Steelers cut Larry Foote

[Rob0729]

As opposed to Foote, who HAS PROVEN that hes NOT a full time starter. Yes, Timmons is a first round pick, but he was specifically drafted to replace Foote.
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If Foote was that good, it would be the 34 year old James Farrior being asked to take less money.

And yet Foote has been a full time starter for a large portion of his career. Talk about being unproven. How can you prove to be a full time starter when you are only allowed to be a fulltime starter for what is consistently one of the best defenses year in and year out.

Also, Timmons was drafted to replace Farrior, not Foote. Farrior is 34 years old and was supposed to be a free agent this offseason. The Steelers were intending on pass on renewing Farrior when they drafted Timmons in 2007. Unfortunately for Timmons and Foote, Farrior decided to have one of his best seasons in 2007 and the Steelers decided that they couldn't part with Farrior and gave him an extention before this past season. Why would the Steelers draft Timmons to replace Foote when Foote was second on the team in tackles and had a career high in sacks the season before Timmons was drafted. In April of 2007, Foote was considered an up and comer in terms of LBs.

As for asking Farrior to take less money, he is in the second year of his deal and because of the 30% rule, they may not be able to redo his contract or cut him. The 30% rule says that his salary cannot be more than 30% higher in 2010 than 2009. That hinders renegotiations with a lot of players. Foote is in the last year of his deal and he probably easier to renegotiate or cut for cap reason.

 

[Rob0729]

Vrabel, Porter, Holmes, Kirkland, Greene.... it's not as if Vrabel is a lone example of a player who wasn't "terrible" afterwards, although Kirkland was at the end of his career and didn't last much longer.

I don't know if I would count Greene either. He spent 3 years in the middle of his career with the Steelers. He did spend 8 years with the Rams before he became a Steeler.

 

[RayClay]

The interesting thing is that Vrabel was a Steelers castoff, wasn't he? It seems to me that, though both teams play a 3-4, their overall defensive philosophies are pretty different. It could be that players who can't find a place in one, might be well suited to the other.

Again, don't know much about Foote, but we've got cap space and if he might provide depth I'm all for it.

Their drafting and FA philosophies are different. They draft 1st 2nd and 3rd rounders while we draft 7ths. Farrior was originally the eighth pick in the draft.

I have the breakdown of draft picks in a previous thread. Last year was the first in BB's tenure we drafted a LB higher than the 5th round.

If you start at LB for the Steelers, you've faced stiff competition. FA Harrison took six years to break through.

We have 3 1sts at DL, with backups like Green that could start elsewhere. We just took 3 more.

 

[madmike77]

Foote was a solid starter for a few years. He was a low pick (4th or 5th rounder) who wasn't expected to do much other than fill in and he won a job based largely on determination.

He really isn't that athletic, but he does read plays decently and is a good run-stopper. He is limited in pass coverage but he's not terrible.

I think he might be a decent fit for the Pats, but I also think he really wants to go back to Michigan and that's where he'll wind up.