With Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Jarvis Jones likely be sidelined for an extended amount of time following the wrist injury that he suffered Sunday night in the 37-19 win over the Carolina Panthers, speculation is already running rampant that the team will approach former linebacker James Harrison about coming out of his recent retirement.
As of Monday morning, ESPN.com is reporting that Harrison’s agent, Bill Parise, has yet to hear from the Steelers and that he has “absolutely no idea” if there’s any interest and whether or not Harrison would seriously consider an offer should one ultimately be presented to him.
On the surface, it would appears as though the Steelers are comfortable moving ahead with Arthur Moats as their starter on the right side with Jones sidelined. Moats, who signed with the team during the offseason as an unrestricted free agent, registered a sack and two total tackles in the 30 snaps that he played against the Panthers after Jones left the game early in the third quarter.
Unless Harrison is guaranteed a starting job, there’s no reason to think that he would be interested in coming out of retirement to merely be a backup. Besides, it would likely take Harrison a few weeks to get himself back into football shape.
For now, the Steelers will likely either promote rookie undrafted free agent Howard Jones from the practice squad or go outside the organization and sign somebody like Vic So’oto, who was with the team up until their final preseason game.
