Mike Tomlin looks to make good on his word that all draft picks would be signed by the time Training Camp opens. With Saturday’s signing of cornerback William Gay, only first-rounder Lawrence Timmons remains unsigned. Camp opens Monday afternoon, with practice starting Tuesday. It looks as if all rookies will be ready to go, assuming the team and Timmons’ agent can come to an agreement in the next 30 hours.
When your starting running back, who posted the sixth-best rushing total in the league last year and added 16 touchdowns to that, is only the sixth best player on your team, you know you’ve got talent.
And it was hard, to some extent, to justify putting Willie Parker this low on the list, just like it was hard to put Ben Roethlisberger all the way down at ninth. Parker could very well be top-three at this time next year, though. For him, there are no nagging doubts; it’s purely a lack of experience that’s keeping him from being any higher on this list.
Loading …Well, it looks like we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Left guard Alan Faneca and strong safety Troy Polamalu — two of the four players SteelerWatch has named indispensable — will participate in the minicamp that begins today. Also joining them will be Clark Haggans, who missed the voluntary workouts to be with his wife and new child.
While Polamalu had been excused from voluntary workouts last month due to personal reasons, some speculated it was because of frustration over non-existent contract negotiations. For Faneca, though, there was no speculation. Plain and simple, he wants his new contract.
While he has been frustrated over the Steelers passing on former offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt former offensive line coach Russ Grimm in favor of new head coach Mike Tomlin, Faneca has been involved in stagnant contract negotiations. Not playing in his favor is the fact that the team prefers youthful players while the bruiser is a nine-year veteran. As offensive linemen go, he probably only has three more Pro Bowl-caliber years left in him, but is likely seeking a contract that will keep him in black and gold for the remainder of his career — five years or more is a safe wager. While the Steelers don’t have much proven talent in reserve on the line, they truly are loaded with big, young bodies. They have guys like Chukki Okobi, Marvin Philip, Chris Kemoeatu, Trai Essex and some new draft picks and rookie free agents waiting in the wings. And don’t forget the signing of Sean Mahan this off-season.
I feel that Faneca is blowing the situation out of proportion, given the massive turnover in the coaching staff. Under the old regime, the starters in good standing generally received a contract extension a season before their contract expired. however, with a mostly new coaching staff, the new group most likely wants to see who steps up before making any new, long-term commitments. That’s especially understandable when talking about a guy who has nine pro seasons under his belt.
SteelerWatch is currently out of town with limited Internet access. Please bear with the absence; more to follow Monday!
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Former head coach Bill Cowher has a new job.
“The Jaw,” or “Face,” as he was known to some close to him, has joined the CBS cast as a gameday analyst. He joins a group full of former All-Pro players, including Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe, Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason, as well as host James Brown.
The pairing of the coach and CBS could make for an interesting inter-network rivalry: former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis works as an analyst for NBC, and in his first telecast painted a less-than-pretty picture of Bill Cowher, while Cowher was still coaching the Steelers.
The signing ends any remaining speculation that he will join an NFL team for the 2007 season in any capacity — although it was unlikely anyway, as the Rooneys probably would not have given him permission to do so. He remains under contract with the Steelers until the end of the upcoming season.
Cowher also hinted that he may not return to coaching at any level in the NFL for at least several years, saying, “I didn’t get out of it to get back into it,” referring to filling a coaching vacancy somewhere in the league. He seems to genuinely relish the new opportunity, which will allow him to spend more time with his family — his primary reason for retiring. He plans to commute from his new home in Raleigh, N.C. to the CBS studios in New York each weekend.
He also commented that he will not have any trouble critiquing the Steelers, because he would have done the same thing if he was still the head coach. That’s news to me, because it sure didn’t seem like he did much talking or critiquing at all in 2006.
If you’re here, you have some interest — good or bad — in the Pittsburgh Steelers. I welcome you, and thank you for giving a flying flip about what I have to say.
As a transplanted “outer-’Burgher” (I’m not from The ‘Burgh but I’m from the vicinity), sometimes it’s hard to get the latest scoop on my team. Bearing that in mind, I feel for everyone else in this situation. My hope is to be able to pull the interesting and important information together and pass it along to you, with my own personal slant likely to dominate this site.
On that note, on with the show.
Who will be the starter at center in 2007?
Total Votes: 32
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