Since last off-season it has been expected that James Harrison would be cut as part of a salary cap purge for the 2013 season. There were recent rumors that Harrison was talking with the Pittsburgh Steelers about reworking his contract, but it now sounds like those talk have gone no where. According to multiple reports over the past two days the Steelers may be preparing to release Harrison soon as a cap casualty to free space for upcoming off-season moves.
Harrison, who will be 35 in May, had six sacks during the 2012 season which tied him for first on the Steelers defense. The fact that he tied for the lead on the defense in sacks in 2012, however, says more about the Steelers lack of pass rush than it does about the way Harrison played in 2012. Harrison battled through knee and back issues last season and missed the first three games of the season coming off of a knee injury that cost him the entire pre-season.
As the season progressed Harrison’s play improved, which is likely due to him getting healthier, but an almost 35 year old linebacker with injury issues and a large cap number may be too much risk for the Steelers, who need all the cap space they can get.
Another potential cap casualty for the Steelers is guard Willie Colon. Colon moved from right tackle to left guard in 2012 and although he struggled at times and committed 12 penalties on the season, which is eight more than the next highest lineman, he did play well as the season progressed and as he learned his new position. However, the 2012 season ended early for Colon due to an injury making it the third straight year Colon ended up on injured reserve.
Colon has now played in only 13 games over the past three seasons. The other problem the Steelers may face when it comes to keeping Colon or cutting him will be determined by the type of offensive line they want to use in 2013. Jack Bicknell Jr. is the Steelers new offensive line coach and during his time in Kansas City he used a zone blocking scheme with athletic lineman that could move in space. Colon is more of a mauling guard than an athletic pulling type player that can get into space and use his agility to his advantage.
According to Joe Linta, Willie Colon’s agent, the Steelers have not approached Colon about a pay cut and he also believes that Colon is in the Steelers plans for 2013. However, since they haven’t yet reached out to Colon about a pay cut and since Linta hasn’t heard anything from the team it may be that the Steelers are planning to release Colon rather than that he is still in their future plans.
Cutting Colon and Harrison would save the Steelers over $10 million against the cap in 2013 depending on if, how and when they decide to cut them. Right now the Steelers sit just under the cap with about $3 million in cap space. They will need much more than that if they want to sign many of their own free agents as well as any outside free agents this off-season. Not to mention the cap space that will be taken up by their draft class in April. To open that extra cap space the Steelers will need to make some cuts and right now it looks like Colon and Harrison could be the first two out of Pittsburgh this off-season.
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