Free agency inactivity secret to Steelers’ success?
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They rarely make trades. Free agents sometimes drop by for a visit, but the Steelers usually bring in guys who fit in more as depth than people who will compete for the starting job.
Consider the last two marquee names to come to Pittsburgh as free agent signings: Charlie Batch and Duce Staley. Batch, once a starter and still viewed by many as a high-quality player who could start for a number of teams, and whose real talents weren’t realized in a dysfunctional Lions organization. Staley, brought in to take up the majority of the carries from an aging Jerome Bettis, suffered an injury that was pretty much inevitable, given his history. That injury, and a number of others, eventually led to his release two seasons later. Between the two, the difference is night and day, but the one common point is that they are the two biggest names to come to Pittsburgh as free agents in recent years — and that’s really not saying much.
The Rooneys built an empire on conservative stability, opting to spot young talent in college rather than pick up another team’s table scraps. Because, in reality, there are three kinds of free agents.
Crash-and-Burners
These guys spend their first two, three or four years with one team, usually with average to outrageously high salaries. They are players who had potential, but either didn’t live up to it or just didn’t fit into the system in which they played. Sometimes you have exceptions, like #1 draft pick David Carr who will probably excel on a team that has some semblence of an offensive line, but more often than not they are the T.J. Ducketts and Ryan Leafs of the world. There’s a reason their team doesn’t want them anymore.
Big Names, Huge Paychecks
Sometimes a player may be a stud, but he’s just not affordable (maybe it’s his money, maybe it’s his ego). Consider this the reason Joey Porter is no longer a Steeler, and why guys like Adalius Thomas, Nick Harper and Leonard Davis will all be with new teams in 2007.
Past Their Prime
Other players are just looking for a place to retire. Unless a team has an immediate need for a veteran — a desperation, if you will — it’s hard to imagine a player in this category being signed. If they’ve been an integral part of their team’s success for a legthy period, they may be re-signed, or offered an extension before they ever hit the market. Otherwise this is usually where journeymen end up, playing only for teams desperate enough to sign them. Jerry Jones is probably wishing he hadn’t given the starting quarterback job to guys like Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe over the last few years.
The fact of the matter is that you don’t get more successful by signing players who never lived up to the hype, money doesn’t always translate into success, and putting a long-time veteran into a new system is usually begging for disaster. The Steelers have long looked to the draft for talent, and have had crazy success with it: Faneca, Troy Polamalu, Ben Roethlisberger, Heath Miller, the linebacker-du-jour, Casey Hampton, Hines Ward — see a trend emerging here? Sure, there have been numerous draft-day missteps, like passing on Dan Marino and not passing on Jamain Stephens. But more often than not, they’ve made ESP-like calls that have kept them at or near the top of the AFC year after year. They’ve even had the occasional success with undrafted rookie free agents, like Willie Parker and Dan Kreider. By largely avoiding free agency, they’ve kept the team young and free of other teams’ castoffs.
And it’s worked like a charm.
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March 30th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Two word rebuttal: James Farrior.
April 1st, 2007 at 12:18 am
True, but the point is that it’s not common in Pittsburgh for a free agent to be signed, and those that do often are there to provide depth. Farrior is one of the very few examples of players the Steelers signed as a free agent in the last ten years. It happens, but blue moons, albino deer and .500+ seasons for the Pirates are all more common.
April 1st, 2007 at 9:57 am
I hear you loud and clear man. I agree. Why waste money on sub-par free agent starters (or would-be starters) when you can continue to successfully build championship caliber teams through the draft (for a lot less money)?
April 2nd, 2007 at 7:01 am
Looks like I beat the press to the punch this time:
April 4th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Although in theory I do agree with your premise and as a long time Steeler fan have always bragged about our ability to “grow” our own stars and future HOF’s. However, I would say that when the Steelers have committed themselves to filling some of our tradional “stalwart” positions, they rarely falter (see Jeff Harings, Kimo V., and last but not least Jerome Bettis who emobodied the Steeler spirit even though he didn’t get a chance to don the jersey until later in his career). The Steelers seem to be very good judges in not only finding the talent but the intangibles that the player(s) also have. Who would’ve ever thought that the bench riding Jerome Bettis of the St. Louis Rams would eventually turn out to be the face and attitude of the Pittsburgh Steelers and have such career turned around that he’s not only the most popular Steeler next to Terry Bradshaw, but is all but guaranteed to be a first ballot HOF’er. It has to warm your heart that SteelerNation resurrected this gem out of the pits of obscurity!
April 4th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Thanks for the comment!
It does seem, though, that the vast majority of the media types (who I am, admittedly, not too fond of) are in agreement with me on this one. From ESPN:
April 7th, 2007 at 6:20 am
It’s not like you’re pointing out a new trend or anything. It’s common knowledge that the Steelers would rather rebuild through the draft, and they excel in doing so. This argument came to its highest point back in 1999, when we lost half our team to free agency, and didn’t replenish any position adequately.
However, I disagree with your three levels of free agency. As another poster mentioned before, James Farrior, Jeff Hartings, Kimo von Oelhoffen and the Great Jerome Bettis (he did not ride the bench when with the Rams, however, he just didn’t get along with the coaching staff) do not fit in your criteria. All of them had their best seasons in Pittsburgh.
You can also point to Ryan Clark and Cedrick Wilson - both players came in to start at some point for the Steelers, and have been valuable assets. If I wanted to be nitpicky, I’d point out that Willie Parker was not drafted, therefore, was technically a free agent.
I think it’s misleading to suggest the Steelers don’t go after free agents. They go after the right players to fit their team. In today’s NFL, no team can draft 22 starters. They have consistently brought in players to fill roles. In other words, guys like Najeh Davenport and Rodney Bailey are better examples of the kinds of players the Steelers go after in FA, and neither are going to give media outlets much fodder.
That’s fine with me.
April 7th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Point well taken. I did leave out the fact that there certainly are good deals among the free agents available — the guys who are good and inexpensive, but just didn’t fit with the needs of the team, or the guys who are quality players but there’s no room on the roster for them. I guess I was in a bit of a cynical mood that day.
I have to say, though, that Davenport was cast off by Green Bay largely due to his inability to stay healthy — and he finished 2006 on IR for the Steelers. He’ll be a 3rd back and the short yardage guy, but he’s not durable enough to be any more than that.