Joey Porter speaks

The National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA) has asked Joey Porter to write a "diary" of his experience at the Pro Bowl. We have only been able to find one page so far, so we are not sure if this is really a diary or not, but there was a passage we wanted to share:

"It was good to see the Steelers win the Super Bowl. I’ve got a lot of friends on the team. I was happy to see it. I have some people that I like on Arizona that I’m friends with on the team. Like I said, I’m really not mad either way but I was happy to see the Steelers get it. I talk to all of them. They’re still my guys, regardless."

One wonders if Mr. Porter will be so generous of spirit next season when the Steelers travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins?

Joey Porter Out of Miami?

The folks at Pro Football Talk are amazingly plugged in to what's going on around the NFL, and they're "Rumor Mill" is a must read for all fans. And for fans reading the rumor mill today there was the following item (at 9:38AM): "Porter Done in Miami? With new Fins football poobah Bill Parcells declaring that he wants no "thugs and hoodlums" in Miami, the immediate reaction in league circles is that linebacker Joey Porter won't be long for South Florida."

The item goes on to correctly point out that Mr. Porter's $20,000,000 in guaranteed money is more than just a minor sticking point to issuing him an exit visa out of South Florida but, given how woeful the Dolphins are now, it isn't insurmountable.

Reasonable People Can Disagree

In a recent posting here I argued that Joey Porter could have done better for himself -- on the field that is, he was never going to get more money anywhere else -- if he had signed with a team that would use him as the "featured" linebacker. However, Scout Inc.'s Scott Williamson, writing for ESPNInsider.com, is taking issue with Pittsburgh Steelers Fanatic.

Ok, so he's never actually heard of Pittsburgh Steelers Fantic, but it is his opinion that Joey Porter is a good fit for the Dolphins, going so far as to say "Dom Capers knows what he has in Porter and certainly knows that he is an upgrade over last year's starting SLB, Donnie Spragan, in any down-and-distance situation."

But in an apparent nod to the our perspective, and perhaps a salve for fans of the Black & Gold who are outraged at the loss of such a popular player, Mr. Williamson adds this: "In Pittsburgh, Porter was the 'top dog' in terms of pass rushers, and his declining skills were unable to support that distinction."

So, before we all swoon at the thought of seeing Joey Porter wearing a fish on the side of his head next season, consider the alternative: watching his skills degrade over the next few seasons, while wearing Black & Gold.

Comings and Goings - UPDATE

Update -- 3/6/07
So much for that plan.

It is now being reported that Tully Banta-Cain has signed with the San Francisco 49ers.

Original Posting
While the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Steelers will be meeting with linebacker Tully Banta-Cain, recently of New England, in their efforts to replace the recently departed Joey Porter, John Clayton is reporting for ESPNInsider.com that Mr. Porter may be joining a former teammate.

Mr. Bunta-Cain, who will turn 27 years old in August, is a four year veteran at of the University of California. As recently as January of this year Bill Belichick had this to say about the man who replaced Junior Seau: "He's definitely improved. He's seen different combinations of blockers and people out there, and that experience has definitely helped him. He hasn't had a chance to have a lot of extended playing time at (outside linebacker) until this year, (and) he's played solidly throughout the course of the year." Ok, so it's exactly the most effusive praise one could hope for; but then again consider the source. In any event, Mr. Bunta-Cain had a career year in 2006: 31 tackles, 12 assists, 5.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 2 kick returns for 25 yards (no doubt as part of the blocking wedge).

Meanwhile John Clayton is reporting that Joey Porter may become part of the New York Jets' defense, joining former Steelers teammate Kimo von Oelhoeffen. According to Mr. Clayton, if that should come to pass then the Jets would likely release linebacker Eric Barton (who will turn 30 years old in September, had 73 tackles and 28 assists in 2006 to go with 4.5 sacks).

Porter Signs with Dolphins

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is reporting on its website that Joey Porter has signed a five-year, $32,000,000 contract with the Miami Dolphins. According to the report Mr. Porter will receive a signing bonus of $12,000,000 "and $8 million dollars in guaranteed salary."

All fans of the Black & Gold wish Joey Porter well; and, despite some of the hysteria that has been on display since his unceremonious departure, he will certainly go down in Steelers' history as one of the best, most charasmatic figures to ever wear the uniform. However, the view from here is that this signing represents a bad bargain for both the team and Joey Porter.

