Ludwig: Steinbach in "deep trouble", wouldn't be surprised if cut before season
by Josh Kirkendall on May 3, 2009 3:03 PM EDT
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PrintOne of my biggest points about the slow degradation of the offensive line since 2005 is that once Eric Steinbach left, everything went downhill. Before the 2007 season, the Bengals signed Willie Anderson and Levi Jones to long-term deals in an indirect message to Steinbach's camp that he's not going to return to Cincinnati. Anderson was released a year later and this off-season Levi Jones' agent was reportedly told that his client would either be traded or released. This was also an example of bad front office management.
Steinbach signed a seven-year deal worth $49.5 million with $17 million guaranteed with the Browns during the 2007 free agency period.
In Chick Ludwig's latest post, he writes that Steinbach could be in "deep trouble."
And my sources in Cleveland tell me that Eric Steinbach is in deep trouble. Eric Mangini likes big, bruising maulers on the offensive line.
Steinbach doesn’t fit the mold. He’s more finesse. I look for Steinbach to get released after the 2009 season. If fact, with his fat contract, he’ll be fortunate to make the 53-man roster. Don’t be shocked if he gets terminated before the ‘09 opener.
So the obvious question now is, if Steinbach is released, do the Bengals make an effort to bring back their 2003 second-round draft pick? Bobbie Williams will be a free agent after this season and there's still the possibility that Andrew Whitworth slides out to left tackle this season. I should point out that Ludwig is the only one bringing this up, so it could very well be a case of a bad source.
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Sign Steinbach
back-up center – if not the starting center – he played great as a quick fix, why n ot a long term role until they see if what was drafted will work
I would love to sign him....BUT
it would be almost impossible to get him in under the cap. If we could somehow manipulate his contract to stay under the cap it would be a solid move. I would start him at guard, move Bobbie over to C for his final year allowing Lugis to develop.
If he gets cut after the season it would be much easier for us to bring him back both cap and position wise.
Don't think it will happen
Unless we can get him a cheap price. I have to agree with CincyMike, there is no way that we could get him in under the cap. Plus I would imagine there would be other teams that would be trying to get him signed as well.
If I thought it was a huge need, I would say go after him at all costs. But we have Williams/ Whitworth at gaurd, I see no need to grab him.
It's still a good season if we go 2-14 and beat the Steelers twice.
If it happens after the 2009 season
He is a great guard and I don’t think the Browns let him go. If he does before the 09 opener, I don’t think we sign him, we have some good guards here already and not alot of cap room. But after the season I would love to see him return, but I don’t see it.
Steinbach
I would sign him if affordable; however, I think the offensive line went downhill once Braham got hurt, and Levi got paid. All three happened in quick succession so it is hard to tell which is the trigger if not alll three, but….
Ghuicuc (Idon’t care about the spelling he is dead to me) clearly wasn’t an adequate replacement for Braham.
Levi stopped playing hurt once he got paid, remeber when he played a week after surgery? Now its my back is sore. I understand back pain, but I don’t make 5,000,000 dollars a year to not play football.
Great points about Rich Braham
I don’t think the average Bengals fan realizes how much we all miss him. I know Carson probably realized it pretty early-on.
by TheWalrus1971 on May 4, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions
+1
Braham was the quintessential interior linemen. His tough yet quiet demeanor and lead by example instead of words mentality is the antithesis of a certain 85 we have on our roster now.
I would love to see him and john thornton maintain some role with the bengals via assistant coach or random front office job…..oh wait i forgot mike brown would have to pay them then….nvm
Nice But....
We can’t sign him to anything close to his Cleveland contract so he would have to be extremely flexible as to terms….in other words, there is little if any chance a deal gets done plus he’s not even ’officially" available.
why does everybody say we are short on cap space?
last time i heard (1 week before the draft) the Bengals had about $16 million under the cap, and then the received their rookie pay scale and that was about $9m. That would leave them with about $7m left under the cap. set aside $3m for injury replacement players. and that leaves us with about $4m if we use our entire rookie wage amount. Thats more than enough for the first season, to sign a guy that (if cut) will get about a 4 year $25m deal.
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