News/views: McCain departs for Dolphins

Man, this team is now a slow-motion train wreck!

What are the contract details DK? They couldn't bring him back? It's getting to be panic time for this defense, no?

Do you think they have a plan?

Rd 1 will have to be CB. Edge rusher & safety will have to wait till later rds.

not good now drafting corners & defensive ends for the 4-3 defense is the focus

They do know that free agency started yesterday, right??

Can't wait for another year of Ike

Could you see the steelers making a run at brandon browner? The Pats didn't pick up his option and he could be a good cornerback at 8 million which I heard was near his asking price.

Rehabilitating Cortez Allen on his current contract is a fool's errand. The Steelers would have been much better off with 2 years of McCain at 5.6M than one year of Allen at that price.

Have any of the recent departures made any significant dents in regards to opening up cap space?

McCain @ $2.75m should have been a no-brainer.

It was a bad defense last year. I'm not really worried about losing players from it...that being said, I would like to see a piece added soon.

Its very possible a lot of the bad picks, bad signings, and bad extensions have finally caught up with them. The chickens eventually come him to roost.

Nobody ever knows what led a player to go where he went unless that individual speaks up. Maybe McCain's wife or girlfriend is from Miami? Maybe the lure of no state taxes thus the extra dough made Miami look good to him? Heck, maybe he did what SO many others do and saw the weather in Pittsburgh and said no way I'm living there again. There is a chance the Steelers never had a chance. With that being said, DK is right, the Steelers can;t wait for scraps. They need a solid CB and now.

People need to calm down. It's not like McCain was the second coming of Rod Woodson.

Thanks DK. Feel the same way. Need to make moves now. Thoughts on Hardy for 2 yrs 12mil. Maybe Cromartie 2 yrs 9mil?

Pass rush means less need at corner. Allen will be fine. Round 1 edge rush

Please tell me this doesn't mean they will bring Ike back.

Trade for Keenan Lewis.

no great loss

who'd Brice McCain ever beat?

he was good for them last year. Allen stunk and Ike was done. No question a corner is a need and no question Worilds decision makes OLB a issue. JJ a bust for a number 1 and Shazier another year of injuries will really make the D a shell of what the Steelers have been. The D has been sliding since 2010 and does Harvey Clayton have anything left?

agree 100% DK. Do they know it's the off season or are they taking the season off

Keenan Lewis wants out of New Orleans as they rebuild. The Steelers will bring Lewis back to pair with Gay/

DK any thoughts on NO FA CB Patrick Robinson?

And the retooling moves on.

UH OH!!!

amen

I really doubt that they make a subastantial move. Probably not enough cap space to overpay which seems synonymous at this stage of free agency.

calm down, people. its only 2nd day of free agency. it happens every year for the stillers.

i rather draft cbs in the draft and develop them. it will happen in this year draft, i promise you. rookie contract is 100000 times better than overpaying those cbs like revis.

I liked him but that's overpriced, no problem with it as long as they replace him with someone better

The defense looks like it's going to be pretty poor next season. I hope some moves are made to help it.

Id take another year of 24. Plus a 1 or 2 pick at cb. With Allen gay. Blake and Webb or special teams depth

Plus 8 mill dead money 56 comes off after year

Do the Steelers even have a clue what Free Agency means? I don't expect them to do anything earth shattering but I would expect them to at least act as if they know understand their own needs and be a participant once every few years. The only thing the Steelers seem to know about FA is that they are going to lose players.

McCain was expendable. But I wonder how much better he looks with an elite DT like Suh getting after the QB and not allowing a QB to take a minute to survey the field.

Does anybody remember that Brice McCain was literally the lowest-rated CB in the league in 2013 when he played for Houston, and that there was almost universal derision directed at the Steelers when they picked him up? Yeah he was a halfway decent replacement, but really only in the context of the slow motion train wreck that was the secondary last year. As others said below, they can surely pluck someone comparable off the same scrap heap where they found McCain. Look on the bright side, maybe the second-to-last CB from 2013 is available!

I think the Steelers should just forget about the defense altogether and focus on adding some more weapons offensively and try to simply outscore their opponents. It might take scoring 70-80 points a game and hope the other team has to kick a field goal on one of their possessions but it is what it is...what's that, that's what they did last season? Oh well, guess they are heading down the the proverbial creek without a paddle.

Seriously though, it's been many, many years since the Steelers off-season has looked so dim and depressing. Our answers are now Willie Gay, a once retired LB (maybe) and praying on draft picks. Sorry, but even if they have a draft class that surpasses the one in '74, they aren't going to fill enough holes on defense with it, or will they be ready to make a huge difference in their rookie seasons if ever single one of them wind up being HOFer's.

Yup, this 2015 team has championship written all over it. Maybe by the time all the pieces needed to be competent again are in place, Ben will only be 5 years past due for the scrap heap.

"Hey Jarome, pass me that sticky Lombardi!"

The Steelers look totally incapable of dealing in the free agent market. Their wait and strategy has proven ineffective and they have no backup plan. Better hope for a huge season for the defense is in total disarray.

After years of neglecting it, Steelers finally forced to address the defensive backfield.

So in an NFL that is now a passing league, the Steelers have a secondary that scares...absolutely no one.

This is not going to end well next season.

The Steelers will regret signing Ben to a $100M deal. With their defense they will not be a threat to contend for several years. Ben has three good years left max. Trade him now!

Advice to help sign free agents: Extend the QB

Why are we always having cap problems,with players on our roster with average talent?I could see if he have a lot of top players,but that is not the case?Steelers should have pursued Cromartie or someone that is a proven CB.We are lucky that Cleveland,Ravens and Bengals have not improved their roster.

Why are we always having cap problems,with players on our roster with average talent?I could see if he have a lot of top players,but that is not the case?Steelers should have pursued Cromartie or someone that is a proven CB.We are lucky that Cleveland,Ravens and Bengals have not improved their roster.

If cuts play out as expected: Taylor/Troy/Debo/The Beard all gone. Add Worilds and McCain to the list, and who else might leave? Declining performance or not, all that experience is worth something. That is a lot of personnel that needs replaced. Good thing offense wins games in the NFL today (a little sarcasm there).

Stop all the comments… It’s real simple as Mike says: “Our first charge is to handle our own business and we haven’t done that consistently enough to look outside our own house.”- "That’s low-hanging fruit. That’s only going to sustain you so long."- “At this stage of the journey, we’ll see where we are”.- “The proof is in the pudding”- "Anyone in a helmet is a play maker for us." I'm sure he will come up another gr8 phrase after Free Agent season ends.

That is pretty much the value of Cortez were the Steelers to release him. So why in the hell won't the Steelers use that leverage to cut Cortez in case he refuses to take a paycut? Cortez is owed close to 7M or so when you include roster bonus and base pay. Colbert's only cap sensible move in recent times is signing Moats to that extension.

They are going to be dumpster diving any moment and that just means more Cam Thomas or Mike Mitchell signings.

Pretty soon, they will be dumpster diving and that means more Cam Thomas and/or Mike Mitchell signings.