SteelerWatch

Note: This is a little late, as the news has been out for three days, but I’m posting this for the sake of complete coverage at this point. Besides, nothing has actually happened yet, so it’s not like I missed some huge, earth-shaking turn of free-agency events. After all, we’re talking about a punter here.

Chris Gardocki has long been considered one of the best punters in league history, but time has clearly caught up to him. Now, in an effort to revitalize a position that really needs some major revitalizing, the Steelers are attempting to woo punter Andy Lee away from San Francisco, offering him a reported $7.1 million dollar deal that covers the next six years with a $1.66 million signing bonus.

Lee is a restricted free agent, meaning the 49ers can match the offer and re-sign Lee any time until Tuesday. If they choose not to match, they inherit the Steelers’ 6th-round draft pick as compensation. Now for my take.

$7.1 million is a lot to spend on someone who will be on the field six to ten times per game — and that’s on a bad day. During their 2005-2006 playoff run that ended in victory, the Steelers had Gardocki on the field about two times per game. However, the position needed a big-time upgrade, and good punters aren’t as easy to come by as decent receivers or above-average outside linebackers. I guess the front office figured that, if someone was getting Gardocki-like money to punt, they better be putting up better than Gardocki-like numbers.

Good call.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 8th, 2007 at 8:03 am and is filed under Special Teams, Contract News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.