Safety Ryan Mundy – Steelers 2011 Free Agent
Free Agent Classification: RFA (restricted free agent)
2010 Salary Estimation: $395,000 Base – $395,000 Cap Charge
Analysis: Onward we go into the offseason and we continue our breakdown player by player of each of the Steelers free agents. Next up for analysis is safety and special teams player Ryan Mundy. Mundy logged a little over 180 snaps on defense in 2010, with 140 of them coming in the final 3 regular seasons games. Mundy started in place of the injured Troy Polamalu at strong safety in week 15 against the Jets and week 16 against the Panthers. In week 17, he was in for Polamalu early in the 2nd half when the game was well in hand. Mundy was not awful in snaps logged at strong safety, but he also never really stood out either.
Mundy might be most remembered in the Jets game for missing a clear shot on a possible 3rd down sack of quarterback Mark Sanchez, who then completed a 16 yard pass to receiver Braylon Edwards to keep the Jets final scoring drive going that resulted in a field goal. Those things happen though. In addition to those snaps at strong safety, he also received spot duty at free safety in place of Ryan Clark. He seemed to fill in fine there and never seemed over his head at either safety position. In addition to his limited defensive snaps, Mundy also was a vital cog on special teams, where he logged 11 tackles on kick and punt coverage units.
Future: The Steelers only carried 4 true safeties during the season on the 53 man roster and Mundy was the one they turned to most of the time when either Polamalu or Clark were not in. Will Allen was the 4th safety and is mostly known for his special teams contributions. The Steelers once again have added Da\’Mon Cromartie-Smith to the offseason roster and might draft a safety in April as well as sign a few other safety types to have as camp bodies. Mundy looks to be a restricted free agent according to the ending CBA and will likely be tendered at the lowest level now if that option exist in the new labor agreement. At this point I see it highly probable that Mundy will return in 2011 on a one year tender deal of some where around $1.5 million. Mundy is still pretty young with not much mileage and his position versatility will likely go a long way with the front office and coaching staff. He understands the defense and can play both safety position as well as special teams. He very well could end up being the special; teams captain in 2011 if he is re-signed.
Other 2011 Steelers Free Agents Analysis
Dennis Dixon
Tony Hills
Chris Hoke
Anthony Madison
Keyaron Fox
Nick Eason
Jonathan Scott
Daniel Sepulveda
