Steelers look for Porter's replacement
Quote:
Steelers look for Porter's replacement
Monday, March 05, 2007
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Steelers take their first steps to try to replace Joey Porter when they have a look at the guy who was displaced in New England by Adalius Thomas.
Tully Banta-Cain, a 26-year-old outside linebacker with the Patriots, will visit the Steelers on Wednesday. He played four years with New England and had 5.5 sacks for them last season, his first as a starter.
The Patriots signed Thomas, considered the top free agent outside linebacker after his contract expired with Baltimore, over the weekend.
The Steelers today entertained their first player in free agency when former Pitt punter Andy Lee paid a visit to their facility on the South Side. Lee is a restricted free agent with the San Francisco 49ers. If the Steelers signed him, the 49ers would have the right to match the contract; if they declined to match, the Steelers would have to give them a sixth-round draft choice in return.
The Steelers released Porter, who had seven sacks last season, last Thursday before a $1 million roster bonus was due him.
Post-Gazette
This guy is a downgrade from Porter!
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Originally Posted by
Friday133
This guy from the Patriots sounds interesting. I like the fact the team is starting to look at FA's sooner rather than later.
We let Porter go because his performance had slid from what we were used to in previous seasons. Based on what he did this past season it was not worth bumping his salary up to retain him. Look up Tully Banta-Cain's stats and Porters beat his across the board! We can do better in the draft or with players we already have (James Harrison). If Porters stats from this past year warranted a pink slip it would be hard to convince fans that hiring someone else with inferior stats would be an improvement in our defense!
We want a better player for less money. Upgrade in performance and downgrade in cost. Cain's performance from last year does not make him an option in my mind! :nono:
INDIVIDUAL DEFENSE
PLAYER TCKL SOLO ASST SCK FUM REC FF
Joey Porter 55 40 15 7.0 0 0
Tully Banta-Cain 34 24 10 5.5 0 1
Gotta ask yourself don't you think a rookie OLB could play better than Cain? I would rather take my chances with Anthony Spencer or Jarvis Moss or James Harrison. All three would be better than Banta!!!!
Let me see....nope still doesn't add up!
New England parts with Banta-Cain because they get a serious upgrade in Adalius Thomas (Pro-bowler) = team improved
Steelers pick up New England trash that isn't nearly as good as what we just discarded with Porter = team downgrade
What are there about 8 teams interested in Porter? The only teams looking at Banta-Cain are the dollar store shoppers!
When we let Joey go I thought it was because we were looking for an upgrade in player ability. You know how teams try to improve upon what they did last year by upgrading players at certain positions perceived to be weaknesses? Porter to Banta-Cain is not an upgrade. While there might be substantial savings to be had in making that swap.......remember the phrase "You get what you pay for"! :scratch:
