Hartwig signs extension Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Center Justin Hartwig has signed an extension with the Steelers.

If you thought the 2008 Steelers line was bad, remember back to 2007 when we had Sean Mahan starting at center. Yikes!! I am very happy to see Hartwig sign an extension. The Steelers have had only 5 starting centers since 1974: Mike Webster, Dermontti Dawson, Jeff Hartings, Sean Mahan and Justin Hartwig. Webster is in the Hall of Fame, Dawson should eventually get there, Hartings was a steady presence for 7 years, and Mahan was the 32nd best center in the league in 2007. Hartwig restored aptitude to the position last season. Hopefully now he can restore stability.

Quite a list of re-signed players this offseason: "So far this offseason, the Steelers have negotiated new contracts with Brett Keisel, James Harrison, Kemoeatu, Starks, Essex, Keyaron Fox, Hines Ward, Heath Miller, Charlie Batch, Andre Frazier and now Hartwig."

I'll assume Hartwig's contract is not huge. So he, along with Harrison, Starks, and Kemoeatu, gave the Steelers major steals in their deals. When the league has a hard salary cap, players being willing to take under-market contracts is a huge advantage that few teams posess.

Essex, Fox, Batch, and Frazier all signed on the cheap, of course, because they are not great players. (Not that I'm not grateful for Fox, who will start in place of Timmons tomorrow.)

That leaves Keisel, Ward, and Miller as the only ones signing questionable contracts. Miller is young and worth the big TE money and would be considered a top 3 tight end if he had a smarter OC. Ward and Keisel are old, but Ward's leadership is irreplaceable, and Keisel, as the theory goes, doesn't have a lot of tread on the tires. We'll see about that one.

Anyway, I'm glad we can finally put these sorts of topics behind us tomorrow and start watching real live NFL football!!