Steelers Extend Timmons For Six Years

If we could not extend him for 7 mill a year or less despite his having 0 Pro Bowl appearances, only 2 years as a full-time starter, only 1 year as a very good player, us giving him protection against injury this year by negotiating a year early, and while we hold the threat of using the franchise tag against him next offseason, then we should have told his agent, you have 24 hours to take our max offer, or we will use that money elsewhere now and talk to you after the season. If he doesn’t take it, we re-evaluate after the season and could end up paying more. But that is how you negotiate when you the team holds most of the cards.

I like Colon at right tackle and got drilled on this forum for saying he was arguably the best RT in the NFL two years ago. He undoubtedly needed to be at tackle in 08 and 09 (even though his upside was probably greater at guard), because we needed him there since we never tackles in the first two rounds. I just would prefer to have at least tried Flozell at RT and WIllie at RG for one season (which could have been an absolute dominating run-blocking duo) instead of using the revolving door of borderline roster players we keep trying at guard (Foster, Hills, Legursky, Essex, etc.). And it’s not just me, it was the Chicago Bears (who offered more than us) and apparently other teams that had interest in Colon, like the Bills, who thought his best position could be guard.

You are not defending Jackson now obviously, but my guess is you would have at the time. BTW and JJ can verify this, I thought Jackson was a bad pick bound to be a bust when we selected him. I had followed his career since HS at Americus and knew he was athletically too-limited and too big at that time (266) to play 3-4 OLB. In contrast, I had Worilds in one of the Fanhouse mocks I did for JJ in the second round (because I knew the Steelers liked him and Colbert reaches for OLBs even when they are not a prime need) and actually had him No. 5 on my value board in the third round, and No. 1 on that board in the fourth round. Based on what happened at OLB after we picked and where he was projected, there was at least a 50-50 shot we could have got him in the third round. And if not, you take another from that deep pool of 3-4 OLBs from that draft to be a back-up for a few years, addressing your much more immediate (next 2 years) need at OT with you know who.

We did not have to sign TImmons! That is what you seem incapable of grasping. It was advantageous for both sides to come to an agreement, but far more for Timmons at this time, I did not say we  could have signed him for less. My point is that we should  have signed him for less or not offered him this much before the season. If we could not reach an agreement for less, let the season play out. 3-4 ILBs have never been that important to this defense and we just made a guy who has mostly been a part-time player and has never been to a Pro Bowl one of the richer ILBs in pro football history in a time when the cap is absurdly low. Earth to Cols, the Steelers did not need to sign Timmons this August. You write like the clock was ticking and that we would lose him for sure if did not sign. Wrong, he had another year on his contact, and we could still franchise him.

What is tiresome is your blind homerism and – to be blunt – ignorance on most things. Of course Colbert is great and Khan even better. They are the best in the business. But they deserve criticism when they screw-up and can have some of their good decisions questioned. I don’t think any Steelers fan is upset with this signing. We all wanted Timmons long-term. But you lose all credibility on being objective or informed when you wrote that Timmons is a better ILB than Patrick Willis right now. Only a delusional homer could make that claim.

Incidentally, I liked the Colon pick, because of the toughness evident in his scouting report, although admittedly I did not know much about him coming out of Hofstra. Of course, I like almost all o-line picks, because they have been made so rarely in premium rounds in recent years, and I guess the fourth round is pretty early for o-linemen taken under Colbert.

Again, unlike the Jackson pick which I unfortunately and correctly pegged as a bust immediately, my problem with Worilds was not the player (heck, I defended him against PFW, which absurdly called him one of the five biggest reaches and worst picks made by any team in the 2010 NFL Draft), but rather in using a second-round pick on a guy who will not start barring injury for at least three years and possibly before he is an UFA.

You should not reach at a major need position or you end up with Troy Edwards. But you also can’t use second-round picks in the free-agency era on a luxury, projected reserve who is expected to not play much at all for a few years because he comes in behind one of the best OLB duos in NFL history, and LeBeau and Butler historically have not rotated in back-up LBs much. Moreover, we had just added Foote to be a well-paid fifth LB, and Timmons offered flexibility to go outside if needed, which is what happened despite us having a second-round pick around. It’s not like we needed OL or CBs in that draft, right? And BTW, I would say about 80% of Steeler fans were not happy with that pick after we made it and 90% were in shock. We did not get great value at that spot either, since most had him projected around the third round or later, and it was a deep draft for 3-4 OLB prospects in rounds 4-6. Worilds better turn out a Pro Bowler or it was dumb. Oh, and I have written twice in these blogs that we probably would not have beaten Miami without Worilds, so thanks for reading and learning. That already made him a much better pick than Jackson (who never helped us in anyway over his career) and Sweed, a big-time, second-round bust but someone that Colbert should not be criticized for taking.

I call out anyone who criticizes Colbert for taking Sweed, showcasing my objectivity and superior intellect in the process. We needed a WR early in that draft, but would have been reaching to take someone at 23. Although most ended up busts, there was a logjam of late-first/second-round projected picks at WR that year, and Sweed had excellent size that we werre still seeking post-Plax, good speed, offered the downfield threat we really needed at the tine, was a solid blocker at Texas, and was a very productive college player in a big-time winning program, the kind Colbert astutely likes to draft from. While he had some drops as a Rfr. and never had great hands, psychological problems or poor hands were not listed concerns in scouting reports on Sweed. The only reaason he was around mid-second was because of a broken wrist that kept him from doing full workouts. It was a smart pick that did not work out due to the player’s injury and lack of confidence. But we did not reach for the pick, drafted a player at a position of need thinking he had a good shot of being the No. 3 WR as a rookie, and actually got good value for both the position and based on the overall draft-board in the second-round with Sweed.

I had the same attitude with the Spaeth pick as Worilds. In fact, it made even less sense, because we had a great, young starter locked up long-term in Miller and a solid, blocking No. 2 tight end signed for 2 more years in Tuman. At least with Worilds we had no pure backup OLB on the roster and definitley were going to take on the 2010 draft, and Harrison was getting a little older. Meanwhile, we passed up Yanda in that spot, who had slipped farther than expected and was rated as the top OL left on the board, and great value at a position of need at that point in the draft, neither of which Spaeth did.