I'll be satisfied if they end up with Tate.

I want them to target him specifically and not just be in a position to grab any random WR.

But they'll probably have to get in the late first round.

Teams really need to stop trading with the Jets, and they fleece pretty much everyone they make deals with.

They undressed Manigini twice last year with the Sanchez and Edwards (who did play well for them and made some big catches) deals, and now they bent the Steelers over.

There may not be a better GM in the NFL right now than mike tannenbaum when you look at the moves he has made as well as his drafts the past few years.

devil1197 wrote: Respect doesn't equal W's which is all people care about anyways.

Maybe if you're a fanbase that hasn't won a title since 1964 or so. I'm actually not saying that as a TOTAL insult to Cleveland (a partial one, yes, but not a total one). On a Cavs thread, BR1986FB made a comment that backs that up by saying that AS LONG AS Cleveland won a championship this year, he really wouldn't care what LeBron does as far as free agency goes. Because, as a longtime Cleveland fan, the only thing he cares about is winning a championship.

With Pittsburgh, we have two NFL championships and one NHL championship in recent times. And our beloved summer black hole called the Pirates, but we won't talk about them, okay? I can't speak for the entire fanbase, but I support them using Holmes to send a message to the rest of the team that you don't fuck with the league's substance abuse rules. If that costs the team this year, I'll be disappointed in the short-term result, but shit happens. In recent times, the Steelers have been among the elite NFL franchises (only behind New England and maybe Indy). Sure, I'd love to celebrate my teams winning championships on a yearly basis, but when it all comes down, when you watch them get two in a decade, it's easier to stomach the occasional non-playoff season as "a bump in the road".

When those "bumps" make up nearly the entire road, I'd imagine the "win at all costs" thing becomes more important.

justincredible wrote: What are SPEDS?

The new CCs?

Heretic wrote:

killer_ewok wrote:

LTrain23 wrote: Wait a minute... Why trade Holmes and not Big Ben if the Steelers "don't fuck around".. Big Ben has had TWO separate incidents.

Contract is a big part of it. Holmes only had one year left. And he's almost certainly gonna miss 4 games....for violating the league's substance abuse policy......and tweeting about it.....in between his tweets encouraging people to kill themselves.

Yeah. When it all comes down, nobody KNOWS that Ben ever did one illegal thing. I think we all can be 95+ percent sure that he's a big, dumb manwhore who thinks with his dick, but anything else is just assumption.

On one hand, Holmes is similar. He had domestic violence charges around/after being drafted that I believe were dropped (not 100%, so don't crucify me if I was wrong) AND he's involved in a woman-attacking suit that seems really bogus. But on the other hand, there's the substance abuse thing. I'm down with weed, but it is illegal and as a dude getting major money for providing entertainment, he should at least at least be not driving and toking, so a routine pull-over turns into a bust that leads to a game suspension. Or not using Internet communication devices such as Twitter to bring up how he's having a wake-n-bake day. Ben might be stupid, but Santonio seems to be advertising how stupid he is. I haven't heard stories of Ben FB'ing that he's heading down to O'Malley's Tavern and that [size=large]cute[/size] chick bartender's getting fucked whether she likes it or not.

cute? have you seen the women hes raped

The Steelers didn't win a SB or two by keeping self proclaimed wake & bake bowl packers around. I abhor the Steelers but respect the organization. They sacrificed short term for long term objectives.

It's a shitty trade so don't try and polish the turd, but it was done for the right reasons.

yobro08 wrote:

Heretic wrote:

killer_ewok wrote:

LTrain23 wrote: Wait a minute... Why trade Holmes and not Big Ben if the Steelers "don't fuck around".. Big Ben has had TWO separate incidents.

Contract is a big part of it. Holmes only had one year left. And he's almost certainly gonna miss 4 games....for violating the league's substance abuse policy......and tweeting about it.....in between his tweets encouraging people to kill themselves.

Yeah. When it all comes down, nobody KNOWS that Ben ever did one illegal thing. I think we all can be 95+ percent sure that he's a big, dumb manwhore who thinks with his dick, but anything else is just assumption.

