Former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro left tackle Flozell Adams has signed a two year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Nicknamed “The Hotel” due to his gargantuan 338 pound frame, he is a five time Pro Bowl selection, with the most recent appearance being in 2007. Flozell protected Captain Overrated’s blind side in all 16 games last season. Since I try to ignore America’s Laughingstock as much as possible, I can only repeat many are claiming his release was primarily due to the hefty $2.5 million bonus on top of the $5 million salary he was due to collect this year.
Or it may have been because he’s a massive tool. You may recall a Sunday night game against the Giants near the end of the season where he cheapshotted Justin Tuck as the teams were walking off the field for halftime. Or there was the MNF game earlier in the year which saw Adams receive a personal foul for blatantly tripping Julies Peppers. In fact, he was smacked with $25,000 worth of fines for various unsavory acts in each of the first three games of the season. I’m fine with protecting your QB at all costs but when you’re tripping guys because you got beat or attempting to cold cock other players from behind, there is something rotten in Big D.
Max Starks, one of the NFL’s better left tackles, is due to make $6.7 million this season. It’s not yet known if Flozell will move to the easier right tackle position or they’ll shift Max back over to where he started for our 2005 Super Bowl champions. Wherever he plays, Adams should at least improve the run blocking as the Cowboys were an excellent rushing team the past few seasons.
As you may have gathered, I’m less than thrilled with this signing. I really can’t fault the Steelers, though. The offensive line situation is desperate and we haven’t even played one preseason game. Rookie Chris Scott broke his foot while incumbent starter Willie Colon tore his ACL. Both are done for the year. Jonathan Scott started for the Bills last season so he could be an option. But behind him we have undrafted rookie Kyle Jolly and total bust Tony Hills as the only fallbacks.
While I’m not sure we should put too much faith in a 35 year old who is about one bucket of KFC away from weighing four bills, Flozell the Hotel should at least provide a little insurance to a team which needs every bit it can get right now.