Heath Miller is one of those players that every fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers knows and loves, but has little chance of ending up in the NFL Hall of Fame. Miller was a terrific player for the Steelers over his 11 seasons. He missed just a handful of games over that time even though he was banged up a lot and managed three pretty elite seasons along the way in 2007, 2009 and 2012.
Miller will never have to buy his own beer again in Pittsburgh and can probably comfortably slide into a local media job, or even a national one in the booth for CBS or Fox. But the Steelers have to find a way to replace him and, if you’ve been paying attention, you know they’ve already done a pretty good job of that.
Heath Miller, Tight End
2015: 60 catches, 535 yards, two touchdowns
The Steelers knew the hole that Miller’s retirement would leave on their team so they took no chances in finding his replacement. On the first day of free agency Pittsburgh signed former San Diego Chargers tight end Ladarius Green to a four-year, $20 million contract with $4.75 million guaranteed. The Chargers couldn’t afford to keep Green and let Antonio Gates finish out his career there, so the hard choice had to be made.
It’s a good deal for both sides. Green shown brightly when he got on the field for the Chargers, catching 37 passes for 429 yards and four touchdowns in 2015. The deal for Green is obviously a pay raise, but it doesn’t break the bank for the Steelers, a team that seems to absolutely hate signing free agents.
Green immediately moves into the starter spot because the two guys the Steelers currently have on the roster are basically just bodies. Matt Speath was a third round pick out of Minnesota a decade ago and has kept a job with the Steelers as a blocker and special teamer. Last year he caught a total of two passes for 10 yards so he’s not exactly an offensive weapon. Behind him is second-year man Jesse James who was a little more productive in the offense, catching a total of eight passes and a touchdown. Neither guy has a chance to cause Green any problems.
Pittsburgh has spent this early free agency period mostly signing their own guys. They kept Romon Foster at guard, William Gay at corner, Robert Golden at safety and Darrius Heyward-Bey at wide receiver. The Steelers are still right up against the barrier in salary cap, with just $3.139 million in available space. They’ll probably restructure a few guys to create some more, but their free agent spending spree likely began and ended with Green.
The Steelers have an odd set of draft picks coming up. They pick once in rounds one through four, then don’t pick again until round seven where they have three picks. Hunter Henry out of Arkansas will likely already be off the board when the Steelers make their pick, at 58, in the second round. Austin Hooper out of Stanford won’t be and at 6-foot-4 and 254 pounds, he might be difficult to pass up even though the Steelers have plenty of needs they need to address.
Hooper caught 34 passes for 438 yards and six touchdowns last season for the Cardinal. He played in a pro-style offense and Stanford players have a habit of coming into the NFL with their heads on straight.
Most likely the Steelers will wait until the seventh round to pick a tight end, that makess a guy like Tanner McEvoy from Wisconsin, David Grinnage from NC State or Jake McGee from Florida a possibility. McGee had good production at Florida and Virginia, catching over 40 passes in the last two seasons and catching four touchdowns in 2015. At 6-foot-5, 250 pounds McGee has plenty of size and power to replace one of the Steelers blocking tight ends, but soft enough hands to add something in the passing game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg_59yWcglY
In a lot of ways McGee looks like Miller and will make a nice addition to the Steelers roster.
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