Lawrence Timmons To Visit Dolphins
The Dolphins are looking to lock up their top linebacker, restricted free agent Kiko Alonso, but they’ll need to add outside help to the group even if they keep him in the fold. With that in mind, the Dolphins have interest in impending free agent Lawrence Timmons and will meet with him sometime after the new league year opens, reports Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com.
[RELATED: Dolphins Trying To Re-Sign Kenny Stills]
Timmons, 31 in May, has spent the first 10 years of his career with the Steelers, who would like to retain him. It appears he’ll test the open market, though, and could return to Florida, where he starred as a college player at Florida State. Timmons parlayed his Seminoles career into first-round status in 2007 and has since racked up six 100-tackle seasons – including five in a row since 2012 – to go with 35.5 sacks, 14 forced fumbles and 12 interceptions. He has also been eminently durable, having appeared in fewer than 16 regular-season games just once – during a 14-game 2014 – and hasn’t missed a start since 2010.
In his latest action in 2016, Timmons played 92.9 percent of the Steelers’ snaps and piled up 114 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two picks and a forced fumble, though Pro Football Focus wasn’t impressed with his work. The site placed him just 70th in overall performance among 87 qualified linebackers. Nevertheless, given his careerlong production and durability, Timmons won’t have difficulty landing a contract this offseason. PFR’s Dallas Robinson ranks him as the fifth-best linebacker in this year’s class of free agents.
No Progress For Steelers, Markus Wheaton
The Steelers moved quickly to lock up the core members of its skill-position battery, one that again was ravaged by injuries come playoff time. But the team has not progressed much on a re-up for Markus Wheaton, one of the injured performers, and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets the wideout will likely hit the free agent market on Thursday.
Wheaton stands to join a host of complementary receivers on a crowded wideout market. The tier below the high-end talents includes pass-catchers like Robert Woods, Kendall Wright, Kamar Aiken and Victor Cruz, among others. PFR’s Zach Links rates Wheaton as the No. 8 best available wideout — moving up after the deals for Brandon Marshall and Pierre Garcon emerged. Wheaton falls into this category, having been the Steelers’ No. 2 wideout for multiple years alongside Antonio Brown.
A fifth-year target, Wheaton is coming off a forgettable contract year. Pittsburgh placed Wheaton on IR with a shoulder injury in November. He played in just three games last season, joining Ladarius Green, Martavis Bryant and ultimately Le’Veon Bell as projected Steelers starters who were unavailable for various reasons in the AFC championship game. Between 2014 and ’15, though, the former third-round pick averaged 696.5 yards. Wheaton averaged 17 yards per catch in 2015.
Steelers Likely To Work Phones During Free Agency
While the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering window has been relatively slow, things figure to heat up in the coming days as the new league year approaches. Two AFC North clubs stand to be in on the action, as the Browns and Steelers are both expected to be active when free agency begins, per Tony Grossi of ESPN.com (Twitter link) and Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com (Twitter link). Pittsburgh will be “working the phones” more than usual, per Kinkhabwala, but that doesn’t mean the usually conservative team will be targeting more free agents than is customary.
Steelers Not Interested In Darrelle Revis
Darrelle Revis is a Pennsylvania native who starred at the University of Pittsburgh before entering the NFL, but the next stop of his career won’t be at home. The Steelers are uninterested in the cornerback, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
The 31-year-old Revis has been connected this offseason to the city of Pittsburgh, not its football team, since a February altercation that led to four felony charges. Revis, who could receive punishment from both the legal system and the NFL prior to next season, will attend a hearing related to those charges March 15.
Two weeks after his off-field run-in, the Jets released Revis, though they announced that the decision came for on-field reasons. The seven-time Pro Bowler and four-time first-team All-Pro is coming off the worst year of his storied career, having yielded the highest quarterback rating among cornerbacks who were targeted 75-plus times. Unsurprisingly, then, his performance ranked a mediocre 66th among Pro Football Focus’ 112 qualified corners.
Given that Revis will collect $6MM from the Jets in 2017, it’s possible he’ll sit out next season if he doesn’t get offers worth at least $8MM, those familiar with the 10-year veteran tell Florio. There’s even a chance the future Hall of Famer will retire this offseason, Florio adds.
Steelers Interested In Re-Signing TE David Johnson
- The Steelers have interest in re-signing veteran tight end David Johnson, reports ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. Johnson played in 16 games (five starts) during his first season in Pittsburgh, collecting seven receptions for 80 yards.
