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!!

Hampton to be Cut? Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Rumors fly that Casey Hampton could be cut before the season.

The article's author, Ed Bouchette, laughs at the idea. Hampton is in his last year and is relatively affordable at $3M. The guy is not as good as he used to be but losing him would really thin us out, depth-wise.

Not only that, but as Hampton is close friends with many of his teammates, his teammates would probably be quite shaken by the cut.

The only way I can imagine this happening is if Hampton has been really, really bad in practices and it's obvious to everyone: front office, coaches, and all the players. But I haven't heard anything like that.

Even so, this will be Hampton's last year. Hopefully he can get Super Bowl ring #3 while wearing black and gold.

Keisel signs extension with Steelers Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Steelers BYU defensive end Brett Keisel has signed a four-year extension that will keep him in Pittsburgh until he's 36.

Traditionally, the Steelers have not resigned players at 30+ to extensions, but recently, Hines Ward, James Farrior, Brett Keisel, and James Harrison have all gotten extensions.

I would tend to trust the front office on these decisions and here's why:

Ward and Farrior were extended because of their leadership, not because of their projected playing ability. Both have slowed down (especially ILB Farrior) but our GM discovered a few years ago with Jerome Bettis an old, smart leader can be better than a fast, immature player. Hines Ward and Farrior are unquestionably the top two leaders on the Steelers roster and Tomlin/Colbert are willing to put up with a loss of speed (already in Farrior's case, projected speed in Ward's case) to have men who their players are willing to follow.

Keisel and Harrison have both only started for three or four years. The theory is they have less wear on the tires. We'll see, I guess.

As for the rest of the Steelers 2010 free agents? Jeff Reed will likely be extended or franchised. Ryan Clark, while a hard hitter at FS, is replaceable because he's so bad in coverage. NT Casey Hampton has been less effective as his weight has ballooned, and when Chris Hoke replaces him throughout games, there is no drop-off. Willie Parker has been good for us but when your only trick is your speed, you won't stay good for long.

We have a great first-round pick DE in Ziggy Hood, and Keisel could get old fast, but I have to give the benefit of the doubt to Kevin Colbert and the Steeler FO.