SteelCityKid5
03-04-2010, 09:01 AM
Ed: Steelers Miss Out on Palko, May Lose Gay (http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5954:ed-steelers-miss-out-on-palko-may-lose-gay&catid=58:steelers&Itemid=155)
(http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php?view=article&catid=58%3Asteelers&id=5954%3Aed-steelers-miss-out-on-palko-may-lose-gay&tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=&option=com_content&Itemid=155)
Written by Ed Bouchette (http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php?option=com_community&view=profile&userid=71&Itemid=174) Thursday, March 04, 2010 08:39 AM
Good morning,
Before I get into the restricted free agents, I want to tell you that the Steelers were interested in signing former Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko but he instead signed with the Kansas City Chiefs this week. Palko, signed late last season after Charlie Batch’s wrist injury, wanted to sign with the Steelers except he wanted a chance to compete for the No. 3 job. He knew if they re-signed Batch, he would not win the No. 3 job unless someone got hurt in training camp. Dennis Dixon is going nowhere.
The Steelers would not promise Palko they would not re-sign Batch, so he signed with the Chiefs. Batch becomes an unrestricted free agent Friday but fully expects the Steelers will re-sign him.
Now, on with the restricted free agents.
The Steelers spoke volumes with their four tenders. They want to keep tackle Willie Colon and punter Daniel Sepulveda and they would love for someone to sign tight end Matt Spaeth and cornerback William Gay.
They likely would put in a good word for Spaeth and Gay if another team called for a reference. They would take a third-round pick for Spaeth and a fifth-rounder for Gay. And they figure no one will give up a fourth-rounder for Sepulveda, who has been an average punter for them.
But, as you know, I’d have second thoughts about letting Gay go. They saw something in him last year to allow Bryant McFadden to get loose in free agency. Gay and McFadden split the left cornerback position during the 2008 Super Bowl year.
Gay was terrible last season; everyone knows that. But do you give up on a guy after one season as a starter when you thought he performed well enough the year previously? Perhaps giving him a fifth-round tender is not really giving up on him, but let’s look at it from another perspective. They were willing to use draft picks in the fourth and sixth rounds to draft a punter, Sepulveda. Why wouldn’t another team give them a fifth-round draft choice to sign Gay?
Cornerbacks are hard to find and I believe Gay could at least play a nickel cornerback and that would be worth a fifth-round draft pick. Also, at the low tender of $1.101,000 they issued to all but Colon, that’s not bad for a fourth-year cornerback. Gay is precisely the kind of player the Steelers would look for in free agency, so why wouldn’t someone else?
The Steelers now face the prospect of losing two of their four starters from their secondary, plus their No. 5 or 6 man, Deshea Townsend. Unless free safety Ryan Clark knuckles under and takes a much lower deal than he wanted by tonight, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
Many of you may be saying good to all three of those losses and that it’s time to move on. I would agree that you have to know when to fold ‘em, but I think it might be too many and the one I would have kept is William Gay. They could have put the next tender on him at $1,684,000; a team would have to give up a second-round pick for that one, and I believe that would have guaranteed Gay would remain with the Steelers this season. But the Steelers obviously felt that he was not worth it for under $600,000 more. That is what tells you they must hope someone else signs him.
Spaeth was a no-brainer unless they just did not care and issued him nothing. How they have used him has been the surprise. He caught a 13-yard touchdown pass in his second game as a rookie in 2007 and you figured they got exactly what they said they did when they drafted him in the third round from Minnesota – a huge 6-foot-7 receiving target for Ben Roethlisberger who would team with Heath Miller to give them a dynamic pass-catching duo at the position.
Instead, Spaeth has been virtually ignored as a receiver. He caught only four more passes as a rookie, although two went for touchdowns. He caught 13 passes in 2008 but dropped back to five last season. Yet he has started a slew of games and plays often because the Steelers use two tight ends so much and mainly use him to block.
I’ve said before, I do not understand that philosophy with him but that is what they do. It’s apparent the Steelers prefer him as a blocker rather than a receiver. Here’s a news flash: Some other team might see this tall tight end as just the right compliment to their passing game and sign him, not as a blocker but as a receiver.
It’s not a stretch. Again, he’s the kind of player the Steelers might look for in free agency, a younger player who has talent that is not being used properly by his team. Remember Mike Vrabel? The Steelers could not find a spot for him and he signed as a free agent with the New England Patriots, who found all kinds of positions for the linebacker who then flourished.