[SOURCE LINK]
Conflicting Reports On Steelers, Terrelle Pryor
Less than 24 hours before the start of the NFL’s legal tampering period, conflicting reports have emerged regarding Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor. While Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com indicates the Steelers will be one of several teams to pursue Pryor this week, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link) says Pittsburgh doesn’t have any interest in Pryor, at least at the $10MM+ he’s expected to command. The Giants, 49ers, Eagles, and Titans have also been linked to Pryor, whom Cleveland is attempting to re-sign.
Steelers To Pursue Dre Kirkpatrick
- Not a team that traditionally opts for free agency splashes, the Steelers are interested in signing Bengals UFA corner Dre Kirkpatrick, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Titans do not share the same type of hesitancy when it comes to the market, and Rapoport notes they are also interested in the sixth-year cover man. The Steelers covet Kirpatrick’s length as a 6-1 corner, Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com tweets. Kirkpatrick said in December he would like to stay in Cincinnati, but nothing’s emerged on that front since. PFR’s Dallas Robinson rates the former first-rounder as the No. 5 corner available in free agency.
Steelers Tender Ross Cockrell
- The Steelers placed an original round tender on restricted free agent cornerback Ross Cockrell, a source tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). A fourth-round pick of the Bills in 2014, Cockrell has started the last two years for Pittsburgh and is now free negotiate with other teams. However, the Steelers reserve the right to match any offer. Cockrell is slated to play 2017 on the low tender, which should be worth roughly $1.8MM.
Steelers’ Ryan Harris Retires
Offensive tackle Ryan Harris inked a two-year, $3.9MM deal with the Steelers in free agency last March. Twelve months later, he’s retiring, according to Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post (Twitter link).
Harris, who will turn 32 on March 11, only appeared in five games and didn’t record any starts in his lone season in Pittsburgh. Despite that, he told Mike Klis of 9News that playing for the Steelers “was a dream come true.” The Steelers placed Harris on injured reserve in early October on account of a shin issue. Injuries were long problematic for Harris, who underwent three back surgeries and dealt with other ailments during his career, as Klis notes.
“It’s been a long journey,’’ Harris told Klis. “You have to overcome injuries. That’s the NFL. The injury rate is 100 percent. You have to have belief, you have to have a great surgeon, you have to have belief in yourself. You have to take the small increments, the changes in your flexibility for months. You have to take it in stride and it made me a better professional and it made me a better man.”
Prior to joining the Steelers, Harris logged a combined 110 appearances and 70 starts with the Broncos, Texans and Chiefs. The majority of his work came in Denver, which selected the ex-Notre Dame standout in the third round of the 2007 draft. Harris started in 50 of 62 appearances as a Bronco, with whom he had tenures from 2007-10 and 2015. In his second stint with the Broncos, the 6-foot-5, 299-pounder started every game and collected a Super Bowl ring.
“Everything I had been through to everything we had accomplished was phenomenal,” Harris said of Denver’s latest championship-winning team.
Continued Harris: “I’ve really worked hard to put my family in a good place for retirement. I’ve been planning for this since Day 1 in the NFL. I’m fortunate. Not that many guys get the chance to retire. This is that time.’’
Steelers’ FAs Likely To Test Market
While the Steelers have prevented running back Le’Veon Bell from reaching free agency, it doesn’t appear they’ll be able to keep their other unsigned players from hitting the open market. The club isn’t close to re-signing any of its free agents-to-be as March 9 approaches, two sources told Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The Steelers’ list of unrestricted players includes linebackers Lawrence Timmons and Jarvis Jones, running back DeAngelo Williams, quarterback Landry Jones and wide receiver Markus Wheaton, among others. Pittsburgh began talks with Timmons in February, but it will be a challenge to stop the productive defender and careerlong Steeler from heading elsewhere for his 11th NFL season.
“Would you like to have him stay? Absolutely,” general manager Kevin Colbert said in regards to Timmons last month. “Does it all fit? We can make it work, but at what cost? He’s never been a free agent. I’d like to see him finish his career here and he would too.”
Although Jarvis Jones has disappointed since going in the first round of the 2013 draft, having totaled only six sacks in 50 appearances, he’s likely to encounter a favorable market, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
As is the case with Timmons, Colbert has indicated he’d like to have Landry Jones stick around, though it might behoove the four-year veteran to look for a clearer path to playing time someplace else. Jones appeared in a combined 15 games the past two seasons, but barring retirement, Ben Roethlisberger is entrenched as the Steelers’ starting signal-caller.
As for Bell, the Steelers aren’t in any rush to start talks on a long-term deal with the franchise-tagged running back, per Dulac. That runs contrary to a Thursday report from NFL.com’s Aditi Kinkhabwala, who relayed that the two sides are “heavy into negotiations.” The Steelers have until July 15 to lock up Bell.