The Pittsburgh Steelers were very busy this offseason when it came to signing free agents as eight have already been added. Three of those eight players added are considered street free agents as they were released outright by their previous teams earlier in the offseason.
How many of these eight players will fail to ultimately make the 53 man roster out of training camp this year? If you were to look at the free agent signings made by Kevin Colbert dating back to 2000, you should probably guess, zero.
During his first 14 years in Pittsburgh, Colbert has added 41 primary free agents during the offseasons. Of those 41 players, only running back Kevan Barlow failed to make the final 53 man roster after being signed.
Darrius Heyward-Bey, Brice McCain, Arthur Moats and Adam Podlesh all cost next to nothing to sign this offseason when it comes to the salary cap, so they are the ones that would figure to be the easiest to cut. I think we can safely pencil in McCain and Moats as locks, so that leaves Heyward-Bey and Podlesh as the only two legitimate candidates to join Barlow on the list.
Are you willing to bet against either of them?
Steelers Fee Agents Signed 2000-2013
| PLAYER | YEAR | STATUS | 53 Y/N |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brent Alexander | 2000 | FA | YES |
| Chris Sullivan | 2000 | URFA | YES |
| Kent Graham | 2000 | URFA | YES |
| Kimo von Oelhoffen | 2000 | URFA | YES |
| Rich Tylski | 2000 | URFA | YES |
| Jeff Hartings | 2001 | URFA | YES |
| Mike Jones | 2001 | URFA | YES |
| Mike Logan | 2001 | URFA | YES |
| Tommy Maddox | 2001 | FA | YES |
| Charlie Batch | 2002 | FA | YES |
| James Farrior | 2002 | URFA | YES |
| Todd Peterson | 2002 | URFA | YES |
| Clint Kriewaldt | 2003 | URFA | YES |
| Jay Riemersma | 2003 | FA | YES |
| Todd Fordham | 2003 | URFA | YES |
| Chris Gardocki | 2004 | URFA | YES |
| Duce Staley | 2004 | URFA | YES |
| Travis Kirschke | 2004 | URFA | YES |
| Willie Williams | 2004 | URFA | YES |
| Cedrick Wilson | 2005 | URFA | YES |
| Rodney Bailey | 2006 | URFA | YES |
| Ryan Clark | 2006 | URFA | YES |
| Kevan Barlow | 2007 | FA | NO |
| Nick Eason | 2007 | URFA | YES |
| Sean Mahan | 2007 | URFA | YES |
| Justin Hartwig | 2008 | FA | YES |
| Keyaron Fox | 2008 | URFA | YES |
| Mewelde Moore | 2008 | URFA | YES |
| Keiwan Ratliff | 2009 | URFA | YES |
| Shaun McDonald | 2009 | URFA | YES |
| Antwaan Randle El | 2010 | FA | YES |
| Arnaz Battle | 2010 | URFA | YES |
| Jonathan Scott | 2010 | URFA | YES |
| Larry Foote | 2010 | URFA | YES |
| Will Allen | 2010 | URFA | YES |
| Jerricho Cotchery | 2011 | FA | YES |
| Leonard Pope | 2012 | URFA | YES |
| Bruce Gradkowski | 2013 | URFA | YES |
| LaRod Stephens-Howling | 2013 | URFA | YES |
| Matt Spaeth | 2013 | FA | YES |
| William Gay | 2013 | FA | YES |
