Dom Errico —
The Steelers made a rare first-day jump head first into the free agency pool, and I think they got a guy in Mike Mitchell who could help them out in a lot of ways.
This defense needed to get younger in a hurry, and I’m pretty excited to see the 27-year-old Mitchell take over the spot vacated by Ryan Clark, who is seven years older. Anyone who watched the Steelers try to defend the pass last year noticed a lot of missed and blown coverage at the safety position, and Clark was usually the main culprit.
Mitchell comes here after spending the past year helping the Carolina Panthers come the second ranked defense in the league. He’s a physical, heavy hitter which should endear himself to the Steeler faithful. He has the ability to help stop the run, which is a mainstay of any Dick LeBeau coached defense, and he made some splash plays as well, totaling four interceptions and 3 ½ sacks.
I know that Clark was a big part of the Steelers recent run of success and odds are good they wouldn’t have their two most recent Super Bowl titles without him. Unfortunately, this is a “what have you done for me lately” league and Clark’s been on the downswing for a while now. Mitchell’s signing also is good news for the team should they have to go to Denver to play a game. Nothing against Clark’s sickle cell condition, but you need players who can play all 16 games for you.
This changing of the guard will also help remove a distraction from the locker room since Clark was throwing all kinds of quotes out for his ESPN appearances, often at the expense of his teammates. He wasn’t afraid to say other players in the league were better than his teammates and, while it may have been true, that’s not the mark of a good teammate.
Of the $25 million in this five-year deal, only $5.25 million is guaranteed money, so should Mitchell turn out not to be the player the Steelers envisioned, they should be able to get out of the contract rather easily without a crippling blow to their salary cap. Flexibility like that is always crucial when setting up your team both for the 2014 season and beyond.
I think the biggest thing in Mitchell’s favor is the fact the Steelers loved him enough to actually make a free agency move, something they rarely do. They identified him as someone who could help this team improve immediately and he is young enough that they can use their picks in the 2014 draft to target other needs instead of safety.
The bottom line is that the Steelers had to begin retooling a defense that has slowly been getting worse over the past few years, and this is likely the first of several moves designed to do that in this crucial offseason. They still need to improve the pass rush and they need a playmaker to play opposite of Antonio Brown in the wide receiving corps, so eliminating a need before the draft will allow them to better focus on those needs.
What we saw out of the defense in 2014 simply wasn’t good enough, and it was definitely time to begin making changes. This was the right move for the Steelers to make at the right time. Mitchell is exactly the kind of physical player who fits this scheme well and he will help this defense not only this year, but in the years to come.
Michael Friend —
Making one of the first big additions to an aging secondary during free agency, the Steelers brought in veteran safety Mike Mitchell formerly of the Carolina Panthers and Oakland Raiders. So far, results on the signing have been mixed, and I for one am still skeptical of bringing Mitchell to the Steel City in favor of Ryan Clark who, if re-signed would prove to be much more expensive.
The Steelers inked Mitchell to a deal that is worth $25 million over five years that only guarantees him only $5.25 million with a $4.75 million dollar signing bonus. While the structure of the contract doesn’t make much of a cap hit this season, the deal increases the base salary to $2 million in 2015 and $5 million per year for the remainder of the deal. The issue with the structure of the deal is one that the Steelers have faced before, as the deal was made based on Mitchell’s one break out season in Carolina and not as much on the two subpar ones he had in Oakland. If Mitchell has another outstanding season in 2014, and the front office decides to move forward with Mitchell as a starting safety the run the same risk as they had with LaMarr Woodley in seeing a significant drop off in production and increase in injuries due to age or other factors as the contract requires the highest payout.
The issue has also been raised of Mitchell’s play style and its compatibility with the perennially Steelers defense. Mitchell has traditionally played in more man coverage than zone and zone blitz packages that the Steelers have been known for. Mitchell’s predecessor, Clark, made a living on sneaking up on the line or hanging around in the middle to lower the boom on an unsuspecting runner or receiver on a crossing route. Mitchell did have a career high 66 tackles and 3.5 sacks last season but that was behind a front seven that some experts considered among the best in the league. Moving to the Steelers may prove difficult for Mitchell, as he will find himself in what could best be described as a kerfuffle of aging players and raw young talent. There’s not much doubt that if he has talent, but the doubt still remains if he is the right puzzle piece to fix an ailing secondary or just the one that seemed most appealing in a free agent class that has seen multiple safeties cash in on big paydays.
When he arrives in Pittsburgh, Mitchell will find himself in a defensive back field that many expected would have 10-year veteran Will Allen and 2013 fourth round draft pick Shamarko Thomas fighting for the opportunity to line up next to Troy Polamalu with the loser filling the opening in the nickel formation. Add in special teamer and backup safety Robert Golden, and you have a pretty full group. The addition of Mitchell adds to the speculation that Thomas is still too raw to start and is still being groomed as the heir apparent to Polamalu.
The addition of Mitchell is really a catch 22 for the Steelers secondary, if he produces and forces the rest of the secondary to play up to the level that he showed last year and the level Polamalu plays up to when healthy, the secondary may be unstoppable. However, given that two thirds of his career has resulted in subpar numbers, and the signing of
Mitchell may be another in a long line of revolving door signing that have hindered the secondary in the past few years.
