2011年8月22日星期一

Bires: Nothing 'free' about free agent Taylor

With the NFL labor dispute soon to be over, the Steelers willstart the process of figuring out who to bring to trainingcamp. The recent off-season troubles - Rashard Mendenhall's tweets,Hines Ward's DUI and James Harrison's unsavory comments in Men'sJournal - will soon be forgotten. Sittsburgh Steelers Jerseys With owners and players moving ever closer to resolving theirdifferences, the first order of business will be establishing datesfor free-agent signings so teams can get their rosters inorder.That figures to be a busy time for the Steelers, who have closeto 20 players from last year without contracts for 2011.Obviously, the Steelers' top priority is Ike Taylor.Even though he's never been to the Pro Bowl, Taylor will likelycommand big bucks on the open market. Though he's often toldmembers of the local media that he wants to finish his career here,he's also been known to tell national media types that Rashard Mendenhall Jersey he can fitin anywhere if he and his agent can't get a new deal done inPittsburgh.Taylor is one of the top corners available in the free-agentmarket. However, Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha is easily the best ofthe bunch. But certainly Taylor is right behind in a group thatincludes Cincinnati's Jonathan Joseph and Antonio Cromartie of theNew York Jets.Taylor may be getting up in age -- he turned 31 in May -- butgiven the problems Bryant McFadden and William Gay had last season,locking up Taylor is a must.Take away Taylor, and the Steelers would go to St. Vincent withperhaps the most suspect group of cornerbacks in the league.It wouldn't be surprising if the Steelers also re-sign Gay,though. He had a roller-coaster performance last year, solid someof the time but abysmal at others. But because the lockoutprevented teams from holding mini-camp and OTAs during theoff-season, the two corners the Steelers drafted in April -- CurtisBrown of Texas (third round) and Cortez Allen of The Citadel(fourth round) -- will go in to camp with no idea of how DickLeBeau's defense operates. So, Gay's knowledge of the Steelers'complex defense will certainly improve his chances of stickingaround.But it's Taylor who's the corner the Steelers must keep. Thereare still going to be teams that want him, teams such asPhiladelphia, Houston, Arizona and even Baltimore.It's hard to imagine Taylor signing with the Ravens. But hewants one more big contract.Five years ago, he got a five-year deal worth $22.5 million thatincluded a $6.4 million signing bonus. His base salary last seasonwas $3.75 million. It was money well spent.It would behoove the Steelers Chris Kemoeatu Jersey to once again make Taylor an offerhe can't refuse.

没有评论:

发表评论