According to Gerry Dulac the Pittsburgh Steelers re-signed offensive lineman Ramon Foster to a three year deal today. Foster played all 16 games for the Steelers and played right guard, left guard, and right tackle. Over the past three seasons Foster has been one of the most consistent lineman on the Steelers roster and since becoming a starter in 2010 he is the only lineman on the Steelers roster who has not missed a game in that span due to injury.
2012 first round pick David DeCastro was drafted to be the Steelers starting right guard. That means that re-signing Foster means that the Steelers see him as their left guard of the future. The question that arises then is what is the plan for Willie Colon? Colon has been rumored to be on the chopping block since the start of the off-season and the signing of Foster makes him expendable.
Tomorrow Foster would have become an unrestricted free agent, but instead he has chose to stay with the Steelers and not test the open market. This allows the Steelers to focus their attention on corner Keenan Lewis in free agency and try to bring him back on a long-term contract as well.
There have been some rumblings about talking with Colon about a pay cut and with Foster back on the roster the Steelers will have some leverage in negotiations. If Colon is willing to take a pay cut it would help the Steelers in two ways. It would give them more cap space and also give them a player that could either start at guard or be a solid back-up for guard or tackle during the 2013 season.
Most likely, however, the Steelers will not cut Colon and place Foster at left guard. The cap savings of cutting Colon will help the Steelers sign their draft class and may give them the cap flexibility to re-sign Lewis.
With Foster’s signing the Steelers starting offensive line for the 2013 season is currently projected to be (from left to right) Marcus Gilbert, Foster, Maurkice Pouncey, DeCastro, and Mike Adams. Foster would be the oldest starter on that line at 27 years of age.
There are no monetary details of Foster’s new deal available as of now, but his deal will probably average out to around $2.5 million per year. The cap hit for the 2013 season will be the most interesting part as the Steelers continue to shuffle cap space in an attempt to field the best possible team next season.
