Steelers Morning Huddle – 4/17/13

November 12, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Fireworks explode over the stadium as a salute to service men and women before the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs game at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning Steelers Fans!  We comb through the Steelers news and present a few articles everyday with our comments.  Here’s what I found today:

While it looks like the Steelers have Emmanuel Sanders for another year, speculation has already started about if the Steelers can retain him after he becomes an unrestricted free agent.  Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette looks at that.  Bouchette wonders why the Steelers didn’t tender him as a restricted free agent earlier this year and save some money.  You have to think that Roethlisberger was getting a little frantic watching receivers leave.  I hope Sanders has a break out year, but the stats are a bit against him.

I posted on Monday that former Steeler Lineback James Harrison was likely to sign a deal with the Bengals, but according to ProFootball Talk, the negotiations have slowed down.  I tweeted that there were a lot of inflammatory articles about Harrison’s “hate” of the Steelers and that I wasn’t buying it.  Someone needed to get a quote directly from him.  Harrison tweeted out:

He also released a statement on his Facebook page.  I guess it is still a waiting game to see where he ends up.

Tyler Eifert, former Tight End for Notre Dame, is getting a little attention as a potential late draft pick for the Steelers.  Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review quotes ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. about Eifert’s suitability for the Steelers and that he “would be a luxury” for a team who already has Heath Miller.  However, Robinson does acknowledge that Heath Miller’s health is still an unknown after his ACL injury.  The jury is still out on how well Heath Miller has recovered.  Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings was an anomaly and should not be the standard to judge recovery.

This morning’s huddle ends on a sad note as we say a fond farewell to Pat Summerall who may of us grew up with as one of the voices of sports, particularly calling NFL games.  According to an article honoring Summerall on NFL.com, he called a record 16 Superbowls on television and 10 others on radio.  Summerall not only called the game, but he played it too.  As a kicker, he was on several teams including some championship games with the NY Giants.  I’ve already missed his play-by-play style in the booth and hope he is an inspiration to future broadcasters.

So, what do you think Steelers fans?  Sound off about the articles here and any others you find!  Do you think the Steelers need to draft a TE to work with Heath Miller?