Mitchell to the Steelers

[TheRumGone]

Yes. That's what I said. And it's my opinion. And I think it's awfully dumb to write him off as some scrub who got lucky here for one year. Again, he is getting paid because he earned it and showed he deserved it with outstanding play. Yes, he was the heart and soul of our smashmouth defense, along with Hardy - they set the tone with theif talk and backing it up with their play. You are severely diminishing his impact on our team. Again, watch how our defense played the first three weeks and then how they played after. He created turnovers and intimidated opponents with huge hits. He was explosive and athletic. I keep mentioning Minter, but he actually is an even better athlete thsn Minter was and has better range/ballhawking skills.

We gave him the chance and put him in the position to demonstrate his abilities... now someone else reaps the benefits. The Steelers scouting department does an outstanding job in bringing in talent and consistently being competitive... we have not. I trust they know what they're doing when they sign a guy to start for 5 years. We dropped the ball. This past season wasn't a fluke, it was the first time a coaching staff believed in him and gave him the opportunity to play, and then we just let him go...

I'm with you but I think sacrificing this will be better for the overall team.

We'll see though

[Rise of The Hive]

Hey it happens when yo make one year deals.I will miss Mitchell and his feistiness but hopefully G Man can find another bargain out there somewhere.

[Proudiddy]

Heart and soul if the defense? BwHahahaha

I wanna see you come back in here and say hello about 5 ges into the season once you realized how f'n stupid a statement that was.

We'll see when Godfrey bites on a play action fake and gives up an 85 yard TD again... or when he goes to lay the wood (in his case wet plywood) on an opponent and slides off of them like they're covered in grease on the way to a TD.

Ya'll minimize what he did to make yourselves feel better about it. Luke isn't gonna go out there and talk smack and then knock someone unconscious. He was a vocal leader and had a great all-around game.

I also keep seeing comparisons to McCree... lol... another cop out. McCree was past 30 IIRC, when he signed with us and was a career journeyman. Mitchell is still in his prime by quite a bit, and only played for a dysfunctional Raiders organizationwho didn't use him prior to signing here. So, my opinion is he is exactly the player we saw last season, not the underused player with the Raiders.

So yuk it up. You won't be laughing if Godfrey, or any rookie we find, is starting back there come September. It's easier to keep impact players in your franchise once you find them versus developing or discovering them and then let them walk out the door after a year believing they will easily be replaced. There is also something to be said for continuity within a starting unit ofthe top scoring defense in the league.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

A secondary consisting of Lester + Dockery + White + whoever is still good enough for a top 5 D with our front 7

[TheNewStandard]

Godfrey will only be here if we can't find another band aid who can't play behind an all-time great front 7.

I we can't find that then there is always the draft, which is pretty deep at the DB positions.

Seriously, there isn't a DB in the league that wouldn't want to come in here and develop with an all-star cast.

You didn't even know who Mitchell was b4 we picked him up and probably wrote him off before the season got going anyway.

So just keep your criticisms at a minimum until you actually see what a guy can do behind are beast pass rushers.

[Kakarot]

Hate to see Mitchell go, but congrats to him and his new deal! He made a comeup tho! Went from 1 milli to 25 milli. Come to Carolina...Might not be with us but Rivera can get you paid lol

[CelticCat]

Yes. That's what I said. And it's my opinion. And I think it's awfully dumb to write him off as some scrub who got lucky here for one year. Again, he is getting paid because he earned it and showed he deserved it with outstanding play. Yes, he was the heart and soul of our smashmouth defense, along with Hardy - they set the tone with their talk and backing it up with their play. You are severely diminishing his impact on our team. Again, watch how our defense played the first three weeks and then how they played after. He created turnovers and intimidated opponents with huge hits. He was explosive and athletic. I keep mentioning Minter, but he actually is an even better athlete than Minter was and has better range/ballhawking skills.

We gave him the chance and put him in the position to demonstrate his abilities... now someone else reaps the benefits. The Steelers scouting department does an outstanding job in bringing in talent and consistently being competitive... we have not. I trust they know what they're doing when they sign a guy to start for 5 years. We dropped the ball. This past season wasn't a fluke, it was the first time a coaching staff believed in him and gave him the opportunity to play, and then we just let him go...

 

So you trust the team that scabbed and overpaid rather than the team that actually made something out of him. He was considered a bust in Oakland. That makes sense. He'll have to prove to Pitt that last year wasn't a fluke because he barely ever started before he came here.

 

Look, I'm not calling him a scrub, he had a good year for us but he was not without his flaws, while he made some big hits he also missed tackles too. But to think he didn't benefit from our system is ridiculous. Look at the rest of our DB's and how good a year they had too. Is Munnerlyn worth what Mitchell got because statistically they had very similar seasons?

[Ken]

I love Mitchell but I have no beef with him not re-signing at that price tag.