On one hand, Holmes is similar. He had domestic violence charges around/after being drafted that I believe were dropped (not 100%, so don't crucify me if I was wrong) AND he's involved in a woman-attacking suit that seems really bogus. But on the other hand, there's the substance abuse thing. I'm down with weed, but it is illegal and as a dude getting major money for providing entertainment, he should at least at least be not driving and toking, so a routine pull-over turns into a bust that leads to a game suspension. Or not using Internet communication devices such as Twitter to bring up how he's having a wake-n-bake day. Ben might be stupid, but Santonio seems to be advertising how stupid he is. I haven't heard stories of Ben FB'ing that he's heading down to O'Malley's Tavern and that [size=large]cute[/size] chick bartender's getting fucked whether she likes it or not.

cute? have you seen the women hes raped

cute. do you know how low my standards are

yobro08 wrote:

Heretic wrote: I haven't heard stories of Ben FB'ing that he's heading down to O'Malley's Tavern and that [size=large]cute[/size] chick bartender's getting fucked whether she likes it or not.

cute? have you seen the women hes raped

cute. do you know how low my standards are

As Bill Simmons just said:

The Steelers give away their troubled black WR but stand by their troubled white QB... I smell a @Whitlockjason tweet binge coming!

I'm out of the loop regarding Holmes, but was he actully convicted of the crime? Or is it still basically a set of allegations towards him? (much like Big Ben, who despite not being charged, has stupidly put himself in that situation more than once... And that's not to mention his motorcycle incident)

LTrain23 wrote: As Bill Simmons just said:

The Steelers give away their troubled black WR but stand by their troubled white QB... I smell a @Whitlockjason tweet binge coming!

I'm out of the loop regarding Holmes, but was he actully convicted of the crime? Or is it still basically a set of allegations towards him? (much like Big Ben, who despite not being charged, has stupidly put himself in that situation more than once... And that's not to mention his motorcycle incident)

No, which is what I don't get. And his case is civil, not criminal. Plus nearly all the evidence points towards a money hungry bitch. I mean allegations are bad press for the organization no matter what, but if the guy didn't actually do anything then why are you trying to drop him? He's not Pacman and he made the greatest catch in your franchise history to win you a Super Bowl. I'm kinda shocked by this, but I really think it means they want to draft Tate and think he's something special.

At least they got Randle El back I suppose.

Well, Holmes is supposedly going to be suspended for four games for violating the substance abuse policy.

Apparently he had to pay a fine for using an illegal substance, which is pretty obvious to be marijuana, and then failed another test and is going to be suspended for four games.

He also made some bad comments on Twitter that I'm sure the front office didn't care for.

He was going to be a free agent after next season and they weren't going to negotiate a new contract so they would've got nothing had they waited another year.

But still I think they should've waited until closer to the draft and weighed some other offers.

SQ_Crazies wrote:

LTrain23 wrote: As Bill Simmons just said:

The Steelers give away their troubled black WR but stand by their troubled white QB... I smell a @Whitlockjason tweet binge coming!

I'm out of the loop regarding Holmes, but was he actully convicted of the crime? Or is it still basically a set of allegations towards him? (much like Big Ben, who despite not being charged, has stupidly put himself in that situation more than once... And that's not to mention his motorcycle incident)

No, which is what I don't get. And his case is civil, not criminal. Plus nearly all the evidence points towards a money hungry bitch. I mean allegations are bad press for the organization no matter what, but if the guy didn't actually do anything then why are you trying to drop him? He's not Pacman and he made the greatest catch in your franchise history to win you a Super Bowl. I'm kinda shocked by this, but I really think it means they want to draft Tate and think he's something special.

At least they got Randle El back I suppose.

My guess is that the reported (I don't think anything's been made official as of yet, but I don't pay that much attention to things) 4-game suspension he's supposedly getting for violating the substance abuse policy again is the thing that made him expendable.

I wouldn't support dumping him for jack shit if it was for allegations that look to be worth shit IF they're supporting another player who is suffering from the same. But if a guy is doing things that lead to repercussions that will hurt the team (aka: 4 games without a top receiver), then I consider it to be pruning a diseased limb from a tree.

But aren't there rumors about Big Ben being suspended as well? He does have a meeting with Roger doesn't he?

4 games shouldn't make a player like Santonio a disease. Whatever, say it's favoring stars or whatever you want--but certain players do deserve an extra chance because of their talent. 4 games without Santonio wouldn't kill the Steelers season. And isn't Hines Ward the GOAT anyways because of the way he blocks? LOL

I think they should've been trying to trade Holmes.

