Review #2 of Stillers' Moves in Free Agency (Mar. 14th, 2004)
This is a follow-on article to my article last week
regarding the Stillers' moves in free agency thus far.�
Since that article, the Stillers have made the following
moves:
- Signed RB Duce Staley.�
The Deuce was inked to a five-year, $14 million contract
this past week.� I like Staley as a
person and a football player.� Furthermore,
he'll bring versatility to the RB spot, enough so that the Stillers don't have
to wave the bright neon banner that screams, "We've just inserted our 3rd
down back, so look out for the SG draw, the screen pass, or the shovel
pass".� Staley is also tough, and
unlike rotund RBs like Jerome "The Tubby�
Tailback" Bettis, Deuce actually stays in supreme condition with
vigorous workouts combined with a proper diet.�
That's the
good.�� Now the bad.� Staley is 29 years old, which means the
Stillers are now employing the oldest 1-2 RB punch in the NFL (29 & 32
years of age).� Five year contract for a
29-year old RB?�� Absurd.� Staley for sure won't see the final year,
and it's highly doubtful he'll see the 4th year, and even the 3rd year is
questionable.�
My two biggest gripes with the Staley deal are:�
��� a.� Bettis is still on the roster.� I could very much live with Staley, but
keeping FatBoy Bettis around, along with Staley, makes no sense.� Keeping a greybeard RB around to assume work
in clutch situations, as well as mentor and teach, is an acceptable
scheme.� But keeping two
greybeard RBs is pure foolishness.��
�� b.� And that leads me to my second gripe on this
move, and that's that the Stillers will now PASS on a RB who might very well be
the best football player available when they select with pick #11.� Kevin Jones or Steven Jackson might very
well be available when the Stillers step to the podium in round 1, yet, because
of their love affair with Fat Jerome Bettis and this new deal with Staley, the
myopic Stillers will most assuredly pass on the best football player available
and reach for a position of need.� This
is the ugliest part of the Staley signing.��
Again, had the front office worked this as an intelligent,
well-staffed action, they would have signed Staley, then cut both Bettis and
Zereoue, and then have been in a position to select a stud RB in round 1 if
that RB was the best football player available.�
- Signed DE Travis Kirschke.� The former Lion and Niner was signed to a
four-year, $6.4 million agreement with the Steelers that will pay him a $1.1
million signing bonus.� Kirschke, a
6-foot-3, 292-pound seven-year veteran, will count $935,000 against the
Steelers' salary cap this year.�
Kirschke was a career backup with Detroit before he joined the 49ers
last season and became a starting tackle in the 4-3 defense.�
You saw the magic words in the eyes of Kevin Colbert -- "career
backup in Detroit".� The
lowliest stall mucker in Detroit is a jewel in the eyes of The Lion Lover,
Kevin Colbert, who never saw a Detroit Lion that he didn't love.� Disney Studios, in fact, is producing a new
movie based on the hit film, "The Lion King".� This comedy film will be called, "The
Lion Lover", which will star Robin Williams as Kevin Colbert, and provide
a documentary for the hundreds of former Lions that Colbert has rabidly pursued
like a hungry lion.�
"Kirschke
was a 4-3 tackle his whole career, but we believe he can play both end and
tackle [in passing defenses] for us," said The Lion Lover, Kevin
Colbert.� Analysis of this comment:� Kirschke has never played DE in the 3-4, so
under the Billy Cowher school of mentoring and teaching, he'll need at least 2
seasons to even remotely master the intricacies of playing DE in the 3-4.� As for the absurd comment that Kirschke
"can play tackle in passing defenses", that's simply another
boneheaded, stone-stubborn idea that has caused this defense to be so soft and
vanilla.� If Kirschke is on the field on
obvious passing downs, that means that either Ken Bell or James Farrior must
sit the pine.� Given their pedigree and
performance, I myself would prefer to see the likes of Farrior and Bell on the
field as often as possible, with the likes of career benchwarner Travis Kirschke
remaining firmly planted on the pine.�
Declined to match the offer to RFA DE Rod
Bailey:� As
I stated last week, I wasn't lusting for Bailey's retention.� However, I was in favor of keeping
Bailey, especially because the Stiller front office has shown a poor ability to
get anything of value in round 6, and anyone they do acquire anywhere in the
draft will require at least a 2-year apprenticeship under the Supreme Lord of
Coaching, Billy Cowher.� And, as noted