To this point in his career Mr. Porter, who turns 30 years old on March 22nd, has played in 122 career games. By the time this new contract expires Mr. Porter will be 35, and will have played in 202 games. Why is this a big deal? Well, the sixteen linebackers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame averaged 168 games played in their careers -- a figure that Mr. Porter will eclipse (barring injuries) with the Dolphins' 15th game of the 2009 season (at which point this new contract will have two seasons remaining). Certainly players are better conditioned today than ever, but one doesn't have to go out on much of a limb to say that Joey Porter will be slowing down by the conclusion of the 2009 season, so the potential salary cap implications could be significant.

Also, from "just" a football perspective, it isn't clear that the Dolphins are the best fit for Mr. Porter. Certainly defensive coordinator Dom Capers will be employing the 3-4 scheme, but it is anticipated that Jason Taylor will drop back from the end position to play the right side, with Joey Porter going to the left side. And while both Mr. Porter and Mr. Taylor may be regularly blitzing on passing downs, it seems more likely that Jason Taylor will be the "featured" linebacker while Mr. Porter will assume something approximating a supporting role.

Joey Porter out of the limelight? Say it ain't so.

Of course the Steelers are scheduled to host the Dolphins at some point during the 2007 season, so for at least one week we'll all be reminded of why we loved it so much to have Joey Porter amongst us.

Davenport Remains with Steelers --And Other Free Agent News

With T.J. Duckett's release from Washington some (including us) thought that the Steelers would go after a BIG running back to complement All-Pro Willie Parker. However, the team instead chose to go with someone they already knew well and signed Najeh Davenport to a two year contract.

Signed after the first game off the 2006 season, Mr. Davenport rushed for 221 yards on 60 carries -- a per rush average higher than Jerome Bettis' in 2005 -- and energized the kickoff return team. In fact he lead all Steelers' kick returners with 448 yards.

Despite the positives the Steelers are putting a great deal of faith in a player who has a significant history of injuries -- both in college and the pros. As Pittsburgh Steelers Fanatic pointed out last October Mr. Davenport missed significant amounts of time in 2003, 2005, and 2005. While it would be great if that extended run of bad luck was firmly in the past, the most important player on the Steelers' roster at the start of the 2007 season may be the third-string running back.

Meanwhile in other news, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is reporting that the Miami Dolphins are interested in signing former Steelers linebacker Joey Porter.

Of course the "source" for that is Mr. Porter's agent, so one has to wonder. Moreover, the Dolphins have Channing Crowder at the right outside linebacker position (103 tackles, 1 sack) so one has to wonder if Mr. Porter is prepared to move to the left side where, theoretically, he would replace incumbent Donnie Spragan (and would upgrade Dom Capers' defense).

Finally, the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that the Browns have thrown some more money at the horror that is their offensive line by signing former Cincinnati Bengal Eric Steinbach. With the injury to LeCharles Bentley -- last offseason's prize acquisition -- looking to be career-ending, it seems as though the Browns believed that they had little choice but to go back into the free agent pool one more time.

It Stinks Being Correct

It is now being reported that the Steelers have cut Verron Haynes and . . . Joey Porter.

According to comments reported on the Steelers' website, Kevin Colbert attributed the release of Mr. Porter to salary cap concerns:

"Releasing a player like Joey Porter, who has meant so much to this franchise and helped us win a Super Bowl championship, is not an easy thing to do . . . It's one of the decisions you have to make under this current system, and it's definitely a salary cap-related issue where we needed some short-term relief. But we also had to factor in what our cap situation is going to be in 2008 and 2009 and beyond."

Reading the Tea Leaves

While the signing of Aaron Smith to a four year extension was as much about creating salary cap space as it was securing the services of one of the more underrated defensive linemen in the NFL, the future of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense also is beginning to take shape.

While no one in the Steelers' organization has explicitly said that Joey Porter is on his way out, Mike Tomlin's tepid endorsement of Mr. Porter, combined with this renewed commitment to Mr. Smith, would seem to indicate that the long-term view within the organization is that Mr. Smith's value to a 3-4/4-3 blended defense is significantly greater than Mr. Porter's. Of course, a new contract for Mr. Porter would render all of this conjecture meaningless, if not ridiculous; however the Steelers have an overall history of being careful with their free agent dollars and have been more than willing to allow more than a few linebackers (e.g. Levon Kirkland, Greg Lloyd, Mike Vrabel) depart.

