As the calendar gets ready to turn into March, things are about to pick up in the NFL as the offseason is close to getting underway.
Closer to home the Pittsburgh Steelers have many decisions to make, most notably with some popular veteran players such as Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Brett Keisel and Ike Taylor.
While it remains to be seen if any of these long time veterans are in the Steelers future plans, one has to wonder what kind of role long time Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau will play in the decision process.
If you ask Taylor, there’s a better than good chance that LeBeau could lure some of these veterans to the Tennessee Titans.
“Coach LeBeau recruits himself. He is like Coach K; you know what you are getting yourself into,’’ Taylor told The Tennessean, referring to Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. “You don’t have to ask the veteran guys who have played under him. Just say Coach LeBeau wants you to come, and they’d say: “What time? That’s the way people feel about him.”
While the Steelers face a tough decision regarding Polamalu and many feel that he could be done as a player, the other three veterans could easily be swayed to join LeBeau in Tennessee.
Harrison in particular, who made his intentions known that he will play again in 2015, is no guarantee to return to the Steelers.
The same could be said for Keisel and Taylor as well.
You can also throw free agent linebacker Jason Worilds into that category as well as Worilds is set to become a free agent and is one that will likely look to cash in on a big contract.
It also helps to be familiar with LeBeau and the fact that each free agent carries the upmost respect for the Hall of famer.
“If the money is right in Tennessee, yeah, I could see it,’’ Taylor said about his teammates scheduled to be free agents. “The money doesn’t have to be spectacular, but if the money is right, I can tell you they are willing to go where Coach LeBeau is. … There is just a genuine, mutual respect that I have for that man, and other guys have it, too. I would come to Tennessee, but only because of Coach LeBeau.”
As for Taylor in particular, he sounded like a man who knew his days as a Steelers corner are numbered.
“I doubt it,’’ he said of returning to the Steelers. “For one, I think they think I am too old. For two, I’ve been there 12 years and they just paid a young guy in Cortez Allen. Even though Ike Taylor is the ultimate team guy, his name and his presence. … I am the alpha. So if you want to move on from Ike Taylor, Ike Taylor has to be out of the building.”
It would make some sense for the Titans, a franchise that has struggled during recent times, to add some veterans like Harrison, Keisel and Taylor, simply for leadership purposes.
Throw in the fact that another former Steelers assistant, Ken Whisenhurt, is the head coach of the Titans and ray Horton, who coached the Steelers secondary form 2004-10 is the defensive coordinator and it may be a perfect match.
Who knows what Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert will have up his sleeve come March, but one thing is for sure and that is the fact that he is going to have some stiff competition to keep some of his own.
The simple lure of playing for LeBeau for one more season could outweigh anything the black and gold have to offer.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
