Pittsburgh Steelers Could Be Waving Bye-Bye to Several Starters

Three seasons ago, the Steelers lined up everything to make three runs at the Super Bowl. It worked out outstandingly well in year one, which really makes it hard to complain when year two (2006) didn't turn out as well as hoped. But as the Steelers get ready for the 2007 season, get ready to see this current team for the last time. Joey Porter's departure is just the beginning, as free agency will be much more of a factor next offseason than it has been in any recent year.

Six current starters are slated to become unrestricted free agents, and a pair of long-time backups will also hit free agency unless the Steelers re-sign them this fall.

But as bad as that sounds, the Steelers could use this upcoming free agent class as a chance to prune away from dead weight, while also getting younger and hopefully more athletic. If you assume that Alan Faneca will live up to his promise to head elsewhere after the season, that leaves only Troy Polamalu as a must sign before the season begins.Gotta Keep 'Em: Troy Polamalu.

Polamalu has moved to Pittsburgh and settled in, but even if he wanted to leave, he's worth using a franchise tag to ensure he sticks around. Hopefully we'll all be reading about this contract extension sometime in August.

Like To Keep 'Em: Dan Kreider

The Steelers have never had trouble filling the fullback spot, as evidenced by a long lineage of solid blockers, stretching from Merrill Hoge to John L. Williams to Jon Witman to Kreider. Kreider can only block; he's pretty close to worthless as a receiver and is best as a twice a year surprise as a runner, but his blocking outweighs his weaknesses. If the Steelers can re-sign him to a short-term modest deal it would be great to see him sticking around for a couple more years. But if not, the Steelers have also proven that it's not hard to find one-dimensional fullbacks--Kreider was sitting on the team's practice squad just weeks before he was ringing Ray Lewis' bell as a rookie.

Wait And See: Clark Haggans, Kendall Simmons and Max Starks.

None of these three deserve a contract extension until after the season is over at the earliest. In Haggans' case, the decision to re-sign him depends less on his play and more on the maturation of rookies Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley. If they're both ready to start, Haggans will be playing elsewhere in 2008. If one or both fail to step up, Haggans could be brought back for one final deal, although he's nearing the point in his career where his play could be expected to start slipping. In Starks' case, he hasn't earned a big money deal yet, and he likely won't this year, but if he could take a big step forward he could make himself a lot of money. If not, Willie Colon will be his replacement in 2008 and he can hit the free agent market. Despite what the national writers say when raving about Simmons, he's been a big-time disappointment for most of his Steelers' career. Barring an exceptional turnaround, there's no reason to give him a big money deal, although some other team almost surely will. This offseason's spending spree for guards made it clear that if you are 300 pounds with a pulse and a previous starting job the bidding seems to begin at around $5 million a year.

Bargain Deals: Travis Kirschke.

Kirschke could retire because of back problems after the upcoming season, but if not, he's the kind of cagey vet who's worth a million or $1.5 million as a backup. Any more than that and the Steelers need to go hunting elsewhere.

We Wish You Luck In Your Next Job: Ricardo Colclough.

It's hard to figure out how Colclough will end up back in a Steelers uniform. If he plays well, he will price himself out of the Steelers price range because Ike Taylor, Deshea Townsend and Bryant McFadden are all ahead of him on the depth chart. And if he doesn't step up his play, he's likely to head elsewhere because he needs to find out if he can play better in another system. He's never lived up to his athletic ability in Pittsburgh.

We Want You Back, But You Don't Want To Stay: Alan Faneca

Faneca would be great to see as a career Steeler, but this seems to be a case where it's become personal, and the Steelers are not ones to reward popping off in the media about your contract. Faneca has already vowed to head elsewhere, so this is a divorce just waiting for the final ruling.