[Proudiddy]

So you trust the team that scabbed and overpaid rather than the team that actually made something out of him. He was considered a bust in Oakland. That makes sense. He'll have to prove to Pitt that last year wasn't a fluke because he barely ever started before he came here.

 

Look, I'm not calling him a scrub, he had a good year for us but he was not without his flaws, while he made some big hits he also missed tackles too. But to think he didn't benefit from our system is ridiculous. Look at the rest of our DB's and how good a year they had too. Is Munnerlyn worth what Mitchell got because statistically they had very similar seasons?

 

I already said he benefited from the opportunity we gave him to start and the coaching... 

 

But, that further proves my point that we should've retained him.  He excelled in this system and fit perfectly in it.  Regardless of what he does elsewhere, he was worth the money to us because he was an exact fit for us.  And he was a lot surer (if that's a word) tackler than anyone we've had back there in years...  Regardless of what he does in Pitt and what he did or didn't do in Oakland, he fit perfectly here and was a leader on a top ranked defense.  It's all about finding players that fit your system and he did, and we let him walk.  If it was that easy to find these guys, we wouldn't have had all of these bad seasons up until our most recent...  When you find a fit, you keep him.  Not intending to beat a deadhorse, but you can't let a guy like that walk, it'll be tough to replace him.

 

To Gettleman's credit, if we go out and sign Nicks, Rice and/or Sanders, retain Smith, and get some great talent in the draft (most likely at WR and OL offensively and CB on defense), IMO, it still won't negate the losses and turnover we have suffered in this period prior to the draft, and that's the problem.

[NanuqoftheNorth]

5 years $25 Million?

When did Marty Hurney get a job with Pittsburgh?

[thunderraiden]

I already said he benefited from the opportunity we gave him to start and the coaching... 

 

But, that further proves my point that we should've retained him.  He excelled in this system and fit perfectly in it.  Regardless of what he does elsewhere, he was worth the money to us because he was an exact fit for us.  And he was a lot surer (if that's a word) tackler than anyone we've had back there in years...  Regardless of what he does in Pitt and what he did or didn't do in Oakland, he fit perfectly here and was a leader on a top ranked defense.  It's all about finding players that fit your system and he did, and we let him walk.  If it was that easy to find these guys, we wouldn't have had all of these bad seasons up until our most recent...  When you find a fit, you keep him.  Not intending to beat a deadhorse, but you can't let a guy like that walk, it'll be tough to replace him.

 

To Gettleman's credit, if we go out and sign Nicks, Rice and/or Sanders, retain Smith, and get some great talent in the draft (most likely at WR and OL offensively and CB on defense), IMO, it still won't negate the losses and turnover we have suffered in this period prior to the draft, and that's the problem.

lol ok Hurney.

[CelticCat]

I already said he benefited from the opportunity we gave him to start and the coaching... 

 

But, that further proves my point that we should've retained him.  He excelled in this system and fit perfectly in it.  Regardless of what he does elsewhere, he was worth the money to us because he was an exact fit for us.  And he was a lot surer (if that's a word) tackler than anyone we've had back there in years...  Regardless of what he does in Pitt and what he did or didn't do in Oakland, he fit perfectly here and was a leader on a top ranked defense.  It's all about finding players that fit your system and he did, and we let him walk.  If it was that easy to find these guys, we wouldn't have had all of these bad seasons up until our most recent...  When you find a fit, you keep him.  Not intending to beat a deadhorse, but you can't let a guy like that walk, it'll be tough to replace him.

 

To Gettleman's credit, if we go out and sign Nicks, Rice and/or Sanders, retain Smith, and get some great talent in the draft (most likely at WR and OL offensively and CB on defense), IMO, it still won't negate the losses and turnover we have suffered in this period prior to the draft, and that's the problem.

 

And he benefitted from the guys in front of him too, all the DB's did. Just because you find a guy on the cheap that fills a role on the team doesn't mean you do everything to keep him. 5 mill a year is just too much. In this system we can find a guy much cheaper to fill that role so we can address other needs that don't have the cover of a fantastic front 7, namely WR and OL.

Have faith that Gettleman can find another guy, he already did it once.

 

Sometimes we as fans put WAY too much stock in players that give a good soundbite and the leadership that that brings.

[TheNewStandard]

Everybody loves a winner. Most winners have a pretty dang great attitude and it spreads throughout the locker room. There's a lot of winners on this team and a DPOY at that...I'll bet that guy has a great freakin' attitude.

Now Release the Kraken...onto opposing offenses!!!

[Frizzy350]

Mitchell is worth about 3mil/yr.  He's a good player, he can start, he can even make big plays.  He will also blow some coverage and get flagged for making boneheaded hits.  It's not like the Steelers wildly overpayed for a vastly overrated player, he could do pretty well there.

 

I'm proud of Mitchell and would have loved to see him back, but I'll gladly take the comp pick and not having to match that contract.