Upcoming Events at Bar Louie Station Square

Hey Steel Nation, at Bar Louie Station Square you get 15% off your bill when you present your Steel Nation Association card!  Bar Louie has a couple of great events coming up that you may want to stop by and check out. 

On March 15th stop by from 3pm-11pm for the Ticket Chasers AT&T Viewing Party. Some of the activities they’ll have going on that day will be autographs by a local basketball legend, a pop a shot contest and a drawing for a Radioshack Electronics Makeover!  Of course the College Basketball games will be on all TV’s!

On March 17th, St. Patty’s Day, stop by for the “Get Lucky with Louie St. Patty’s Day 2012 Party”.  They’re having a Kegs and Eggs Party from 7am-10am and you can get tickets for $20 ahead of time or $25 at the door. Tickets include all the Green Beer you can drink and a breakfast buffet.  There will be a $500 giveaway at the party! 

If you want to stop by the bar at anytime that day, doors open at 10am for a $5 cover and there will be DJ’s providing music and entertainment all day long at the back bar!  The front bar will have live music provided from Walk of Shame from 12pm-9pm and Lava Game from 10pm-1am!  In addition to all of this, the bar will be providing some other small giveaways all day long!

The Steelers Free Agents And The Tough Decisions To Be Made

The 2012 off season is upon us and the Steelers have plenty of work to do. They entered the offseason 25 million dollars over the projected salary cap and have already restructured the contracts of some big salaried players such as LaMarr Woodley, Lawrence Timmons, Ike Taylor, Willie Colon, Ben Roethlisberger and they’re working on others who want to help the team get where they need to be to stay competitive.  They’ve also begun to release some players they felt were expendable such as cornerback Bryant McFadden and wide receiver Arnaz Battle. 

On March 13^th the NFL free agency period begins and all indications are the Steelers will not re sign any of their players before that time period due to their need to get under the salary cap first.  Once free agency does begin the Steelers will concentrate on their own free agents first and then explore any possible needs they can fill with any lower level free agents from other teams. Everyone in the Steel Nation knows that expecting the Steelers to sign anyone from outside the organization is a long shot as that’s not how they generally do business.  However, keeping their own players is something the Steelers generally do and do well. They always seem to keep the key young guys and know just when to let the aging veterans go. 

This offseason will be a more challenging one for the Steelers as they generally don’t find themselves struggling to meet the cap number like this.  How they’ll do it and who they’ll keep will be interesting. There are some key names that need to be re signed and there are some big time veterans that may see their time in the black and gold end. 

With all that in mind; we decided to take a look at the Steelers 2012 free agents and provide our opinion and expectation for each.  NFL free agency has three different deviations; unrestricted free agents, restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents.  Unrestricted free agents are free to sign with anyone they choose with no penalties involved. Restricted free agents may sign with anyone they choose but the current team has the right to match any offer given to the player or receive a pick of some variety (based on the salary of the players) in return.   Exclusive rights free agents must negotiate with their current team only.

All Steelers free agents below are unrestricted unless otherwise noted. 

Quarterback:

The Steelers enter the free agent period with 3 of their 4 quarterbacks as free agents. The great news is that Big Ben is not one of those.  They’ll have some decisions to make as it’s certain that all 3 will not be back.

Byron Leftwich-Byron has been the top backup going into camp the past couple of years but has been injured both times and hasn’t seen any action.  He is the best of the Steelers QB free agents and he’s happy in Pittsburgh.  The Steelers should sign him to a two year contract and we expect they will do so.

Charlie Batch-Charlie has served this team well for many years. He’s been serviceable in his time in Pittsburgh and is a great teammate and member of the community.  As much as we do like Charlie the only way we think he will be back is if they cannot sign Leftwhich. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have him back as the number three QB but the Steelers should look to get younger in that spot and probably let Charlie go.

Dennis Dixon-Dennis had an opportunity in 2010 to start a few games before being injured. He came out of college with a lot of upside but he hasn’t impressed us or the Steelers. He’s never really been able to even surpass Charlie Batch on the depth chart. We don’t expect him to be back and really think it’s best for both parties if he goes elsewhere.

Running Back:

Mewelde Moore-Mewelde has been a good 3^rd down option for this team. He’s a good change of pace back and can catch the ball out of the backfield. If they can get him very cheap, we’d like to see him back.  With Rashard Mendenhall likely to miss significant time in 2012 there is a possibility the Steelers could sign Moore but we wouldn’t bet on it.  Isaac Redman, Jonathan Dwyer, Baron Batch and John Clay will all be back and healthy so there really isn’t going to be room for Moore.

Isaac Redman (Exclusive Rights)-The Steelers have exclusive rights with Redman so he’ll be back and we expect him to open the year as the starting running back for the black and gold.

Wide Receivers:

Mike Wallace (Restricted)-Wallace has to be resigned. They can’t let him go. There are a lot of rumors that the Ravens and Bengals are interested in him and they have low 1^st round picks (which is what the Steelers would receive if he left.  He’s one of the more dynamic players in the league, a true deep threat and with his speed he’s nearly impossible to cover.  If the Steelers are unable to reach a long term deal with him (which is what their intentions are) the Steelers will need to free up enough cap space to franchise tag him to keep in Pittsburgh. Wallace must be their top target to bring back. 

