The Pittsburgh Steelers have some unhappy training campers over at St. Vincent’s.   The team which refuses to negotiate contracts during the season has decreed all off-season contract discussions have officially ended.

This is interesting because several important players are in the final year of their deals.  Ike Taylor, the only corner on the Steelers who doesn’t attempt to cover receivers by giving them a five yard cushion, hasn’t griped.   Linebacker LaMarr Woodley has.  In fact, he’s been quite upfront with his displeasure over not getting a new deal.   Although I usually trust Kevin Colbert and company, I do not like hearing that Mr. Woodley is upset.  If I were the Steelers, I’d present him one of those big ass Publishers Clearinghouse checks in whatever dollar amount he wants.

Another pending free agent who’s not too happy is kicker Jeff Reed.

Reed, you see, was a free agent this summer.   The team tagged him as their Franchise Player meaning he was obligated to play for them this season for the average salary of the top 5 players at his position.   In 2010, that amounts to $2.8 million.

But Skippy is not pleased about this situation.  Yes, being paid almost three million bucks to kick an oblong ball through two upright sticks would make most people happy.  But Jeff feels he’s been lied to, mislead, taken advantage of, hornswoggled, and bamboozled.

Forget about the oil spill in the Gulf, why isn’t President Obama doing anything about the human rights violations taking place in Latrobe?   This is a travesty of the highest order!   If we allow kickers to be mistreated in such a heinous manner, where will these sickening abuses end?  Who’s next?   Punters?

“I’m really disappointed … extremely … little bit bitter,” said our courageous kicker in this article published in the Post-Gazette. I would be disappointed too!   How can people call the Rooneys honorable owners?   Why they’re modern day slave drivers if you ask me.

Poor Skippy has to go out there every day in his Bermuda shorts and kick a half dozen or so footballs and then drink some Gatorade.  It’s hot out there!   And then during the season he kicks even more, during actual game situations!   That’s stressful let me tell you.  And then there are the kickoffs!   Sure they only travel about 40 yards but he has to actually RUN up to the ball!    He’s also expected to run across the field to make a tackle if the return man escapes containment.   But physical contact isn’t really Skippy’s job.  He saves that for towel dispensers and the groupies he meets down at the Strip.

Tackling is for those stupid “football players” to do.   He’s perfectly content to run in the opposite direction once the ball is in the air.   Who would kick field goals if some horrific injury, such as an ingrown toenail, were to befall him?  Casey Hampton?  Jeff Reed is a kicker, man!  83.3% lifetime you know!

For all this backbreaking work the Steelers have THE NERVE to only pay him three million dollars?

Let’s all shed a tear for Skippy.

With less than a week before the start of NFL free agency, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been busy trying to lock up the players they must retain in order to be competitive next season.

Of course, the big (in more ways than one) name of the bunch is nose tackle Casey Hampton.  A five time Pro Bowler, Big Snack is arguably the best NT in all of football.  In the 3-4 defense favored by Hall of Famer Dick LeBeau, the nose tackle is doubly important.  If you don’t have a fatass up the middle to clog up running lanes and occupy two linemen so the linebackers can shoot the gaps, you’re in major trouble.

With more and more teams copying the Steelers by switching to a 3-4, the premium on high quality prototypical NTs is at an all time high.  Luckily, teams have a Franchise tag which would’ve been slapped on Hampton faster than doughboy can clean out a buffet.  Recognizing the situation, both sides have chosen to reach a compromise.  Early this morning, Hampton and the Steelers compromised to the tune of a three year/$21 million dollar deal.

It’s a good deal for both sides.  Hampton’s 33 and grossly obese so I’m guessing three more years is probably the outside limit of how many more quality seasons he has left.   Of course, 2009 saw him set career highs in terms of tackles and forced fumbles.  Then again, he was playing for a new contract and we all know how that goes.  However, considering the Steelers have no viable replacement waiting in the wings, allowing Hampton to reach free agency would’ve been an unmitigated disaster.  Had they used the Franchise tag, his 2010 salary would’ve been about $7 million.  So they basically paid what they were going to pay anyway without worrying about getting into a bidding war with 31 other teams.

Signing Big Snack leaves only two players on Director of Player Personnel Kevin Colbert‘s wish list:  Ryan Clark and Skippy Reed.  Thanks to that senile old coot Al Davis throwing kicker contracts totally out of whack, the Steelers couldn’t reach a deal with Jeff Reed by this afternoon.   So instead he’s the one who’s been nabbed with the Franchise tag.  Yes, you read that right.  Skippy Reed is YOUR Franchise player.

And as anybody who saw kickers shank chip shot after chip shot in this year’s playoffs will attest, it’s a smart move.  Good teams need a dependable kicker (even one that tackles like a little girl).   Since the difference in salary between a Franchised kicker and a Transition tagged one is only about $300,000, there was no reason not to use it on Skippy.  I’m sure the female members of Steeler Nation will rest easier at night now that they know they’ll have their favorite piece of man candy roaming the sidelines for at least one more year.

Which leaves us with Ryan Clark.  The Steelers have said they want to re-sign him but won’t use either tag to do it.  Obviously they like him but only so much.  I’m guessing Colbert realizes, much like we all did, that Troy makes everybody in the secondary look better than they are.   Since Clark already knows LeBeau’s complicated defense, it’d be nice to keep him.   But they aren’t going to break the bank over it.   Frankly, I couldn’t care less if he stays or if he goes.  Remember, the Steelers brought him in as a cheap no-name when their starting safety Chris Hope priced himself out of their range.   I would shed no tears if history were to repeat itself.