Another day, another move along the offensive line.
The Pittsburgh Steelers released veteran Flozell Adams after he refused to renegotiate his contract. He signed a two year deal last year which was to pay him approximately $5 million for the upcoming campaign. The Steelers, already feeling a salary cap crunch, wanted him back at a lower number. This move leaves an already questionable offensive line dangerously thin at almost every position.
With the inexplicable joygasm after re-signing Willie Colon, the Steelers envisioned Adams as a back up tackle. Given his age and injury history, it is not unreasonable to expect a drop in his quality of play. However, Adams, 36 and entering his fourteenth season, was the only member of the line to start every game last season. Not only did he start, he performed quite well despite making the shift to right tackle after spending his entire career on the left side.
Unless the Steelers are able to dumpster dive for a veteran back up over the next couple weeks, they’ll enter training camp with a whole host of question marks manning the trenches. Colon, who hasn’t played an NFL game since 2009 when he was part of one of the worst O-lines in football, will return to RT. Jonathan Scott, who had his ups and downs when pressed into duty at LT last season, is now the primary protector on the blind side. If either man gets hurt, practice squad fodder Kyle Jolly and Chris Scott or even rookie Marcus Gilbert could likely be seeing playing time. *Shudder*
Sean Kugler gained well-deserved kudos for the vastly improved line work last season. Let’s hope now that he’s finished slaying Voldemort, he has enough magic left in his wand to work a few miracles with this line.