Steelers make trade for CB

[BLITZ]

great trade for us. improves our secondary regardless of where he plays. Best case scenario is to sign him to an extension now, but as others have stated if he goes elsewhere next year we will probably get better than a 5th rd comp pick.

If I am a Eagles fan I would be pissed over this deal. Chip Kelly is either a mad genius or one crazy sob.

 

[diver]

We're worry about next year, next year! He didn't cost us much of anything and our secondary stinks.

We're trying to win THIS year! Holy ****. Ben only has a handful of years left.

That's right. How many times have I read on here that they have been wasting Ben's years? Who cares what it may cost or if it is a 5th or a 4th? Worry about this ******' year.

 

[SteelerAl]

Great move. Should settle down the moving parts in the secondary and puts Blake at #4 where he belongs. To date at camp when they go to nickel, they've put Blake on the outside, Gay in the slot and forced Allen to switch sides (presumably because Blake can only play on one side). That's nuts.

 

[Troglodyte]

Because I think they will give Allen a very long rope..to me this trade had to do with depth and Golson not being able to contribute early similar to Bryant last year.

Right. Moves aren't being made based on what they've seen one week into camp. This move has to do with depth and availability.

 

[Drink IRON City]

Well this is ONE move our FO got right. Who would of thought. They are earning their money now.

Hafta justify the contract extention(s).........................



Salute the nation

 

[TDX27]

No matter how you look at this trade, it was a good trade. We got a potential starter and, at a minimum, a solid contributor for a conditional 5th rounder. You take that anytime.

If they can get him for a team friendly longer deal now, I'd do that too. If he plays reasonably well, he will want big money at the end of the season and he will walk. In this case, he is just a stop gap for the season. Again, a good move.

 

[Fiji Mariner]

All the height talk is kinda pointless, the kid has a 40" vertical and ball skills. This is a great pickup, a glaring need filled. If he way outperforms his past and prices us out we get a comp pick of near equal value as to what we gave to acquire him. If he underperforms we only risk a 4-5th rounder.

I think his addition may inspire Cortez as well allowing Gay to go back into the slot with Boykin and Allen outside.

 

[Tibs]

All the height talk is kinda pointless, the kid has a 40" vertical and ball skills.

Boykin has unreal hops and athleticism...

 

[antdrewjosh]

This was a great trade. If Cortez can return to form this could be a pretty good crop of CBs. Alot of ball skills something we've lacked.

 

[Tibs]

In this highlight video, he's making plays on the ball against:

6-3 Jordy Nelson, twice
6-2 Dez Bryant
6-0 Victor Cruz, twice
6-4 Antonio Gates
6-3 Larry Fitzgerald

He's got a proven, three-year track record against the top WR's and TE's, so I'm not worried about his height, at all. Let Butler/Lake figure out where to play him, inside or outside. Hard to argue he's not our most talented defensive back the moment he steps onto the field. Runs a 4.3-4.4 40, has 42,5 vertical and is all of 25 years old. I hope the Steelers find some way to hold onto this kid.

 

[Troglodyte]

I just wish they had been able to make this move prior to the draft.

 

[stillwright]

No matter how you look at this trade, it was a good trade. We got a potential starter and, at a minimum, a solid contributor for a conditional 5th rounder. You take that anytime.

If they can get him for a team friendly longer deal now, I'd do that too. If he plays reasonably well, he will want big money at the end of the season and he will walk. In this case, he is just a stop gap for the season. Again, a good move.

This makes me laugh every time someone writes this. We don't sign team friendly deals with players. Give the man market value NOW. He is our best DB by far.

 

[Wingman]

This looks like something they were wanting to do for a while. Early in the season before the draft there were players that started a bidding war and there was lots of we need this guy pay him over and over. It looks like the wait and see approach paid off for the steelers this time. This was something that was talked about in Mini camp as well. The rep from the team said the steelers are continuously evaluating players and looking for talent that they can bring in, for lots of reasons. Now all that needs to be seen is can the player adapt to what the steelers are doing and can he continue his on field production here.

 

[Spike]

This looks like something they were wanting to do for a while.

We needed help badly

I can't believe they handed Cortez Allen a 5 year $26M contract....then they benched him for half the year for poor play!

But I'm not picking on him, the entire secondary was terrible...except for maybe Gay...he was our shining star.

 

[steel dino]

Almost seems....

Too good to be true....

what's the rub?

 

[TDX27]

This makes me laugh every time someone writes this. We don't sign team friendly deals with players. Give the man market value NOW. He is our best DB by far.

I said it because we have a lot of CB's on the team that we just drafted and signed. If they show any promise, Boykin is gone after this year unless he does sign something that works for the team. It's called common sense.

That's why I'd try to sign him to a lesser dollar extension now as I doubt they will after the season.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

This shows the steelers saw immediate need. Is that because Golson is injured or that Cortez is still not dependable? Is it because Shamarko an/or Mitchell aren't looking great? It could be a combination of all of those but the bottom line is before this move, they had exactly 1 proven dependable player in the secondary, William Gay. Now they have 2.

