I try on a daily basis to take Twitter and other forms of social media for what they are as much as I can but sometimes I find myself just having to set the old phone or keyboard down and walk away. It just amazes me sometimes the level of ignorance some fans have regarding the NFL’s off-season.
I don’t mean to be crude or insensitive but some of you need a reality check.
Did you really expect to hear “The Steelers re-sign Mike Wallace” or “Steelers trade for Percy Harvin” over the last few days? If you did, then I have some lovely ocean front property for you in Nebraska.
Of all years, this is the last the Steelers would do anything to make a splash in free agency. This team is more cash-strapped than the Duggar Family at Christmas time. Even if the Steelers were sitting pretty like some of these other teams with $20 or $30 million dollars in cap space, I can assure you that Pittsburgh would still not be on the prowl for top name free agents. It just isn’t how the Rooney Family runs this organization.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I approve 100% with how they deal with free agency, but I also can’t tell you that the way they do things is totally wrong either.
The one thing I need you to realize is that this team is in transition and it must get younger and it must get more fiscally capable. The hard part about accepting this is that the quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, is in his prime and I hate the fact that perhaps his best years may be wasted trying to rebuild an already tired defense while trying to add mid-level weapons around him.
Perhaps you aren’t overly excited about the re-signing of Larry Foote, Ramon Foster and William Gay but those moves still shouldn’t surprise you. They are moves of value and safety and this is how the Steelers do things.
I often wonder if fans weren’t spoiled into thinking that every free agent signing is supposed to work out like James Farrior? Remember people, he was thought to be washed up and ineffective when he was unsigned by the New York Jets. Many people weren’t real crazy about him signing with the Steelers back then either.
Would I like for the Steelers to be able to sign a Paul Krueger or an Andy Levitre in free agency? Hell yes I would but it isn’t happening any time soon and the sooner you and everyone else gets a grasp on this concept the better.
None of us wants to relive the 1980’s with this organization but if they don’t start drafting better and can’t get their salary cap better adjusted then that is exactly where we are headed. You are allowed to have high expectations for the Steelers year in and year out, but you also have to be realistic about them too.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @steeldad and follow the website at @SCBlitz. He can be heard Mondays on Trib-Live Radio at 4pm ET talking Steelers.
