Monday, March 10, 2014

Departures: Eve of Free Agency Period

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls are sad to see the departure of Larry Foote from the Steelers. Foote may have some football left in him, but he missed pretty much all of last season with a torn triceps. He turns 34 in June, and after 12 steady, rock-solid NFL seasons, mostly with the Steelers, it was not much of a surprise the Steelers were ready to move on. He will be missed, though, especially for his leadership on the field, in the locker room and off the field. We'll miss his highly entertaining appearances on local radio shows, too. Good luck to you, Larry.

More moves are likely to happen before the start of the NFL free agency period on Tuesday. Longtime safety Ryan Clark is likely to be released, and he will be missed, too, although the quality of his play appeared to dip considerably last season. It was as if he suddenly got slow, and he was never the fastest guy to begin with. Big shoes to fill, though. And he's been one of the most entertaining, candid and insightful personalities in the media. He should have success in whatever he chooses to do next. Good luck to you, too.

Speculation has been rampant that Brett Keisel also could be released. To a layman, it appeared he played at a high level last year, and that he still has a lot of good football left in him. We will not be happy if he is let go.

Predictably, the Steelers have made no moves to sign players who came on the open market the past couple weeks. No Red Bryant (Jaguars); no D'Quell Jackson (Colts). Nothing like that was going to happen, and we're used to it.

Typically, the Steelers make no big early splash in free agency. If they can find another Ryan Clark, however, a relatively low-profile free agent who makes an impact, well, there would be be nothing wrong with that.

We shall wait and see.