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National Football League
Draft King Analysis
February 15, 2009
Lou Pickney, DraftKing.com
Reader feedback is always welcomed here. Send your thoughts to Draft King at LouPickney@gmail.com.
Valentine's Day has passed, the Daytona 500 has ended, and now it's mailbag time!
From: John Dirda
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 6:59 PM
Subject: Steelers Line
Hey Lou, I just wanted to hear your opinion on this one. The Steelers have
4 O-Linemen going into free agency this year. I think we should let Chris
Kemoteau and Willie Colon, (who is restricted), walk. I most definitely
believe we should get a deal done with Max Starks for the 5 year range, he
is only 27. As far as Marvel Smith, I think we should offer him a 2 year
deal at a hometown discount to play right tackle in order to groom a rookie,
maybe even Tony Hills. If we can't get a deal done with Smith, then Trai
Essex is the starter at RT and we need to sign a free agent and draft a
solid prospect at tackle. Sorry to ramble, just this is probably one of the
biggest years for the Steelers in free agency in recent history. What are
your thoughts?
Lou: It can be tough for a team that just won the Super Bowl to deal with free agency. Think about it: less than two weeks ago, the Steelers were in a parade in downtown Pittsburgh celebrating their Super Bowl win. Now the reality of free agency is setting in, and particularly with so many offensive linemen about to become free agents (it's actually five total), the Steelers have a number of choices to make in a relatively short amount of time.
Here are the Pittsburgh offensive linemen who are slated for free agency (the salary information came from planetsteelers.com):
OT Max Starks (1/10/1982) $6,899,800 [3rd round pick, 2004]
OT Marvel Smith (8/6/1978) $4,551,440 [2nd round pick, 2000]
OG Chris Kemoeatu (1/4/1983) $1,423,240 [6th round pick, 2005]
OG Trai Essex (12/5/1982) $932,280 [3rd round pick, 2005]
OT Willie Colon (4/9/1983) $451,720 [4th round pick, 2006]
Of that group, only Willie Colon is a restricted free agent (with just three years of accrued NFL service). I'd be surprised if Pittsburgh didn't offer him a one-year tender similar to what it did last off-season with Kemoeatu and Essex. There has been speculation that Pittsburgh might franchise Kemoteau, though I don't anticipate the Steelers doing that.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review predicted that the Steelers would make a push to retain either Max Starks or Marvel Smith before free agency begins on February 27. As of now, neither one has inked a new deal.
One year ago the Steelers used the transition tag on Starks, who signed a one-year contract for $6.85 million. I'd think that Pittsburgh would keep Starks over Smith, but it might not be that simple unless the Steelers are willing to put the franchise tag into play. Marvel Smith turns 31 in August, and him coming off of a season-ending back injury doesn't give him much of a buzz heading into free agency.
It's possible that Pittsburgh would be happy to clear out some of its offensive linemen in order to bring in some fresh blood. Ben Roethlisberger has taken a beaten during his time in the NFL, and 2008 was no exception in that regard. It's hard to be overly critical of an offensive line that just won a Super Bowl, but protecting Roethlisberger should be a top priority for the Steelers. How that translates into its approach to free agency remains to be seen.
|  | Aaron Curry won the 2008 Butkus Award. (Icon SMI)
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From: Danny Stone
To: LouPickney@gmail.com
Date: Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 7:58 PM
Subject: Browns 2009 draft
Hey Lou,
Been following your site for the last few years and am already counting down the days to this year's draft. Can you give Browns fans some insight on what they might do in this years' draft. Everybody seems to think Curry is a lock with the #5 pick as OLB is a glaring weakness on their defense, but do you see them going with another 'backer with the 37th pick (similar to the Steelers drafting Timmons and Woodley in '07) or do they go with the best possible RB to share some carries with Lewis? (McCoy, Brown, Ringer)
I know free agency is around the corner, the D.A. rumors are as loud as ever, and there is a slight chance they could trade down in the first round to stock up on picks as they don't have a 3rd or 5th this year. Can you shed a little light for the dawgs?
Lou: I'd hardly say that Aaron Curry is a lock for the #5 slot in the draft, but him going to Cleveland would make a great deal of sense. The Browns haven't had a star linebacker since returning to the NFL in 1999, and Curry would be a great addition for Cleveland. Plenty of people (myself included) have projected Curry to Cleveland at #5 and then Ohio State CB Malcolm Jenkins to Green Bay at #9, but it's also quite possible that the Browns could draft Jenkins at #5, particularly if Curry is off the board at that point.
In all likelihood Cleveland won't be trading down from #5. There are two sub-sections of the draft: the top five picks and the rest of the draft. This is set up due to rookie salary cap limitations, the details of which make my head hurt. I explained this phenomenon on here in 2007, but just take my word for it: Cleveland is very unlikely to trade down from #5.
As for Cleveland in round two, the Browns might be in a position to select USC OLB Clay Matthews or Virginia OLB Clint Sintim or Northern Illinois OLB Larry English. It's possible that Cleveland could draft Curry and also target an OLB at #36 overall, particularly if the Browns want to use Curry as a 3-4 ILB.
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