Steelers Sign Five Free Agents

I am not sure if my comment about the Steelers starting slow in the free agency period woke them up, or if they just wanted to get something other than Ben Roethlisberger talk on the sports radio circuit, but boy did the Steelers make a splash yesterday. The team reached agreement with five free agents to new deals, including familiar faces Ryan Clark and Antwaan Randle El. I was all set to wrap up my offseason plan for the Steelers today by going through the defense and special teams, but those would seem kind of dated at this point. Let’s quickly discuss yesterday’s signings and come back to my thoughts on the Steelers defense and special teams for next year tomorrow morning.

The five players the Steelers signed yesterday include wide receivers Randle El and Arnaz Battle, safeties Clark and Will Allen and offensive tackle Jonathan Scott. Ryan Clark, as I mentioned yesterday, would have been my number one free agent priority and it looks like it was the Steelers as well. Clark signed a four year deal worth $14 million and his signing solidifies a defense that will have all eleven opening day starters back from last year, nine of whom were starters and all eleven who were significant contributors to the Super Bowl winning defense of two years ago. Like I said yesterday and will reiterate a bit tomorrow in part II of the Steelers offseason preview (which I guess we should now call the “ongoing view”), the Steelers are built to win now, especially as many of their defensive starters are getting up there in years. Signing Ryan Clark, or a competent replacement, was a must for the Steelers to win this year and the Steelers put a check mark next to this offseason goal yesterday.

The signing of Clark, which came in the early evening yesterday, relieved me of some of the doubts and confusion with the Will Allen signing earlier in the day. Allen, coming from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is a decent player but is not anywhere near the level of Clark or that the Steelers need at safety opposite Troy Polamalu. After Clark signed and alleviated the fear that the Steelers would head into the season with Allen as a starter, I really liked this signing. Allen is known as a very solid special teams contributor, something the Steelers must address after last year’s record allowing return year, and should provide a reliable back-up if Polamalu or Clark go down for a short period of time.

I spoke yesterday of the Steelers addressing their skill position depth and offensive line depth with second tier free agents and late round draft picks. I feel like the Steelers read my mind with their signings of Battle, Scott and Randle El. I must admit, though, that the Randle El signing does have me a little perplexed which we will get to in a second.

Jonathan Scott, the third player announced yesterday that the Steelers had reached a contract agreement with, comes over from the Buffalo Bills where he started eight games last year including six at left tackle and two at right tackle. Scott also played under the Steelers’ new offensive line coach, Sean Kugler, so we must believe that Kugler saw something in Scott that he very much liked. Scott is a perfect signing for the Steelers, the proverbial second tier free agent I was talking about, and gives the Steelers much-needed depth along the offensive line, especially with his ability to play both tackle positions.

Arnaz Battle, coming over from the San Francisco 49ers, is another solid contributor on special teams and can offer some decent depth as a 4th or 5th WR behind the Steelers top trio. Let’s not forget that Mike Wallace and Santonio Holmes are still young and veteran presences such as Ward’s, Battle’s and Randle El’s could only be a positive as long as they are fine with their roles. I have no doubt that Battle will be fine with a 4th or 5th spot and contributing on special teams, but I have my doubts about Randle El.

Antwaan Randle El, one of the heroes from Super Bowl XL when he threw the only touchdown of the game on a trick play, will sign his deal today to what is supposed to be a three-year contract after being let go by the Washington Redskins. With the Steelers signing Randle El, I think that suggests the end to Stephan Logan as the Steelers’ return man and most likely means the end of Limas Sweed’s career in a Steeler uniform. Whether there is more to Sweed’s mystery ailment than we know about, or that the Steelers have just decided to give up on the 3rd year wide out, it is clear that Sweed will go down as a wasted 2nd round draft choice.

Randle El, on the other hand, returns to his former team with deteriorated skills. He was largely unproductive in a Redskins’ uniform and has been known to complain about not getting enough touches. There is a chance, and I am sure this is what the Steelers are banking on, that Randle El comes in with a good attitude and accepts his role as the 4th or 5th wide receiver, does a nice job returning punts and adds a veteran presence to the Steelers roster at a reasonable price. I will withhold judgment on this until we see Randle El in action, but I remain skeptical that this is what happens. I see a better chance that Randle El is a disruption in the locker room and an insignificant contributor on the field. But as a minimal risk signing, and the ability to cut Randle El in an uncapped year were he to be an off-field problem, I once again like the direction the Steelers have taken so far in the free agent market.

There are also rumors that the Steelers are interested in signing Larry Foote to return in a back-up role at inside linebacker. I would also very much applaud this move, if the price tag was right, as Foote is another perfect example of these second tier free agents that can come in and provide depth at key positions for reasonable prices. We will talk more about the Steelers linebackers and defense tomorrow, but for now, I can only say that I am very pleased with what the Steelers are doing so far in free agency.