Steelers Free Agency: It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye

Troy Polamalu

Oct 20, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin talks with safety Troy Polamalu (43) on the sidelines against the Houston Texans during the first half at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

It feels almost blasphemous to talk about Troy Polamalu playing for an NFL team other than the Steelers. That’s a very real possibility we all need to prepare ourselves emotionally for. Polamalu has been an unlikely Yinzer if there ever was one. The soft-spoken Samoan from Southern California came to Pittsburgh and won the hearts of Steeler Nation with his work ethic, humbleness, and spectacular plays.

It’s actually been sad to watch the decline of Polamalu over the course of the last three seasons or so. He spent a few years with nagging injuries and since then has never really returned to the playmaker he used to be. In 2014 he played just twelve games and didn’t record an interception for the first time in his career since 2007.

He’s due a salary of $6 million in 2015 and the Steelers shouldn’t and probably can’t afford to pay a veteran with such declining skills that type of money while rebuilding and retooling their defense to match the quality and production level their offense is at right now is their top priority.

It just might not work out for the Steelers and Polamalu in 2015. Ike Taylor said that Troy is in training already and is preparing to play his thirteenth NFL season in 2015, hopefully with the Steelers. He’ll likely be asked to restructure his contract, which has two years left on it, and take a pay decrease to stay with the team.

I don’t know if I could see Polamalu wear another uniform the same way I was glad I never had to see Hines Ward don another team’s colors. Polamalu is an icon for the Pittsburgh Steelers. You could make a case to include him in the Steelers Mount Rushmore, greatest of all time, or whatever you want to call it.

Next: James Harrison