Steelers: Spaeth and Suisham could be next veterans to go

The Steelers have lost a few familiar faces this offseason but they still might lose a couple more before week 1. It’ll be Matt Spaeth and Shaun Suisham who are in the most danger.

So we’re on the post-draft side of the offseason. We’re probably past the biggest moves. Free agents have been signed. Rookies have been drafted. Some players have been cut. But it’s not over yet. Two long time Steelers could get cut. And the odds might be more likely than not.

So there are basically three reasons to part ways with a player in the NFL outside of a trade or retirement scenario. Either you don’t want them, you can’t afford them, or you don’t need them. The Steelers, like any NFL team, have players that fit all three categories.

The Steelers have pretty much gotten through the first two categories. They’ve gotten rid of the players they can’t afford and the players they don’t want.

The ones they can’t afford are the players who were free agents and the Steelers would likely have wanted to keep them, but just couldn’t pony up the dough. Kelvin Beachum who was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars is probably the best example of this. Steve McLendon who signed with the Jets is another.

The ones they didn’t want are the players who they gave up on. For whatever reason they saw something in the player at one point that made Tomlin or Colbert see some potential role for these players. A couple years go by and things aren’t going as planned and the team will give up.

Mike Adams might be the best example of this. He was cut from the team. Will Allen and Brandon Boykin are others. Although, Allen is more because he’s past his prime than he never reached it.

The players you can’t afford get signed away early because other teams can afford them. If you want to sign Kelvin Beachum it’s best to do it early in the offseason than late. The Steelers did that with Ladarius Green. It’s not just because of the bidding dynamic that free agency has but the Steelers signing Green in March instead of now gives him 3 extra months with the playbook.

The players you don’t want are often gotten rid of early too. It frees up cap money for the early free agent bidding wars and also for signing that year’s rookies.

But there are still the players you don’t need. Those players are often the last to go because most of the events you would use to determine what you need, besides the previous season, occur at the end of the offseason. There’s camp and preseason. And that’s where we are now. So let’s talk about who is in danger.

Matt Spaeth

Spaeth isn’t definitely going to go. He’s a good player. He knows the offense and can still block as good as any tight end in the league. The only thing is, the Steelers have suddenly become crowded at tight end, ironic just a few months after the retirement of Heath Miller. And all else equal, teams go with youth and Spaeth will be turning 33 this year.

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The Steelers have Ladarius Green obviously. The second tight end will probably be Jesse James. He’s a big tight end who is well rounded in terms of hands and blocking. Green and James could be a red zone menace but the Steelers always have more than two. Spaeth can do goal line stuff and special teams.

But the Steelers did just sign David Johnson after he spent a couple years with the Chargers. He, like Spaeth, is a blocking specialist but is slightly more versatile. He’s no spring chicken but is younger than Speath by 4 years. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com pointed out the Steelers are fond of Xavier Grimble who spent last year on the practice squad.

It’s possible Spaeth beats out Johnson. It’s possible Xavier Grimble doesn’t take the next step. But the Steelers aren’t going to keep five tight ends. They really only had three last year with Will Johnson occasionally filling that role too. But the Steelers have Roosevelt Nix too who can fill in for a blocker.

Youth has upside, and it’s cheaper. Spaeth might not make it to week 1.

Shaun Suisham

The obstacles Suisham faces are similar those Spaeth must overcome but a little simpler, though not easier. Suisham tore his ACL before the season started in 2015 and the Steelers had a rough time trying to replace him. They went through a couple kickers, wasted a draft pick, missed some field goals, lost some games, but they eventually found Chris Boswell.

Boswell started with the Texans, lost a position battle. Then he lost a position battle with the Giants. The Steelers, in desperation, signed Boswell midseason in 2015. And he finally settled the kicking problems.

It’s hard to kick in Heinz Field. It’s construction and the rivers and some magic curse that was placed on it by Frenchy Fuqua, who was bitter over Three Rivers and the Pirate’s gold he buried in its walls being destroyed, lead to some strange vortex of wind that makes it a kicking nightmare.

Which is possibly why the Steelers had such a hard time finding another kicker with the gift, to kick through that nonsense. Suisham is coming off a serious leg injury. But even if he can come back and play just as well as Boswell, Boswell is younger and cheaper.

Boswell himself told Mark Kaboly of TribLive.com, “I don’t pay attention to any of the contract talk. The better kicker will win no matter how much money somebody makes. I just have to be myself and stick to what I am doing.”

While that may be true, the tricky winds of Heinz Field may be on his side. It’s hard to find a kicker at all, let alone in Pittsburgh. Boswell, based on age, would at least double the number of years the Steelers wouldn’t have to deal with that process again.

How much longer can Suisham kick? If the Steelers keep Suisham and let Boswell go then Suisham will eventually retire, or get injured again, or start to slow down. And then the Steelers will have to go through what they went through last year all over again in finding a suitable kicker that won’t risk their Super Bowl hopes.

Unless Boswell blows it (which he has at two other teams) and Suisham is as good as ever, or better, then Suisham is probably going to get cut.

Finally, as kind of an honorable mention, Shamarko Thomas could also get cut. It’s not because he isn’t needed, he is, and that’s what will save him, but like Adams, the Steelers don’t really have a place for him anymore. They have moved on. But because the secondary is so thin he’ll probably get a life after death kind of opportunity here.

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So in conclusion, Suisham is almost definitely gone. Matt Spaeth is about a coin flip. And Shamarko Thomas is probably going to get another year. Good luck Shaun and Matt.