The only thing that is a head scratcher is Lewis

[jj28west]

You invest the time to mentor him to develop in the Defensive system both mentally and physically and now you are going to reap the benefits of the net payback or return on investment.

He was not asking for unreasonable money to be locked in

You do not even offer him a negotiation session.

Of course I am not in the meetings and practices but this philosophy will begin to eat away at the Defensive approach where you could afford to have a guy to not to start for a couple of years.

can someone talk some sense to me about this move?

[Slapstick]

Bad timing. The Steelers felt as though their cap situation did not allow for Lewis...

[flippy]

Maybe there's more to Lewis than we all know.

Up until this past season, I thought Lewis was destined to be worse than Curtis Brown. He wasn't good at all until last season. And he came in predicting he'd be the best CB in his class. Perhaps he was always and still is a bit of a headcase? Maybe he's a bad presence in the locker room? Maybe he's just another bad apple like his buddy Wally and we didn't want him at any cost as a result?

I think there must be more to it than any fans may ever know.

[birtikidis]

it wasn't long ago that he was busting out glass in visiting locker rooms because he had a bad game.

[Eich]

I tend to agree that there's more to the Lewis story than we really know. If the Steelers really wanted him, they would've gotten it done.... last year or this year.

Even with all our losses, I still think that Defense will be the least of our worries this season. We need to get a lot more efficient scoring points on offense. And IMO, there's nothing more important needed than a healthy and effective Offensive Line for us to accomplish that.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Up until his success in 2012, the question was never his ability. He had been given several opportunities and often messed up due to lack of maturity. I can't believe that this was strictly a salary cap move since they made no effort to retain this guy. If it was cap related then they would have at least spoken to him. I wanted him back too, but the complete lack of an attempt IMO is telling.

[Steelhere10]

Not a head scratcher to me, three years to start, couldn't beat out the beloved Gay and then have a decent not good season.
The two had scratcher to me are
Recycling Foote again and recycling DJ, instead of these nickel and dime signings they could at least bring in one decent signing.

[phillyesq]

I've read that Lewis did give the Saints a discount and did turn down more lucrative offers elsewhere. So perhaps he was looking for more than what the Steelers would pay.

I still think losing Lewis is a step back for 2013 and moving forward. This year, the Steelers are essentially swapping Lewis for Gay. Blech. If his price for the Steelers was significantly higher than what he agreed to with the Saints, then I understand this a bit better. But if he would have signed in Pittsburgh for the same price was what he gave the Saints, this makes much less sense.

[Eich]

I've read that Lewis did give the Saints a discount and did turn down more lucrative offers elsewhere. So perhaps he was looking for more than what the Steelers would pay.

I still think losing Lewis is a step back for 2013 and moving forward. This year, the Steelers are essentially swapping Lewis for Gay. Blech. If his price for the Steelers was significantly higher than what he agreed to with the Saints, then I understand this a bit better. But if he would have signed in Pittsburgh for the same price was what he gave the Saints, this makes much less sense.

Did we swap Lewis for Gay? Or did the Steelers figure that Cortez could do just as good a job as Lewis.

I think Gay is more for insurance.

[phillyesq]

Did we swap Lewis for Gay? Or did the Steelers figure that Cortez could do just as good a job as Lewis.

I think Gay is more for insurance.

The nickel back plays a lot for the Steelers - Allen logged more snaps than Casey Hampton last year.

I look at the top three of Ike-Lewis-Allen being replaced by Ike-Allen-Gay. So I guess you could say that Allen replaced Lewis (and I think he'll be just fine) and Gay replaced Allen, but either way, Willie Gay is back in the mix, and that is a step back.

[Slapstick]

Gay is a fine nickel corner....

If Ike or Cortez are injured, I won't be enthused, but Gay works well as the 5th DB...

[steelz09]

Not a head scratcher to me, three years to start, couldn't beat out the beloved Gay and then have a decent not good season.
The two had scratcher to me are
Recycling Foote again and recycling DJ, instead of these nickel and dime signings they could at least bring in one decent signing.

How long did Ike take to 'develop'? How many times did he get benched by Cowher?

Lack of turnovers? How about that "turnover machine" Ike Taylor (sarcasm) that will be 33.5 by the start of the season and is due over 9 million? Taylor isn't worth close to that money and people want to complain about keeping Lewis for 3.5 million this year? Cut Ike and signing Lewis would have been close to a wash in regards to the salary cap this year. Next year, it would have freed up ~10.5 million in an overinflated Ike Taylor salary.

Bottom line.... a terrible front office decision. You could have locked up Lewis this year and Allen in the future (probably next year) which would have been a solid #1 and #2 for years to come.

[Slapstick]

Not complaining...

But, the dead money of Ike Taylor plus the contract of Lewis, would not be, in my opinion, worth it...

Taylor is at least consistent...Lewis has less of a track record than Taylor...

[SteelerOfDeVille]

Bad timing. The Steelers felt as though their cap situation did not allow for Lewis...

not true... as we see, they just made a play for jake long - they can adjust contracts to make the cap work... methinks that THEY think losing him isn't a big deal... that the guy right behind him was pretty dang close... and because of that, they let him go.

[Slapstick]

not true... as we see, they just made a play for jake long - they can adjust contracts to make the cap work... methinks that THEY think losing him isn't a big deal... that the guy right behind him was pretty dang close... and because of that, they let him go.

I can make a play for Kate Upton....that doesn't mean that I have any delusions of being successful...