A third-round pick might be a tad high for Spaeth, though. If someone does sign him, you can bet it’s not to bring him in to block.
(http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php?view=article&catid=58%3Asteelers&id=5954%3Aed-steelers-miss-out-on-palko-may-lose-gay&tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=&option=com_content&Itemid=155)
Written by Ed Bouchette (http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php?option=com_community&view=profile&userid=71&Itemid=174) Thursday, March 04, 2010 08:39 AM
Good morning,
Before I get into the restricted free agents, I want to tell you that the Steelers were interested in signing former Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko but he instead signed with the Kansas City Chiefs this week. Palko, signed late last season after Charlie Batch’s wrist injury, wanted to sign with the Steelers except he wanted a chance to compete for the No. 3 job. He knew if they re-signed Batch, he would not win the No. 3 job unless someone got hurt in training camp. Dennis Dixon is going nowhere.
The Steelers would not promise Palko they would not re-sign Batch, so he signed with the Chiefs. Batch becomes an unrestricted free agent Friday but fully expects the Steelers will re-sign him.
Now, on with the restricted free agents.
The Steelers spoke volumes with their four tenders. They want to keep tackle Willie Colon and punter Daniel Sepulveda and they would love for someone to sign tight end Matt Spaeth and cornerback William Gay.
They likely would put in a good word for Spaeth and Gay if another team called for a reference. They would take a third-round pick for Spaeth and a fifth-rounder for Gay. And they figure no one will give up a fourth-rounder for Sepulveda, who has been an average punter for them.
But, as you know, I’d have second thoughts about letting Gay go. They saw something in him last year to allow Bryant McFadden to get loose in free agency. Gay and McFadden split the left cornerback position during the 2008 Super Bowl year.
Gay was terrible last season; everyone knows that. But do you give up on a guy after one season as a starter when you thought he performed well enough the year previously? Perhaps giving him a fifth-round tender is not really giving up on him, but let’s look at it from another perspective. They were willing to use draft picks in the fourth and sixth rounds to draft a punter, Sepulveda. Why wouldn’t another team give them a fifth-round draft choice to sign Gay?
Cornerbacks are hard to find and I believe Gay could at least play a nickel cornerback and that would be worth a fifth-round draft pick. Also, at the low tender of $1.101,000 they issued to all but Colon, that’s not bad for a fourth-year cornerback. Gay is precisely the kind of player the Steelers would look for in free agency, so why wouldn’t someone else?
The Steelers now face the prospect of losing two of their four starters from their secondary, plus their No. 5 or 6 man, Deshea Townsend. Unless free safety Ryan Clark knuckles under and takes a much lower deal than he wanted by tonight, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
Many of you may be saying good to all three of those losses and that it’s time to move on. I would agree that you have to know when to fold ‘em, but I think it might be too many and the one I would have kept is William Gay. They could have put the next tender on him at $1,684,000; a team would have to give up a second-round pick for that one, and I believe that would have guaranteed Gay would remain with the Steelers this season. But the Steelers obviously felt that he was not worth it for under $600,000 more. That is what tells you they must hope someone else signs him.
Spaeth was a no-brainer unless they just did not care and issued him nothing. How they have used him has been the surprise. He caught a 13-yard touchdown pass in his second game as a rookie in 2007 and you figured they got exactly what they said they did when they drafted him in the third round from Minnesota – a huge 6-foot-7 receiving target for Ben Roethlisberger who would team with Heath Miller to give them a dynamic pass-catching duo at the position.
Instead, Spaeth has been virtually ignored as a receiver. He caught only four more passes as a rookie, although two went for touchdowns. He caught 13 passes in 2008 but dropped back to five last season. Yet he has started a slew of games and plays often because the Steelers use two tight ends so much and mainly use him to block.
I’ve said before, I do not understand that philosophy with him but that is what they do. It’s apparent the Steelers prefer him as a blocker rather than a receiver. Here’s a news flash: Some other team might see this tall tight end as just the right compliment to their passing game and sign him, not as a blocker but as a receiver.
It’s not a stretch. Again, he’s the kind of player the Steelers might look for in free agency, a younger player who has talent that is not being used properly by his team. Remember Mike Vrabel? The Steelers could not find a spot for him and he signed as a free agent with the New England Patriots, who found all kinds of positions for the linebacker who then flourished.
A third-round pick might be a tad high for Spaeth, though. If someone does sign him, you can bet it’s not to bring him in to block.