Haggans Watch 2008 - 3/20 Edition...

The rumors are true folks -- Yesterday, potential Steelers cast-off Clark Haggans paid a visit to our AFC North rivals, the Cleveland Browns.

As if they haven't overpaid enough free agents already this offseason, it's sad to say, but Haggans might actually be an upgrade for the Browns at OLB. And since clearly we don't have much room left for him, perhaps this is for the best.

Now you might be asking yourself why I'm treating this as a sure thing...well, I mean, they did sign Donte Stallworth for what? $5 million a year for the next 7 years or some such sickening number? Remind me again how many pro bowls Stallworth has been to? Oh yeah, right.

Anyways...so yesterday Haggans visited the Browns and frankly if he doesn't come away with at least $5.5 million over the next 2-3 years I'll be pretty surprised. And just to refresh our memories of how Haggans made his case in this contract year - 59 tackles (38 solo including the one playoff game) and 4 sacks (all in the 1st nine games and none after). Enjoy Cleveland. He's all yours.

No, in all honesty I have nothing against Clark Haggans. Frankly I'm surprised he hasn't gotten more calls this offseason. But for whatever reason he seems not to fit into any other teams plans just as much as he does not fit into ours. I hope he does go to Cleveland. That'll certainly add a tiny little bit more fuel to the rivalry.

We shall see...

Why do I keep talking about Clark Haggans anyway??? Weird.

REFERENCE MATERIAL:
Rival Steelers LB Visits Browns [Plain Dealer]

Something's AFoote On The South Side...

Or perhaps more appropriately - Something's AHaggans...get it...you know, like Larry Foote, but only Clark Haggans...alright, forget it.

Anyways, I just want to make one quick observation and then step aside and open things up to you guys...and that is -- What is Clark Haggans still doing in town?

I heard last week that Cleveland was trying to line up a visit. But besides that, I haven't heard shit about him or his status as an unrestricted free agent. Might the Steelers be talking to his representation about a compromised new contract? I don't see how we could, given our current cap sitch. But I'm still trying to get to the bottom of all this...I thought he'd have been long gone by now...

Oh, and the Steelers will allegedly be meeting with a backup safety/special teams ace "this week." So we've got that goin' for us too...I guess...

Now that we've exchanged pleasantries, what I really want to know is - draft. Who will the Steelers pick? What you got? Let's get the conversation started.

PS - See you in LA bitches! Tomorrow's the day.

UPDATE: Methinks this Keyaron Fox signing may speed up the process a bit...

Vote Clark Haggans Off The Island...

"We like to do things our way...We believe that if we bring a player up and bring him through our system, being in this organization, having the coaches train them the way we want, that that's the way you develop a team."
- Dan Rooney

The Steelers mantra - build through the draft, don't hold on to aging, declining talent, unless said talent accepts less money and/or less importance. It's a formula that has worked for years, and one that I can get behind most of the time, although some might choose to disagree.

And since we've got nothing better to talk about right now, I figured it might be a good time to discuss this offseason's potential departures...The Steelers have just a few free agents, some unrestricted and some restricted. The complete list looks like this:

Unrestricted ~ Alan Faneca, Max Starks, Dan Kreider, Clark Haggans, Brian St. Pierre, Nick Eason, and Travis Kirschke.

Restricted ~ Chris Kemoeatu, Trai Essex, Nate Washington, and Greg Warren.

I think it's pretty well settled how most of these will play out, but here's where I stand, for the record:

KEEP - Max Starks and Nick Eason as far as unrestricteds, and start thinking about the possibilities of keeping all restricteds.

You'll notice I have not made any plea for Alan Faneca. I previously had felt like we should do everything we can to keep him. But just playing devil's advocate, I think I may have changed my mind. You can't ignore that he's getting up in the years (31), and will command a pretty hefty salary wherever he ends up. So I wouldn't necessarily think it's a bad thing to lose him and hopefully gain a future starter in the 1st or 2nd round. That said, it'd be tough to lose a perrenial pro bowl lineman...especially after the season we had. All I can say is sometimes things that at first seem bad, turn out to be pretty good in the long run.

As for the rest of this mess -

Starks is 6'8", 337 and 26 years old. In the past, he seemed like what most of us would refer to as "a bust" at Right Tackle. However, he renewed our interest this year by filling in as a pretty damn capable Left Tackle (his natural position). Now how that translates over 16 games, I don't know. But I think I'd prefer to keep him in Black and Gold unless the front office has some master plan to trade up and draft Jake Long that I don't know about.

Eason ain't exactly Aaron Smith, but fortunately no one is asking him to be. While we all saw how hard it was to "replace" Smith this season. At least if we have someone semi-capable around to fill that spot, we should be in good shape (this assumes we don't draft a premier DE). Some might say keep Kirschke, release Eason. But I'm a firm believer in the power of what ESPN talking heads vacuously call "upside." Kirschke is 33, Eason is 27. Advantage Eason.

Kreider - god bless the man, I love him, one of my favorite Steelers by far. But he also isn't getting any younger and that torn ACL back in November really put a damper on any plans he might have had of being remotely effective in the future. Sorry my friend, but I think this is where we say goodbye.

Haggans - see post subject line.

St. Pierre - Refuse to devote whole sentences to this topic...Need a new young QB to groom as Chuck Batch's eventual replacement...(And if nothing else, him leaving would be one less Steeler that Pittsburgh psychos can impersonate).

Nate Washington surprised the hell out of all of us this year by actually catching passes...for TOUCHDOWNS! Yes he still dropped a bunch. But he's never going to be our #1 or #2. So if we can hold on to him and get some solid play like we saw out of him this season as the #3, I'm happy.

Kemoeatu needs a chance to start. Or at least that's how I'm feeling right now. We need to know if this guy is a viable solution on that line and with Faneca more than likely moving on, his shot should be imminent.

Essex showed all the doubters that he's at least a serviceable backup. And like I mentioned when discussing Faneca, with the line play we had last year, we ought to try and hold on to anything positive (that doesn't ask for $7-8 mil a year). After all, he won't be commanding Faneca money anyhow.

And finally, Greg Warren - I have a feeling that the Steelers recent long snapper signing was by design, knowing that Warren has one year left. If this new guy works out, we may not be seeing Greg Warren too much longer. However, Warren is one of my guys. You can't underestimate the value of a solid long snapper...(am I seriously still talking about this topic?)

Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing who actually stays/goes - mostly because I've got something extremely entertaining planned for said occasion. All I can tell you is it will involve youtube (how could you go wrong with that?)...Hey, what else do I have to look forward to with the draft 3 months away?

Anyone have anything else to say about free agency? Anyone you think we should particularly keep? Anyone you're looking at to bring in? Anyone NOT want to make a play for Matt Jones and/or Ernest Wilford? Did anyone actually get through that whole post???

Oh and also -- not a free agent, unfortch, but I wouldn't exactly be devastated if the Steelers moved Cedrick Wilson...beyond that gadget play against the Jags (it was the Jags, right?), I'm pretty sure he will be best remembered for being a non-factor in 2007 and having a crazy girlfriend. Think he's worth the $2 or so million we're scheduled to pay him next year??

REFERENCE MATERIAL:
Faneca's Not The Only Steelers Free Agent [Fanhouse]
Steelers Haggans Probably Moving On [Tribune-Review]
2008 Steelers Free Agents [Pittsburgh Sports Insider]
Your Pittsburgh Steelers Offseason Overview [Doubt About It]