Jeff Reed-2010 Franchise Player

The Steelers have decided to give Jeff Reed the franchise tag. This tag allows the Steelers to offer the first contract to him when he becomes a free agent, and he is paid the average of the highest paid players at his position. Jeff Reed is 2nd on the Steelers all-time scoring list with 855. I think this is a good idea, because Jeff Reed is a consistent kicker, and has often helped the Steelers in important situations.

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Casey Hampton Decides to Stay

The Steelers best defensive lineman and 5 time ProBowler has decided to remain with the team after doubt that he would stay. Casey Hampton has agreed to a 3 year contract with the Steelers. This would run through 2012, the financial status of the deal has not been released however. I personally think this is great since he has been a huge part of this team and him staying will help the team to transition the younger defensive players. Ever since his rookie season I have watched Hampton disrupt offenses and stop the run. Thats what he does, and as all Steelers fans know, the main point of the Steelers defense.

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Steelers possible draft choices

The steelers may need to draft either defensively or o-line in the first round. Last year the line struggled to protect Roethlisberger and the defense let leads slip away. Terrence Cody is a possible pick on the defensive size due to his size and style of play. He would fit in with the steelers as a run stopper. He is 6/5 365 lbs and would play well beside or for casey hampton. Another good prospect would be a CB such as Patrick Robinson from Florida St. He is an all around solid cornerback, and the Steelers somewhat struggled at that position last year.

Steelers place "cap" on themselves

The Steelers have decided that although all teams would be allowed to forgo the salary cap this year, they will put the normal cap on themselves. The organization believes that it would be better to stick to the normal and not have to possibly correct this problem next year when a new contract may come out. If a new contract can't be reached by the fall, then there would be no salary cap altoghether. This would be the first time since '93 there would'nt be a cap.

New Pro Scout

Brandon Hunt has been just been hired as the pro scout coordinator. He started in Pittsburgh, but then went to the Texans from 2007 until now and has returned.

Steelers sign new WR

Steelers signed Brandon London as a backup WR. He most recently played for the Dolphins and only has a few catches, but has shown improvement and will hopefully be a good addition to the team.

Free agency in Pittsburgh

the time for free agency has come around in the NFL, and there will probably not be a lot of signings from the Steelers. They often don't use free agency has an option to help build the franchise, unless it is to keep their own players who have entered into the free agency stage of their contract. Players currently on the team such as Ryan Clark and James Farrior only made the team because players the Steelers wanted either left the team or couldn't be signed. Casey Hampton, Jeff Reed, and Ryan Clark will likely be their biggest concerns during free agency as they are great players on the team. Hopefully they will choose to remain in Pittsburgh.

Steelers- Why didn't they make the playoffs

In my opinion, we missed the playoffs because of a lack of defense in the 4th quarter. How many times had Roethlisberger led us down the field for a score, and the other team come back with a victory in the last couple minutes of the game. For some reason the defense couldn't save us from a five game slide against teams like Oakland, KC Chiefs, and the Browns. I mean the Browns and the Chiefs that is terrible. Hopefully the once great defense, will work to improve during the offseason.

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