I think they did expect Golson to be able to play almost immediately and make an impact as a nickel CB. So Golson's injury alone could be the reason for this move. I also think they are still concerned about Cortez.

Let's not forget pass rush either. If you can't rush the passer then you better be able to cover. Dupree so far looks like a project who may not be able to contribute a ton this year. That should have been expected. The bigger problem is Jarvis still looks like Jarvis. If they don't see much improvement in the pass rush for this season then an upgrade in the secondary is needed.

I was happy with the Golson pick. This situation is why i wanted them to draft Adrian Amos over Grant. Amos is a smart player with experience at CB and S and seemed a safe bet to be a later round guy who could contribute as a rookie.

 

[BLITZ]

i don't think this trade had anything to do with an injury to golson or how Allen has looked in training camp this year, but has to do with how all of our corners played last year. My guess is they have been after Boykin for awhile. trades like this don't happen over night

 

[Tibs]

My guess is they have been after Boykin for awhile. trades like this don't happen over night

Your guess is correct BLITZ. Chip Kelly just confirmed the Steelers tried to trade for him a couple of times before this deal went down, going back to the draft.

It's at the very beginning of this clip:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0ap3000000505842/Kelly-Sam-Bradford-is-cleared-to-go

Boykin will wear #25, btw...

 

[deljzc]

I don't know what to make of this. Value wise it's about average. The fact Boykin only has 1 year left on his deal is not good for us. The value of that draft pick is to find a guy for cheap for 4 seasons. Boykin isn't cheap and he isn't long term. After this year his value is dictated by the free agent market and as I've pounded on and on about the Golson pick, this shows you the exact value of "nickel defensive backs". They are available if you look around.

It just further confuses me about what we saw in Golson to think he's worth a 2nd round pick. Makes no sense to me from a cost analysis or resource analysis.

And now we add yet another undersized nickel defender into a group of undersized nickel defenders. The fact Boykin is probably the most talented just speaks volumes to the confusion we have about the position. A month ago, every bullshit pro-Steelers local story was how Blake was going to emerge this season. Obviously that was wrong because Boykin is just a better Blake.

To me this trade represents a clusterfuck at the position not a positive. It represents confusion in the front office and coaching staffs. It represents panic already.

Will it make us a better team in 2015? Probably slightly. I never was sold on Blake, Golson or Grant before this and I've like Boykin as a player for a while (I've seen a lot of him being in the Philly market) and I liked him coming out of college. But when you are looking at 1-year rental players on August 1st to fix your depth charts, that's not a good sign.

At this point I think Gay and Allen will end up the outside starters and Boykin will be the nickel defender. We'll keep Blake and both rookies will make the roster (Golson/Grant). But that also means our supposed "rookie fixes" that everyone was so optimistic about after the draft will be buried as the #5 and #6 CB's on the roster and never see playing time.

Typical Steelers draft. Overdraft need positions, find out they can't play, then bury 'em on the depth chart and sell us on "future returns" while we struggle with journeyman free agents getting playing time and struggling.

 

[Spike]

Swag!

Brandon Boykin slams Chip Kelly after being traded by the Eagles

With Chip Kelly having full control over the Eagles' player personnel department, there's no doubt it was his decision to trade Brandon Boykin to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday evening. Now that Boykin is gone, he had some thoughts to share on his former coach. According to Derrick Gunn of CSN Philly, Boykin said the following message in a text:

"The truth is Chip is uncomfortable around grown men of our culture. He can't relate, and that makes him uncomfortable, he likes to be in total control of everything. Players can excel when you naturally let them be who they are and in my experience that hasn't been important to him. I'm forever grateful to Mr. Lurie, Howie, my teammates, and fans of Philadelphia."


http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/...-trade-quote-culture-steelers-cornerback-race



Jeremy Fowler @JFowlerESPN/Directly from Boykin - Doesn’t feel Chip a racist, feels he doesn’t relate to players (hard to talk to), that’s why players are speaking out.11:20 AM

 

[TDX27]

I don't care why they picked him up other than the fact it makes us a better team this year. If everyone else remains healthy, this D is definitely going to be better than last year and give this team a legitimate shot at the SB.

 

[Tibs]

"The atmosphere is already electric. I'm excited to be here."

Brandon Boykin is ready for a new opportunity.
FULL INTERVIEW: http://stele.rs/3ggw2

 

[Litos]

Deljzc I don't get it, they adressed the need during the draft, then they adress it prior to the start of the season and that looks to you as a clusterfuck? Damned if they do, Damned if they don't?
They lost McCann on FA, gay isn't getting any younger, is not like they are making this trade midseason, there's time enough for him to train with the team.

Good move by the F.O.,

 

[Tibs]

Totally agree Litos, I don't see any negatives at all with this move. The secondary is undergoing a rebuild with a lot of new faces. How could adding a player of Boykin's caliber be a bad thing? The Steelers have at least as good - if not better - chance as any in signing Boykin. It's no sure thing he'll only be here for one season. Let's see how that plays out. How will he fit in here with the players and coaches? If all goes well, why wouldn't he want to stay? Anyway, it's rare to see a situation which seems like a no brainer, a clearly positive move.