Larry Foote to be cut

[Return Of S&B]

http://www.profootballtalk.com/category/rumor-mill/

 

Steelers Cutting Larry Foote

Posted by Mike Florio on April 28, 2009, 11:22 a.m.

A league source tells us that the Steelers will be cutting linebacker Larry Foote.

 

More details to come after radio spot with Paul Allen of KFAN in Minnesota.

 

 

Foote’s Departure Clears $2.885 Million In Cap Space

Posted by Mike Florio on April 28, 2009, 11:46 a.m.

With the Steelers dumping veteran linebacker Larry Foote, the uncharacteristically cap-strapped defending Super Bowl champs will clear $2.885 million in 2009 salary space.

 

Foote has started every game for five straight years. In 2008, he had his lowest output of that half-decade run, with only 63 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

 

Lawrence Timmons, a 2007 first-round pick, will be expected to earn and keep one of the starting jobs at inside linebacker. To date, Timmons has been overshadowed by 2007 second-rounder LaMarr Woodley, who has become an impact player on the outside.

 

And it’s a bit surprising that the Steelers are making the move now, two months after the start of the 2009 league year. Cutting Foote in February would have given him a fair chance to participate in the free-agent feeding frenzy.

 

We also wonder whether the locker room will support the sudden departure of Foote, and whether there might be something more to the story that would make the guys left behind more inclined to accept the move.

[keggerz]

it was only a matter of time before timmons was starting ...not sure that I expected Foote to be cut but then again nothing shocks me anymore....now the question is can Timmons owners keep the faith until he ends up taking over for Farrior to see his IDP stats really take a jump

[Tford]

it was only a matter of time before timmons was starting ...not sure that I expected Foote to be cut but then again nothing shocks me anymore....now the question is can Timmons owners keep the faith until he ends up taking over for Farrior to see his IDP stats really take a jump

 

I think if you still are a Timmons owner and haven't cut bait yet, your faith is secure. Last year would have been tough on you as a Timmons owner to see LaMarr Woodley take the next step while Timmons' impact was minimal at best. I think if you were going to cut him, last year would have been the time to do it. If you still have him on yuor roster at this point, you gotta believe.

 

Just the fact that he should be starting is promising to a would-be owner.

[peepinmofo]

Or if maybe you moved him for the 1.12 in ATAP knowing one day he would become a LB2 at worst, but having that day come a lot sooner than expected.

 

[Return Of S&B]

If it wasnt for the 3 year Taxi Squad period, I would have given up on Timmons last year...glad I was patient enough to keep him on two rosters.

 

Foote is reported to be interested in going back to Detroit to play for his hometown Lions...so his story may not be over yet. He probably would be an improvement over Paris Lenon in the middle.

Edited April 28, 2009 by Return Of S&B

[Tford]

If it wasnt for the 3 year Taxi Squad period, I would have given up on Timmons last year...glad I was patient enough to keep him on two rosters.

 

Foote is reported to be interested in going back to Detroit to play for his hometown Lions...so his story may not be over yet. He probably would be an improvement over Paris Lenon in the middle.

 

I believe Paris is still unsigned. The Lions have been running Cody Spencer at Mike early this offseason and rookie DeAndre Levy is expected to get some reps. I think Detroit knew all along that Foote was going to get cut which is why they opted not to draft LB very high.

[keggerz]

from last years dynasty watch Edited April 28, 2009 by keggerz

[Menudo]

 

 

Steelers: Foote asks to be released

With Timmons being groomed and ready to step in, linebacker wants more action

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Larry Foote -- "I love the team, I love winning, but you can't keep being unhappy.

 

Larry Foote played a lot of football as a starting inside linebacker for the Steelers the past five seasons, and in a strange twist, his search for more playing time will cause them to release him.

 

Foote said he wants to continue his career as a starting linebacker where he can play more often and asked the Steelers to accommodate him. After the team found no offers in a trade over the weekend of the draft, sources on the club say they plan to release him sometime after this weekend's minicamp, which Foote will not attend.

 

The Steelers were going to release him yesterday, then decided to wait as they pursue last-ditch efforts to trade him.

 

"It was my doing," Foote told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I wanted to go. They were trying to trade me."

 

Foote has one year left on his contract, which was scheduled to pay him a salary of $2,885,000 in 2009. There was much speculation leading up to the Super Bowl that the Steelers might release him or ask him to take a reduction in pay because of that salary and because 2007 first-round draft choice Lawrence Timmons is behind him. Foote indicated during Super Bowl week that he would not take a pay cut.

 

Last season, he thought Timmons might take his job. Yesterday, Foote sounded as if he were sure of that.

 

"It's nothing personal," said Foote, who turns 29 on June 12. "James Farrior never slows down, and Timmons came in and I can't grow here any more. They turned me into a two-down linebacker last year. I was stuck in a role.

 

"I love the team, I love winning, but you can't keep being unhappy. It got to the point where they were not giving me a chance."

 

Foote did not attend the team's first two voluntary workouts last week. His agent, Ken Kremer, said last week that Foote had been working out in Detroit. Kremer also said there had been no contract discussions between him and the Steelers.

 

Foote said his agent was calling teams to try to place the linebacker elsewhere. There were reports during the week preceding the Super Bowl that Foote wanted to play for his hometown Detroit Lions if he were released, and he told both Detroit newspapers as much yesterday.

 

Shortly after last season, coach Mike Tomlin said he wanted to keep Foote around and had no plans to release him, but it would be hard for Tomlin not to start his 2007 first-round pick, especially considering how well Timmons played last season.

 

Foote's release or trade also would create the salary cap room of his $2,885,000 less the amount paid to his replacement.

 

Foote, a fourth-round draft pick from Michigan in 2002, has been a starter at inside linebacker since 2004 and has not missed a start during those five seasons.

 

During the final days of the Steelers spring workouts in June 2008, Foote wondered how long he would remain a starter after Timmons was placed behind him on the depth chart.

 

"I don't think it's competition," Foote said nearly a year ago. "I really think it's just a matter of time until they throw him in there, just because of the politics of the game -- and it looks like he can play."

 

Yet Foote did hold off Timmons all last season. Foote started all 16 regular-season games and three in the postseason. Timmons replaced him in their nickel defense on passing downs.

 

Foote finished fifth on the team with 86 tackles, his fewest since he became a starter. He led the team in tackles in 2005 with 123 and followed with 118 in 2006. Timmons had 71 tackles in 2008, his second season, without starting a game. His five sacks ranked fourth and he also intercepted a pass and returned it 89 yards against New England.

 

"My time might be winding down at that position," Foote said in June. "It's just a matter of when the coaches throw [Timmons] in there."

 

Apparently, Foote felt that time was now.

[MonkeyOne]

from last years dynasty watch

 

This is why I now have Timmons in a dynasty.