Jerricho Cotchery-Cotchery can play ball, no question about that. He’s got talent and experience and we’d love to see him back.  We don’t think the Steelers will bring him back though.  They have three really young and talented guys in front of him on the depth chart and Cotchery may be able to find better work elsewhere for more than the Steelers can or will be willing to pay. If they can do it, we’d like to see Cotchery land a 2 to 3 year deal and become the new veteran leader of the receiving corps once Hines moves on.  

Tight Ends:

David Johnson-He’s not a really talented guy in our estimation but with the pending 4 game suspension of the up and coming Wesley Saunders we think there’s a pretty good chance the Steelers will have to re sign Johnson now.

Offensive Line:

Trai Essex-The offensive lineman on this team are all questionable at best. It’s well documented they didn’t protect Ben too well and it’s hard to say which ones the Steelers will bring back and which they’ll let go.  They can’t let them all go at once so we expect that Essex will be a guy they bring back.

Max Starks-Starks played pretty well for the Steelers once they brought him back but he was hurt in the playoff game against Denver and we think that hurts his chances of returning. He’ll probably have to find work elsewhere.

Dorian Brooks (Exclusive Rights)-He’ll be back due to his contract status.

Ramon Foster (Restricted)-The team likes Foster and they think he has a lot of upside. We think they’ll bring him back on a 2 year deal.

Doug Legursky (Restricted)-He’s a nice reserve guy but not a real starter.  Since he does have the ability to play several positions on the line, it’s best they bring him back, but should another team pry him away, it’s not the end of the world. We anticipate he’ll be back with the team next year.

Defensive Line:

Steve McClendon (Restricted)-The team was very happy with his play at defensive tackle filling in for Casey Hampton once Chris Hoke went down. They’ll bring him back and he may be a starter if the team elects to release Hampton.

Defensive Backs:

William Gay-This time last year we wrote a similar article and we begged the Steelers to let Gay walk.  A year later, we’re truly hoping they bring him back. He played a pretty strong cornerback and took over the starting job from Bryant McFadden.  A one year deal seems like a fair and logical offer for the Steelers but Gay may not go for that. We think the Steelers will try to bring him back, we’re not sure the two sides will come to terms. If Gay does elect to leave, it’s not a loss that can’t be overcome but let’s hope he can come back for one more season.

Anthony Madison-Let him go. He doesn’t bring much to the table. Do the Steelers agree? We think they do.

Keenan Lewis (Restricted)-He started to develop this past season and very well may be a starter if Gay leaves.  He saw more playing time this year and he earned the right to be back on this team.  The team will bring him back and give him his chances to start.

Punter:

Daniel Sepulveda-He’s gone. There is no reason to bring him back. The job is Jeremy Kapinos’s now.

Jeremy Kapinos-This is the guy they’ll re sign.  He’s filled in nicely over the past few years for Sepulveda and the job is now his.

Players Who Are Not Free Agents But Decisions Must Be Made:

Casey Hampton-We expect that Big Snack will be back. But he’s in the final year of a 3 year contract that pays 8 million per year. If the team chooses to release the veteran, who’s coming of a knee injury, they’ll save $5.9 million dollars.

Chris Kemoeatu-The team should cut this guy and not look back. He’s a horrible O-lineman. He lost his starting job because he’s sloppy, his footwork stinks and he just can’t get the job done. They can save nearly 3 million if they get rid of him. It’s a no brainer.

Hines Ward-By far the toughest decision the black and gold will have to make this offseason. Hines has stated many times that he wants to play for the team next year. He’s owed $4 million, he will not be brought back for that and he knows it. Hines has stated he will take a pay cut.  If they can bring Hines back for $1 million, then we say do it. If it requires more than that, it’s hard to say, but the team should part ways with him and save the $4 million salary cap hit. Hines will always be an all timer and let’s hope this ends well for all parties.

James Farrior-Farrior is starting to show his age a bit and we think he’ll need to restructure his contract if he wants to come back. It’s a tough decision but either he or Larry Foote needs to be let go. We anticipate it will be Farrior who gets his walking papers due to his age.

Larry Foote-As we mentioned above, one of either Farrior or Foote will need to go; there isn’t room to keep both as they will both be a $3 million hit against the cap. Foote is nearly 4 years younger than Farrior so we believe he’ll be the guy to stay on the roster.

Aaron Smith-Smith put in many great years on this defensive line but he’s been injured 3 of the past 5 years and missed significant time in each of those seasons. The team has some young ends that have put in some playing time in his absence and as much as we love Smith, it’s time to move on without him. The Steelers may not agree as there are rumblings they’d like to bring him back.  

The offseason will be full of decisions for the generally cap savvy Steelers. Who they’ll bring back and who they’ll let go will be fun to watch. It’s evident the Steelers still think they have the general pieces in place to make another run at the title. This is not a straight out re build but rather a re-tooling project. By keeping the key veterans and younger guys in place and making the right free agent and cap decisions the Steelers will be primed to make another title run in 2012.

We may see some of our old favorites move on but the one thing we do know is the Steelers generally make the right decisions more often than not. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes but when it’s all said and done we expect that the Steelers will continue to prove they are one of the best run organizations in all of sports for a reason. They properly run the football operations off the field so they can provide a quality product on the field.