Home Player Spotlight Steelers Do Suisham Right With Early Release

Steelers Do Suisham Right With Early Release

by Steeldad

The Pittsburgh Steelers released place kicker Shaun Suisham today ending any speculation as to who would claim the kicking job in 2016.

General Manager Kevin Colbert said this morning that Suisham had suffered a setback in his recovery from his knee injury suffered in the Hall of Fame game last year. The release means two things; first the Steelers are clearly sold on Chris Boswell as their kicker of the future. Secondly, the extra time allows Suisham more of an opportunity to catch on elsewhere in the league.

While the knee is a long way from where it needs to be the move still allows Suisham some flexibility. The Steelers could have had Suisham get ready for a competition with Boswell but it was looking less and less likely that he would even be ready.

With Boswell now entrenched as the kicker, “thanks” must be given to Suisham who came into Pittsburgh at a time when the kicking job was for lack of a better term, a “mess.” His overall accuracy was just shy of 90% and he especially was deadly from 49 yards and in.

Besides the nearly 90% field goal accuracy, he was also 100% on his PATs (173/173) so his reliability was never a question but ultimately, it had nothing to do with kicking that cost him his job in Pittsburgh. Let’s also not forget that when the Steelers were struggling with their kickers, Sushi came off the couch, literally.

If you recall, Suisham went down to his knees to assist on a tackle against the New Orleans Saints in the first game of the 2015 preseason. The fact that he’s still having problems with the knee is troublesome. Post-Gazette reporter Ray Fittapaldo is reporting the injury could be a “career-ender.”

From the financial standpoint, Mark Kaboly of the Trib tweeted that his relsease takes over two million off the books. Our SCB “Capologist” Ben sent me a note saying $2.2 million in dead money will be on the slate for 2017 though.

With the Steelers looking for added depth in key areas, extra money is always good. Whether or not Suisham catches on anywhere else in 2016, Steelers’ fans definitely owe him some love.

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2 comments

Ben Anderson June 24, 2016 - 4:10 pm

I doubt very much that Suisham is in camp with any team at all. There was no upside to letting him go now without getting something in return.
“Squeezem” or “Sushi”, if you prefer will have an epilogue that will remove any sympathy you have for the way things turned out, even while you express your gratitude for his time as a Steeler.
Suisham was signed off his couch in 2010 after a disastrous home game vs New England by Jeff Reed, that Reed followed up by doing post game interviews in a t-shirt that read “Haters Gonna Hate” while trying to claim that fans and media had it in for him, Dan Sepulveda and Greg Warren. (Note: I was at that game. Reed was flat awful.)
All in, Suisham made $12,047,911 over the course of 5-1/2 seasons and one training camp (2005) in Pittsburgh. Not too shabby for coming in a few times per game and kicking a football, huh?

SCB Steelers Quick Hitters for 6/27/16 - Steel City Blitz June 27, 2016 - 12:08 pm

[…] With his release last week from the Steelers, Shaun Suisham has since announced his retirement. The knee he so badly damaged in the preseason opener just hasn’t healed well. He’s a good guy who came along at the right time for the Steelers. Wish him well. […]

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