Reggie Bush to Dolphins, McNabb to Vikings, Steelers Cut Starks

Sources say that the Saints have reached a trade deal with the Dolphins to bring Reggie Bush to Miami, so for all you Pittsburgh people who hoped we’d get him…it’s too late. Miami has been slowly creeping back in to contention over the last few seasons, and bringing in Bush makes their already well-staffed RB situation even better. The Dolphins are a run first team, often utilizing their running backs in the wildcat formation offense, so we’re likely to see Bush get a lot of action, especially since the Ricky Williams is now over 33. Whether we’ll see the Reggie Bush everyone was expecting to see after his incredible college career remains to be seen.

Sources also say the Redskins have traded Donovan McNabb to the Vikings. The Vikings have been in QB limbo for a while now, and tried to remedy that situation by bringing in 40 year old Brett Farve, who played his final two season (we think) with the MN Vikings. That worked for about one season and they’ve been a mess since, opting to play Joe Webb when Farve was injured. Curiously, they drafted a QB (Christian Ponder) in the first round, 12th over all, who was supposed to be going late in the draft, maybe as far back as the 5th or 6th round. I assume they’ll hope either Webb (who had some flashes of potential last year against the Chicago Bears) or Ponder will develop while McNabb fills a hole for the next couple of years. I actually really like McNabb and think with the right offense, he could really succeed.

The Steelers are still making moves and signing FA where they must. What we will likely see today, according to reports, is the Steelers releasing Left Tackle Max Starks in favor of Jonathan Scott. This move would likely save the Steelers about $5 million this season.

It also looks unlikely that the Steelers will re-sign Antwaan Randle El this season. After the emergence of the two rookies, Emmanual Sanders and Antonio Brown, the numbers really are not in El’s favor. I have always loved ARE, but we have to be realistic here. The Steelers still need to work out a deal with Woodley, and then they might ask to restructure Aaron Smith and James Farrior’s contracts to save them some money in the short term.

In an article that came out this morning on http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com, another Steelers blog site, they say there is the slightest chance that the Steelers would let Woodley go if Woodley gets too greedy in negotiating a contract. I really hadn’t heard this before, so I was a little confused when I read it. Didn’t Woodley get the Franchise Tag? I am relatively sure that the FT exists in the new CBA…can anyone out there confirm or deny this? I have serious doubts that the Steelers would let Woodley go, BUT I do think that Jason Worilds showed great promise at the position and could easily develop in to a starter very quickly. The only issue with that is, James Harrison is aging, and if he catches a big suspension or multiple suspensions over this season, we could be seeing the end of Harrison in Pittsburgh as well. Lots of “what ifs” there, but certainly not impossible.

All for now, more as the Steelers make moves. They need to be totally finished signing Free Agents by August 4th, as that is the deadline for Free Agents to join in at camp.