I Don't Want Him

This guy has been in the headlines of every person that has done a podcast or wrote an article about the Pittsburgh Steelers for the last couple of months. Funny thing is he's not on the Steelers and he's getting 100% more publicity than any Steeler at his position. He is the most annoying part of this off-season and now I just don't want him.

It all started when the Steelers traded Diontae Johnson to the Panthers. That gave anyone that covers the Steelers or NFL a license to name every WR in the NFL a possible candidate to be traded to the Steelers to be their number 1, 1B, or 2 Wide Receiver. They have done a fantastic job of naming all the WRs in the league. There's a couple with San Francisco, one with Seattle, one with Buffalo, one with Denver, one with Washington, and many assorted others.

One guy just keeps popping back up over and over and over again, though. Brandon Aiyuk. He apparently wants 30 million a year, and I don't think the Niners want to pay him 30 millions a year. He's caused all kind of havoc saying he wants to stay with San Fran, but at the same time saying, or making it known he wants 30 million. He is under contract for this year so he wants to extend that.

The Steelers do have salary cap space, around $16 million, but I can't see them paying a receiver that much.

Also, he may be a number one receiver, but he's not proven he can do that. Meanwhile, we have another guy already on the team that could be asking for a lot of cash next year. Pickens is still under contract this year and next, but if they want to keep him they might want to extend him before next season, because WR money is going up. Or, they can simply do what San Fran and Green Bay do and draft on or two a year. Seems like a smart thing to do with these prices. Then, at the end of the 3rd year try to find a buyer to give a draft pick or two.

I really do want Aiyuk despite the title of this article because he's a proven receiver. Maybe not a 1, but he's shown that he's at least a 2 and that's what the Steelers need. I'd really like to keep our first round pick next year and get a receiver then or a D line stud with it. Whether Cam stays after this year or not we still need a replacement soon.

The End of the Reed

Today marked the end of the road for Jeff Reed with the Steelers. Reed who has kicked numerous game winning field goals for the Steelers in his career was waived by the Steelers today. The reasons may be obvious. He's had quite a bit of trouble kicking from longer than 40 yards this year. But, Pittsburgh Sports Buzz thinks there's also something else going on behind the scenes.

Reed has had his off field incidents including the altercation with police having something to do with Public urination. Then there's the public intoxication incident. These were not highlights in his time with the Steelers.

He did not gain any favor during training camp also when he was openly critical of giving Daniel Sepulveda a chance to win the kickoff duties and before that being more than a little upset about getting the franchise tag.

Despite all this, Reed has been a fan favorite. Maybe that has something to do with his game winning field goals. He has been clutch for the Steelers until this season. He seemed to have an ability to figure out how to kick in the notoriously tricky Heinz Field crosswinds and the sloppy field. Monday night he struggled as has been the case this year. His attempt at a field goal looked like one of my drives off the number 1 fairway at Worthington Golf Club in West Virginia. He hit about 6 inches behind it and was lucky to get it off the ground.

In my keys for the off season and season the last few years when it looked like his tenure was coming to the end because of his misadventures I listed the resigning of Reed amongst the top priorities. The reasons are listed above: he has had success at Heinz Field and has been clutch in game winning situations.

I think Mike Tomlin and probably the Rooney became tired of his off season show and when his performances onfield started costing them points that spelled the end.

To his credit also I have read that he is a very charitable person. That's more than a lot of people can say and enough for me to wish him well. I'm sure he'll be picked up by another team, possibly the Bengals who just lost their kicker to a knee injury.