As the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for the final stretch of the regular season after a convincing Monday Night Football victory, it's never a bad idea to see how the team could best shore up its roster. Now, the free agent pool is not exactly brimming with talent. But one interesting name was just granted his release, not too far from Pittsburgh.
The New York Jets have released wide receiver Allen Lazard upon his request, and he will now start his journey to a new team.
Of course, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers knows Lazard all too well from their time spent together both with the Jets and the Green Bay Packers. At the age of 30, one would think Lazard still has a good amount of football left in him.
However, this is also a receiver who has not impressed in the last couple of years in terms of, well, playing the position, to be blunt.
An Allen Lazard-Aaron Rodgers reunion is a complicated proposal for the Pittsburgh Steelers
First of all, his three seasons with the Jets all fell incomplete. He played less than a full allotment of games due to injuries, here and there, and thus inconsistency followed. The biggest question when it comes to Lazard is, how much does he have left in the tank, if anything?
Jets fans would tell you (loudly) about all of his miscues and inability to separate, which is quite literally one of the most important aspects of playing the wide receiver position. If Lazard cannot separate, he is far from a consistently-useful asset to any NFL offense.
On the other side of the coin, you could argue that Lazard is truly only a useful wide receiver when he's playing with Rodgers. Somehow, some way, he and Rodgers developed and maintained a strong relationship.
If Lazard is deemed to be a useful addition by Pittsburgh, though, who do they cut ties with to make room? The team just added Adam Thielen, so he isn't going anywhere -- especially not because he's, well, a better player than Lazard.
Ben Skowronek is a valuable special teams player, and I'd have a hard time believing the Steelers let go of him, so we can continue on down the depth chart.
Scotty Miller is likely the guy to look at here, but Rodgers also likes Miller quite a bit. That makes for a difficult decision. It makes for a difficult situation, altogether, quite frankly.
Lazard may want to play with Rodgers again, and the feeling might be mutual. But, do the Steelers have a realistic ability to make it happen?