With every offseason comes the hope that the Steelers will make a splash in the free agent market and sign a higher profile player that meets a need. Most times it ends with some cusp player signings like a Cedric Wilson or a Keiwan Ratliff. With no new CBA on the horizon, the unrestricted free agent pool will not be as deep as it has been in previous years, because players will need 6 years of service instead of the normal 4 years to become unrestricted. The smaller the pool, the more expensive the good players in the pool will likely cost and thus driving the Steelers further away.
With the uncertainty of future uncapped years and a possible lockout looming in 2011, I expect the Steelers once again to sit on the sidelines and see if any table scraps fall on the floor for the dogs. This is of course after the bigger dogs waiting for scraps get theirs first. The Steelers will once again look to the draft to address the biggest needs and rely heavily on their scouting department to unearth possible undrafted free agent players who can contribute as well.
If you were planning on staying up until midnight on March 4th, I would alter those plans unless you want to watch the fireworks from the shore. It\’s a yearly Steeler Nation tradition.