above, Kirshke -- who has never played in the 3-4 defense -- will require at
least 2 years before he has "a feel for the position and the
scheme".�
Other fronts worth mentioning:
- Colbert, on free agency:� "It moved faster than I can ever remember it
moving," he said. "It was really like the stock market. Buying and selling
was going on right and left. �"It
was a very fast-paced market (and) the prices got very expensive quickly. I
don't remember that happening."�
Uh, Kevin, it's been happening just like this, every year,
since about 1997.� You've simply been
too asleep at the wheel to realize it.�
This year's free agency is no faster than any other recent year, and, in
fact, it's rather TAME compared to some of the rampant spending and deal-making
of 3-4 years ago.� Asinine, no-brained
comments like this leave the average fan wondering, "What planet is this
guy from�.?"� One also has to
wonder why all the fuss about baseball players submitting to drug testing.� Shouldn't a boneheaded GM like Colbert have
a higher priority for such drug testing�?�
- Cornerback:�
Because of Colbert's ineptitude and "the market moved so
fast", the Stillers were essentially shut out of the CB market.� They arranged or tried to arrange
visits with five cornerbacks, and only one of them -- Artrell Hawkins -- made
it to town before signing with another team.�
THANK YOU, Kevin Colbert, for doing such a marvelous (sic) job.� I thought standing around, ossified and
befuddled, was a trait linked only to the French, but Colbert meets the
criteria quite well.� As I noted last
week, without a map and compass, anyone can founder and stumble about -- yet
claim "progress" -- and so it is with Kevin Colbert and Billy Cowher,
the most overrated, most inept duo of bumblers in the NFL.�
- Clancy:�
Thankfully this sorry sack o' shit hasn't been re-signed.� We're blessed that Clancy has a mistaken
belief that he's better than he actually is.�
A NT who is awful against the run and has no redeeming qualities should
never be retained by a team employing the 3-4 defense.�
- Long Snapper:�
Per the Trib Review, "Steelers coach Bill Cowher has told long
snapper Mike Schneck that he wants him to return, but the team has offered no
suitable contract proposal, according to Schneck's agent Paul Sheehy. Here's
the problem: The long-snapper market has exploded in recent years."
�
As I'd noted in my Offseason Outlook,
"In fact, Schneck is liable to draw the most
interest amongst all the Stiller UFAs."��
As I'd noted then, I'm not one to lavish big dollars on a snapper.� However, his work is directly influential on
the placekicker.� A great snapper makes
the placekicker's job that much easier on FGs, and FGs -- just one FG, in fact
-- can be the difference between a win and a loss.� Schneck does his job quite well, and hopefully he can be conned
into remaining a Stiller.��
�
- Alex and Gildon:�
Unbelievably, these two sorry bastards are still clogging the
roster.� This tells you all you need to
know about the willingness of the front office and head coach to make the tough
calls to right this foundering ship.� I
checked around, and an orange traffic barrel used by PennDot and other states
in the Union can
be had for a mere $79.64.�
Both of these players can easily be replaced with an orange
traffic barrel at a pittance of cost, with no discernable loss of
effectiveness.� If the Stillers are
waiting until June 1st for the cut of these 2 dead weights, then fine;
otherwise, this is a recipe for the same defensive disasters that we saw in
2002 and 2003.�
OT:� Just like
CB, the Stillers sat fallow and did nothing.�
Because RB has been temporarily fixed, look for the Stillers to
rrrrrr-each in round 1 for whatever fat-assed OT catches their fancy.�
Synopsis:� Once again, for the
9th season in a row, the Stillers ventured into the offseason FA period with no
better a plan than the drunken wino sitting on the corner of Liberty Avenue and
Wood Street in downtown Pittsburgh.� The
grab-bag mentality pervades this FA period thus far, with no purpose, no plan,
and no coordination, the epitome of which is retaining FatBoy Bettis while
signing Staley to a FIVE-year contract.�
The two weakest positions on the roster -- CB and OT -- remain totally
un-addressed.� But Cowbert
really know what they're doing, so sit back and enjoy the ride, even if Cowbert
the Conductor has no idea where he's going and when he'll get there.���
�
(Still Mill
and Stillers.com -- the only nationally read coverage on the Pittsburgh
Stillers that has accurately predicted the how's and the why's of the past 3
Stiller playoff losses�.)