CaptainHook Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 An already suspect Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line was further weakened Tuesday when coach Mike Tomlin announced that starting left tackle Max Starks will miss the rest of the season with a left knee injury. The loss of Starks, who was hurt in last week's loss to the Ravens, means the Steelers will go into Saturday's wild-card playoff game against Jacksonville with their third different left tackle this season. It is expected that third-year veteran Trai Essex, who played the final three quarters against Baltimore after Starks left the game, will be the starter. Essex has appeared in only three games this season. For his career, the former Northwestern lineman has appeared in only 24 games, with four starts, all of them in his 2005 rookie season. Essex, 25, was a surprising third-round selection in the 2005 draft after starting the final 37 games of his college career at left tackle. Few teams had Essex rated as high in that draft as the Steelers did. Another option for the Steelers would be to move Pro Bowl left guard Alan Faneca to tackle, as they did for nine games in 2003, but the coaching staff probably doesn't want to disrupt the line that much. The team's usual starter at left tackle, Marvel Smith, underwent back surgery last week to address a disk problem that bothered him much of the season. Pittsburgh did not place Smith on injured reserve and the Steelers are hopeful he might be able to play if the Steelers advance to the divisional round. Starks started four games in place of Smith this year. The four-year veteran was the starting right tackle for two years, but lost his job to second-year pro Willie Colon in training camp. Starks suffered damage to the meniscus cartilage Sunday and will require surgery. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the spring. Although he enjoyed a career season, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 47 times in 2007 and often forced to scramble out of trouble. In the regular-season meeting against the Jaguars, a 29-22 loss at Heinz Field on Dec. 16, Roethlisberger was sacked five times. Tomlin held Roethlisberger, who is battling a sore shoulder and sprained ankle, out of the regular-season finale to give him a rest before the playoffs begin. In addition to Starks, the Steelers will also be without linebacker and special teams captain Clint Kriewaldt, who will be placed on IR with a neck injury. from ESPN.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donutrun Jellies Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Dang. Gotta rebuild that line in the offseason ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainHook Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 . . . especially if they lose Faneca to free agency . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 . . . especially if they lose Faneca to free agency . . . Do fans still want him to sign at a bargain price? Come on pay the man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menudo Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Do fans still want him to sign at a bargain price? Come on pay the man. They would pay the man. However, they just payed Polamalu, and they have to pay Roethlisberger, as next year is the last on his contract. With Faneca wanting and deserving top dollar for guards, the Steelers simply don't have enough money to go around. It is unfortunate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 They would pay the man. However, they just payed Polamalu, and they have to pay Roethlisberger, as next year is the last on his contract. With Faneca wanting and deserving top dollar for guards, the Steelers simply don't have enough money to go around. It is unfortunate. Perhaps if they had incentives for blocking punts they could clear up cap space. Is it the cap that is preventing it or not wanting to pay what he wants? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainHook Posted January 1, 2008 Author Share Posted January 1, 2008 They would pay the man. However, they just payed Polamalu, and they have to pay Roethlisberger, as next year is the last on his contract. With Faneca wanting and deserving top dollar for guards, the Steelers simply don't have enough money to go around. It is unfortunate. I don't buy it. The Steelers are very much like the Colts in that they don't pursue free agents. They draft well. But the Colts are somehow able to retain the guys they draft (Manning, Harrison, Wayne, Freeney, Sanders) AND sign them to HUGE deals. Yet, they still fit everyone under the cap. The Steelers have not come near paying what the Colts have. I can only remember them paying decent money to Ward. Polamalu was the top paid safety at the time of his deal. So you've got TWO guys signed to big deals. Roeth will be the third. Is there someone else I am missing? Either the Steelers are cheap, or they don't value Faneca as much as everyone else does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I don't buy it. The Steelers are very much like the Colts in that they don't pursue free agents. They draft well. But the Colts are somehow able to retain the guys they draft (Manning, Harrison, Wayne, Freeney, Sanders) AND sign them to HUGE deals. Yet, they still fit everyone under the cap. The Steelers have not come near paying what the Colts have. I can only remember them paying decent money to Ward. Polamalu was the top paid safety at the time of his deal. So you've got TWO guys signed to big deals. Roeth will be the third. Is there someone else I am missing? Either the Steelers are cheap, or they don't value Faneca as much as everyone else does. And they sent a message to the team when Hines Ward had to hold out to get paid. Faneca has been asked to offer the Steelers a good deal and he said no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Do fans still want him to sign at a bargain price? Come on pay the man. It is not the fans that want him to sign at a bargain price. It is the Steelers front office. The Steelers would be much better off with Faneca on that O Line. They need to draft heavily with or without Faneca staying. I think they should seriously consider making him a very good offer and use quite a few dratf picks on the line. Without a solid O Line, Ben is going to continue to get hit and eventually one of them will take him out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Seattle should have plenty of cap room and will likely be in the hunt to sign Faneca. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slovak Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Seattle should have plenty of cap room and will likely be in the hunt to sign Faneca. Would be fitting, that is where most Steelers end up anyway, Willie Williams, Chad Brown, Levon Kirkland.... weird huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Would be fitting, that is where most Steelers end up anyway, Willie Williams, Chad Brown, Levon Kirkland.... weird huh? John L Williams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 It is not the fans that want him to sign at a bargain price. It is the Steelers front office. The Steelers would be much better off with Faneca on that O Line. They need to draft heavily with or without Faneca staying. I think they should seriously consider making him a very good offer and use quite a few dratf picks on the line. Without a solid O Line, Ben is going to continue to get hit and eventually one of them will take him out. I know but I wondered what the fans thought too. In one game he was asked if he would do that and he calmly said no. The Packers are frugal too(after bed results from paying Freeman and seeing him go downhill) yet they do pay players like river and Donald Lee for past performance. For me Faneca and Hines Ward represent the Steelers and if they have trouble getting paid what do the other players think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menudo Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I don't buy it. The Steelers are very much like the Colts in that they don't pursue free agents. They draft well. But the Colts are somehow able to retain the guys they draft (Manning, Harrison, Wayne, Freeney, Sanders) AND sign them to HUGE deals. Yet, they still fit everyone under the cap. The Steelers have not come near paying what the Colts have. I can only remember them paying decent money to Ward. Polamalu was the top paid safety at the time of his deal. So you've got TWO guys signed to big deals. Roeth will be the third. Is there someone else I am missing? Either the Steelers are cheap, or they don't value Faneca as much as everyone else does. I remember seeing that the Steelers had the least money under the cap entering this year. If there is a way for them to sign them both, I would be a happy man, unfortunately, I just don't see it happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I remember seeing that the Steelers had the least money under the cap entering this year. If there is a way for them to sign them both, I would be a happy man, unfortunately, I just don't see it happening. http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/numbers.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Irish Doggy Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I wonder if the Steelers watched what happened to Cincy this year when they lost LG Steinbach to Cleveland... Guards are something of a dime a dozen until you have a really good one... or lose a really good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I wonder if the Steelers watched what happened to Cincy this year when they lost LG Steinbach to Cleveland... Guards are something of a dime a dozen until you have a really good one... or lose a really good one. Or Seattle and Hutch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menudo Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/numbers.asp Well, that is better than it was. I'm hopeful that something gets done. I am completely aware of how important Faneca is to this team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Well, that is better than it was. I'm hopeful that something gets done. I am completely aware of how important Faneca is to this team. I think it's going up another $6 this year, but Roethlisberger will be expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainHook Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 I think it's going up another $6 this year, but Roethlisberger will be expensive. Wow. I thought it would go up by more than 6 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Wow. I thought it would go up by more than 6 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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