The Steelers took care of one big problem on Thursday, as it looks as if their biggest free agent to be will not be leaving the team. Nose tackle Casey Hampton has inked a deal according to KDKA-TV that will pay him $21 mil over three seasons.
A source tells KDKA-TV Sports that Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton has agreed to a three year, $21 million contract to stay with the team with $11 million of the contract guaranteed. If the two sides weren’t able to agree to a long-term deal, the Steelers would’ve placed the franchise tag on Hampton. The franchise tag would’ve gotten Hampton a one-year, $7 million contract.
The signing is a big relief for the club, as now they can focus on looking for cornerback and help in other areas of the team that may need it. This deal for Hampton should mean he can retire a Steeler.
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Eric Dolecki
February 25, 2010 at 10:08 am
That’s awesome news!
DrGeorge
February 25, 2010 at 12:47 pm
This was a move bred of necessity. Signing Hampton vastly simplifies the Steelers strategy for the upcoming draft. While Hampton is a lengendary player, his quality of play has declined in recent years, understandably at his age, and he is not worth $7 million. But there simply isn’t anyone in the draft or free agency who has the ability to replace him. What the Steelers really bought was a little time in which to fix the larger problem of an aging D-line.
Now the Steelers need to find and develop the talent to replace Hampton and our aging DEs with equivalent young talent. Given our other needs (CB, slow ILBs, and injury-prone S) on defense, the D-line upgrade may start in 2010, but probably will not be completed until 2011 or 2012.
Therefore, the challenge for the next two years is this: can we field a playoff quality defense with only an average D-line? LeBeau found no solution for this in 2009. But it wasn’t his fault. No one else has been able to do it either. The ability to sack QBs and disrupt an opposing offense starts with D-line dominance. Like a Porsche, there is no substitute. Without it, the pressure on the LBs and secondary is too great. That is what happened to us in 2009. And if we field the same, but even older, D-line in 2010, it will happen to us again.
There are two paradigms for D-line dominance: power (New Orleans) or speed (Indy). Right now, the Steelers don’t have either. And there is no quick fix.