I was calling for it the other day on another thread before it even came out that he would be suspended.

The four-game suspension is for a different matter than the alleged sexual assault in Orlando. I guess Goodell could have tacked on more under his own conduct policy.

I was ok with trading him because the way things were piling up it was clear the Steelers weren't going to commit to a new long-term contract and it's better to get something in return. But this was a joke only getting a 5th rounder.

They're going to be hurting next year losing Holmes. He played a pretty specific role with his ability to catch the short passes and quick slants, realizing the hot reads and so forth. They won't be able to replace that next year because even a rookie coming in won't be that polished and won't have the rapport with Ben if Ben is at QB.

Ward can still play but he's 34 and clearly nearing the end. The two guys they picked up Randle El and Battle should help the depth but there is no question they now need another starting WR for the future to go along with Mike Wallace.

Disagree. Trading Holmes is a bad idea no matter how any Steeler fan wants to spin it. You just don't get rid of a player like that unless you have a REAL good reason. IMO 4 games ain't a big enough reason. If you're talkin' Limas Sweed then fine. The only way this would have been a good trade was if they trade raped someone--instead they got trade raped. If they would have got a 2nd rounder for him, I would have said decent. 1st rounder and I would have said it was a good move. Some other good player and it would have been a good move. 2 decent players and it would have been a good move. But a 5th rounder? Christ. IMO, if they wanted to trade him, they should have waited until draft day. Then they could have at least had him there to package in a deal for a better pick or something. I bet offers for him would have at least been better when that pressure is on. I'm surprised they couldn't do better than a 5th anyways, almost seems like they sold him out to the first bid.

As far as Santonio is concerned, might be the best thing that ever happened to him. Could be playing in another SB next year.

killer_ewok wrote:
Contract is a big part of it. Holmes only had one year left. And he's almost certainly gonna miss 4 games....for violating the league's substance abuse policy......and tweeting about it.....in between his tweets encouraging people to kill themselves.

Caught with pot, suspended for 1 game. Fails drug test, facing 4 game suspension. Then tweets about waking and baking. He's the next Ricky Williams. Next failed test is a year. Maybe he'll find a way to sign a fat contract before his next failed test, but he clearly isn't changing.

I'd have let him play out his contract. That was dumb.

Non wrote: I think they should've been trying to trade Holmes.

They have been. Randle El was signed 3-4 weeks ago. He said he was brought in to be the #3 receiver...So this has been in the works for some time, before all the twitter stuff, actually.

I say it was more of a discipline issue. Holmes played games, at times, like he was stoned. I know he came up big in the postseason, but the guy's head and heart clearly was not in games at times. He was suspended for 1 game and was apologetic and said the right things - then goes and shows he really learned nothing and had no remorse.

gut wrote: I'd have let him play out his contract. That was dumb.

+1. If you aren't going to get shit for him, what difference does a 4 game suspension make? Might as well let him finish his contract and go from there. Maybe then, assuming he performs well enough, offer him a big contract that has major financial penalties for substance abuse. He'd almost have to sign it, if he wouldn't agree to the stipulations about the drugs then that'd look real bad to every other team in the league. I suppose Al Davis would probably take him, he could go kill his career in Oaksterdam and smoke mad weed. But this is definitely an epic fail by the Steelers.

Anyone hear anything about Leon Washington being thrown into this deal? LW would have to sign a tender first(according to PFT and Michael Smith on their Twitter pages).

The hater comments are hysterical! You dumb asses never learn.

As for Holmes, good bye and don't let the door hit you in the ass!

sportswizuhrd wrote: Anyone hear anything about Leon Washington being thrown into this deal? LW would have to sign a tender first(according to PFT and Michael Smith on their Twitter pages).

Yep. Profootballtalk is reporting this saying it's "Possible, but not likely."

That would take some of the sting out of the trade.

holmes was getting suspended because of failing a drug test not anything to do with the glass throwing incident...

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/04/12/leon-washington-can-be-part-of-trade-package-only-after-signing-his-tender/

Smart move by Pittsburgh. They get rid of a turd and the Rooney's save some face after the recent "inmates running the asylum" type atmosphere. If they get Washington in the deal they made out. They weren't going to re-sign Holmes anyway.

This was pretty much a "statement" by the Pittsburgh organization, IMO. They sure as hell weren't going to make their QB be the fall guy.