Veteran free agent safety Will Allen isn’t ready to retire just yet and he’s hoping to play at least one more season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Hopefully I’m back, but I don’t know,” Allen told Jacob Klinger of pennlive.com.
While Allen claims that other teams have shown interest in him so far this offseason, he did admit that no serious talks having taken place as of yet.
Allen, who will turn 34 in June, registered 80 total tackles, 2 forced fumbles, an interception and 4 sacks last season in the 13 regular season games that he played in. Those sacks, by the way, were the first of his long career and his 80 total tackles also now serve as his career high in a single season.
Allen missed three games last year due to an ankle injury that he suffered during the Steelers Week 5 Monday night win over the San Diego Chargers. The veteran has now played six seasons in Pittsburgh and has long been a favorite of head coach Mike Tomlin as the two were also together in Tampa Bay.
While Allen certainly is a great player to have in the locker room, his tackling and covering skills have now diminished enough that the Steelers should finally move on from him once and for all.
While there’s still an outside chance that Allen could ultimately re-sign with the Steelers, one would think that such a transaction wouldn’t take place until after the 2016 NFL Draft, if it does at all. Additionally, like last year, Allen would likely only get the veteran minimum from the Steelers plus an $80,000 signing bonus should he ultimately wind up being re-signed.
Reports from earlier in the offseason stated that the Steelers are ready to move on from Allen once and for all. We’ll find out in the coming months if that report is indeed true.
