View topic - Steelers make list: "The worst moves of the offseason"

by **Rocket Rashard** » Tue May 20, 2008 12:05 pm

Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=packtheworstmovesandnonm&prov=tsn&type=lgns

9. The Steelers should have franchised Faneca.

Letâ€™s get this one straight: The contracts of Pittsburgh Steelers offensive linemen Alan Faneca and Max Starks expired after the 2007 season. The Steelers could have used the franchise tag (which provides two first-round draft picks as compensation if the player signs with a new team) or the transition tag (which costs less but carries with it no compensation) on one of them.

So they chose to use the transition tag on Starks. Once he signed his tender, Starks was guaranteed to receive nearly $7 million in salary for 2008. Not bad for a guy who was on the bench at the start of 2007.

For only $500,000 more, the Steelers could have kept Alan Faneca, a perennial Pro Bowl left guard, for one more year. Sure, Faneca didnâ€™t want to remain in Pittsburgh. But he didnâ€™t want to remain in Pittsburgh last year, either. He eventually removed the stick from his rear end and had another solid season.

For a one-year haul of $7.5 million, Faneca likely would have done the same thing in 2008.

Now the Steelers are without Faneca, they got no compensation when he signed with another AFC team (the Jets) and they are paying almost $7 million to a guy who doesnâ€™t deserve it.

Transitioning Starks was a horrible decision. Absolutely horrible. $7 million to a guy the coaches want to ride the pine.

by **GodfatherofSoul** » Tue May 20, 2008 4:38 pm

We got two steals with the first 2 picks. Faneca is pretty damned old to demand what he wanted, and I suspect that the rumors of O-linemen not listening to coaches could have been related to him. Traditionally, we don't keep around attitude problems, and Faneca was becoming one.

All in all, no matter how suspect I think our draft has been, I give the front office the benefit of the doubt as they always seem to pull talent out of their asses.

by **Hi5Steeler** » Tue May 20, 2008 4:54 pm

we should have franchised faneca plain and simple

by **mental.apparition** » Tue May 20, 2008 6:46 pm

Florio is way fuckin wrong on this one.

For a one-year haul of $7.5 million, Faneca likely would have done the same thing in 2008.

Faneca's bitch was he entered last season with zero security beyond the 2007 season. Yes, the fat sweaty red head shut his mouth (publicly) and played out the final year of his contract. But...

Faneca surely would have seized and fish-flopped all over the place had the Steelers franchised him. Faneca knew the market would bear his demands. The Steelers made an extremely wise decision to let him walk and avoid his whiny bullshit.

The Jets got robbed and jobbed to the tune of $21 million guaranteed and $40 million if he can stay on the roster for 5 years. That is a helluva lot of $$ for a past-his-prime-non-pass-blocking-fat-fuck.

I have no idea WTF to say about the Stark transition tag. We won't know why until September. If ever.

by **thesteelhammer** » Tue May 20, 2008 7:40 pm

I agree with everything in the original post except

He eventually removed the stick from his rear end and had another solid season.

by **baumblvd** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:41 pm

We'll all be watching how Faneca does with the Jets, that's for sure. IMO, he was becoming a locker-room distraction, he was getting too old, and he'll do horribly in NYC. Of course, on our end of things, any bad O-line play this year (and there will be plenty -- there always is) will lead to whiny threads about how we should have kept Faneca.

by **LambertsLunatic** » Wed May 21, 2008 1:42 pm

The Steelers have a pretty good track record of knowing when to let aging vets go. I was with the Faneca move and I think the Jets are gonna seriously regret spending that much money on him.

LambertsLunatic

by **baumblvd** » Wed May 21, 2008 3:40 pm

+1 -- exactly, the PS have been good at knowing when to get rid of older players. This will be another good example of that after this season.

by **stillDrink** » Thu May 22, 2008 8:32 am

Can someone tell me the last time a franchised player signed with a new time and the comped two draft picks were handed over? I don't remember seeing this happen.

by **Kill Cowher** » Thu May 22, 2008 11:40 am

Faneca played like shit, again, last season.

Thank Christ he's gone.

by **Stillustronic** » Thu May 22, 2008 11:59 am

stillDrink wrote:Can someone tell me the last time a franchised player signed with a new time and the comped two draft picks were handed over? I don't remember seeing this happen.

You don't get compensatory picks for a franchised player going to a different club, you get their real picks that include at least their first and anywhere from their 4th to their first the following year, and no, I don't remember a time that has occurred. Both clubs involved in a franchised player deal are free to negotiate away the additional draft picks as compensation, I can't name when that has occurred either, but the deal usually is about incurring the pro rated signing bonus burden from the team that franchised the player.

by **Todd** » Thu May 22, 2008 5:26 pm

we will get a 3rd round comp pick for Faneca...if you could have traded Faneca in his last year for a 3rd round pick, would you have? I would have...I think thats getting a good deal for someone you couldn't possibly fit under the cap.

by **mental.apparition** » Thu May 22, 2008 7:38 pm

Todd wrote:we will get a 3rd round comp pick for Faneca...if you could have traded Faneca in his last year for a 3rd round pick, would you have? I would have...I think thats getting a good deal for someone you couldn't possibly fit under the cap.

Fuckin' A I would have. I think getting a 3rd for an OL living on nothing more than his reputation is a really good deal.

by **baumblvd** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:45 am

I have nothing against the Jets. It's not like they've been anything but a mild-mannered spoiler team (at best) since their glory years. But, their fans are so rabid and delusional (see Mike Greenberg) that they think that Faneca will do them some good.

I'm not like Swiss, I won't root for AF to break his leg, but I will expect him to be a human turnstile as a Jet.

Hey, Swiss -- just curious -- did you root for Jagr to break his leg in the Pens series against the Rangers? Or is this just a PS thing for you?

by **Hi5Steeler** » Fri May 23, 2008 1:39 pm

Alan Faneca has nine pro bowl appearances. he is hardly and never will be a turnstile. he is RIGHT NOW one of the top five guards in the entire NFL. Some call him a top three guard.

by **DrMalba** » Sun May 25, 2008 4:33 am

Hi5Steeler wrote:we should have franchised faneca plain and simple

Hello again, Stillers.com. Glad to see you're back in action.

The Steelers never use the franchise tag ... transitioning Starks was perhaps questionable, but he's big, young and plays multiple positions on the line. Christ, he has a super bowl ring.

Ultimately I trust the guys doing the math and I think they will have something done long-term for Starks before long.

by **Hi5Steeler** » Sun May 25, 2008 4:44 am

so mr malba you are saying starks is better than faneca. please elaborate.

and yes we all know steelers dont franchise players. we werent trying to STATE THE OBVIOUS. we were stating what should have been done THIS year.

by **thesteelhammer** » Sun May 25, 2008 8:32 am

It's the off-season, so I am going to be positive:
Hopefully Faneca's departure will cause the Steelers to invest some draft and free-agent attention in the O-line. It has needed new talent for years.

by **steelerocket** » Sun May 25, 2008 11:19 pm

That's what I love about out of town sportswriters commenting about a team they don't cover..

they go by reputation and not most recent output...

The dead horse has been kicked..

next topic

by **Sillmiller** » Sun May 25, 2008 11:42 pm

He did not want to stay and would of been a HUGE cancer if the Stillers placed a tag on him. Even his beloved Whis and Grim would not give him that kind of money

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