Clearly then the next part of this equation will be the draft. Should the Steelers opt for defensive ends, especially in the early rounds, it would be confirmation that Joey Porter's days in the Black & Gold are limited.

No Vote of Confidence for Joey

For those who might be wondering about the long-term future (with the Steelers, that is) of Joey Porter, you can now begin wondering about his short-term future as well.

With Mr. Porter set to receive a roster bonus of $1,000,000 on March 6th, new head coach Mike Tomlin, who is attending the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, was asked about his linebacker's contract situation and responded simply by saying "I'm not going to prejudge anyone or any situation."

It's not immediately clear what that means, or what it portends for one the Steelers leaders.

Here is the full-text of an item from Yahoo! news, via the website of WTAE-TV:


"The Pittsburgh Steelers' new head coach Mike Tomlin has a big decision to make long before the season starts, and it concerns the future of linebacker Joey Porter.

Tomlin talked about the situation on Thursday in Indianapolis, where he will gauge talent at the NFL combine, which begins later in the week.

Porter has made it clear that he wants to remain on the team, however, he turns 30 next month, and he has just one year remaining on his current deal, which would bring him $4 million next season.

But spending the necessary money to resign him to a longer-term deal is a decision Tomlin isn't ready to make.

'You need to be careful when you talk about making decisions like that, because if you're not careful, you'll try to tell a story, as opposed to letting things happen,' said Tomlin.

Tomlin told the national media attending the combines only that Porter is currently a Steeler, and he's under contract.

Porter is due a $1 million bonus on March 6, but Tomlin has no plans for making any hasty decisions simply because that date is approaching.

'A lot of times, if you slow the process down and watch it unfold, the decisions become clearer to you, so I'm taking that approach,' said Tomlin. 'I'm not going to prejudge anyone or any situation.'

Tomlin further said that he does not give himself a grace period to grow into the job and expects to have success quickly."

Getting Draft Ready -- Assessing the Linebackers

It has been mentioned elsewhere but it bears repeating -- if you want to get an idea of where the Steelers are headed (vis-a-vis the defensive scheme) one need only examine what players the team drafts at the linebacker position; and there should be no doubt that linebacker is a spot that is high on the Steelers' draft list.

Going into to the 2007 season there are eight linebackers currently listed on the team's depth chart (Clark Haggans, James Farrior, Rian Wallace, Richard Seigler -- practice squad, Larry Foote, Clint Kriewaldt, Joey Porter, and James Harrison) and of those, three (Mr. Porter, Mr. Haggans, and Mr. Harrison) are scheduled to become free agents at the end of the upcoming season, and two others (Mr. Farrior and Mr. Kriewaldt) are scheduled to be free agents at the conclusion of the 2008 season. Compounding that is the fact that four of these players (Mr. Farrior, Mr. Haggans, Mr. Kriewaldt, and Mr. Porter) will be thirty years of age, or older, when the 2007 season begins. Despite a rapid descent into old age, this group appears more than capable of handling the rigors of at least one more year.

For example, collectively, the fours starters (Mr. Haggans, Mr. Farrior, Mr. Foote, and Mr. Porter) missed a total of three games during the 2006 season, and that after missing a total of five games in 2005. Clearly durability does not appear to be an issue. On the field, the linebacking corps continues to perform at a high level -- as a group they combined for 7 interceptions (the highest total in the last seven years), 21 sacks (only 1/2 of a sack less than 2005), and 347 tackles & assists -- including James Farrior's team-leading 126, the third highest single-season total of his career (by way of comparison, Baltimore's much heralded starting linebackers combined for 353 tackles, and were led by Ray Lewis' 103) .

However, the 3-4 defense is designed to combat the running attack of the opposing offense, and the linebackers are the key to that. So, if there was a disappointment in 2006 it was that the Steelers' defense gave up the third highest number of net rushing yards (1,412) in the past seven seasons.

While the Steelers' linebackers continue to be amongst the best in the NFL there are questions of depth (will Arnold Harrison, who tore up knee ligaments return to the Steelers?) for 2007 season which must be immediately addressed, as well as long-term planning for 2008 and 2009. It is the hallmark of the free agency era in the NFL that a unit that is performing, and has performed, so well should simultaneously be such a significant question mark.