Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Marcus Gilbert said back in mid January that he was told during his exit interviews with the coaches that he should prepare to move from right to left tackle next season and GM Kevin Colbert confirmed that move as a strong possibility this afternoon during his interview on 93.7 The Fan. When asked about the likelihood of Gilbert moving over to the left, Colbert replied, “Yeah, I think going into it right now and knowing that Max Starks is an unrestricted free agent, and Max did a great job for us coming back last year, but Max is also rehabbing an ACL. Only time will tell how quickly he heals and whether or not we are able to resign him and add him back in the mix, but having done it in the playoff game, it won\’t be early in the process. So I think if we were to line up today, I would imagine that, and ultimately it is the coaches decision, but my guess is that Marcus Gilbert would kick over to the left and Willie Colon, who we are fortunate enough to get back next year, would move up to the right. Then Jonathan Scott would be in the mix as the competition.
As far as Starks goes, he posted on Twitter today that his knee is coming along nicely in his rehab. Like Colbert stated though, he is a long ways away from being seriously considered as a candidate to be resigned. It likely will be well after the start of training camp, if not after the start of the regular season, before he is ready. He is not currently under contract, so there is no rush there. Colbert included Scott today in his reply, but one would think that he is a prime candidate to be a salary cap casualty over the next couple of weeks as he is scheduled to count $2.7 million against the 2012 cap. Be terminating his contract the Steelers will save $2.2 million and they can always sign him back closer to the start of training camp at a much cheaper price if they decide they need his services.
The Steelers also signed back practice squad tackle Trevis Turner to a futures contract after the season ended and could very well pick up another tackle somewhere in the draft. Chris Scott is also back on a futures contract, but he really projects more as a guard type based on his play in preseason last year. Jamon Meredith is a restricted free agent and it is very doubtful they will tender him a low grade offer of $1.26 million. He will more than likely be a warm body on the street for a long time, God forbid the Steelers need to bring him back again.
