that we are getting then excuse me if I prioritize that skillset for a player in the position that is designed in this defense to get the sacks.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Let's do the math. Last five years...two Super Bowl appearances. Yep, they have no reason to be confident.

The core of those teams was drafted much longer than 5 years ago and are now old and oft injured. Prior to the past 5 years, how many players did the Steelers let walk via free agency, then re-sign because they had no able replacement? How many players did they sign that were at or near 30 years old and had to because they had no replacements? They couldn't groom a FS when Hope left and had nobody ready to take over for him so had to go out in FA and get one. Who do they have groomed to replace Harrison, Foote, Troy, Clark? Look at their RB situation. Homeristic viewpoints like your statement are humorous.

[NorthCoast]

Your forgetting one thing. Harrison showed some serious potential when he got playing time making it a much more comfortable decision to let Peezy walk.

Worilds improved a lot but I don't know if he's shown enough for the franchise to think he's a legit ROLB starter. He's also had his fair share of injuries in very limited playing opportunities.

The fact that the Steelers are willing to demand a serious cut of Harrison's pay should tell you they feel comfortable with Worilds if Harrison walks. As has been said many times, the Steelers don't negotiate willy-nilly, they always have a plan and a backup plan.

[JUST-PLAIN-NASTY]

You very RARELY see a team ask player to take a pay cut and they remain with the team if they do not. So when that happens...Things are put in motion. I don't not think the Steelers made this request without a plan in place. I also do not think they had any belief that the "plan" involved a player via the draft for 2013. They approached Harrison with this request because they could. Take that information and draw your conclusion.