Everyone is busy talking about Olivier Vernon, Malik Jackson, and Mitchell Schwartz, and I don’t blame them for focusing on the best free agents on the open market. But if you want to talk about a bargain signing that makes a scary contender even stronger, look no further than the Pittsburgh Steelers signing of breakout tight end Ladarius Green.
Perennially stuck behind Antonio Gates, Ladarius Green did well to wash himself of the San Diego Chargers, and he’ll join a team with an even more potent offense. I have nothing against Philip Rivers, but let’s just say that the Pittsburgh Steelers have done an infinitely better job of giving Ben Roethlisberger time to find his targets.
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Green will have to compete with even better pass-catchers for targets, since the Steelers boast Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, running back Le’Veon Bell, and the quietly-improved Markus Wheaton as the No. 3 receiver.
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However, there will always be a special place for the tight end in the Steelers offense, and that has everything to do with Roethlisberger. According to NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus, Big Ben voted former Steelers star TE (and future Ring of Honor member) Heath Miller as the team’s MVP every season.
Every. Season. This is a Steelers team that’s had superstars like Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Casey Hampton, Bell, and Brown over the years, and yet Roethlisberger’s yearly choice was his reliable tight end.
Already frequently tabbed as a breakout candidate in San Diego despite Gates‘s looming presence, Green almost seems like a sure-fire bet to produce in Pittsburgh. He’s extremely athletic, he can block, he’s massive, he’s fast, his ability at the catch point is up there with the best tight ends in the league, he’s extremely young at 25, and he was once Pro Football Focus’s leader in yards per route run (2013).
For as impressive as Green’s youth, upside, and athletic tools are, the most praise-worthy part of this deal is the contract itself, because the Steelers are getting a young playmaker at a marquee, hard-to-find position for dirt cheap.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette, the Steelers have signed him to a five-year deal worth $20 million.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
I don’t think people understand that this is highway robbery at its finest. You take a player who has been undervalued due to lack of production caused by circumstance and nagging injuries that went under-reported, and you sign him a to a team-friendly contract that locks him up through the prime of his career.
At $5 million per season, I can’t think of a better deal than this. I mean, look at how much comparable, young tight ends get paid per year. Dwayne Allen just signed a $7.35 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts and he’s always hurt, the underachieving Kyle Rudolph makes $7.3 million, and the decent-but-not-great Coby Fleener just signed a $7.2 million deal with the New Orleans Saints.
There’s no disparity in talent here, because I would argue that Green is better than all of these players when looking at his athletic profile. Fleener should have the best season since Drew Brees works magic with tight ends (just look at what Ben Watson did last season), but Green should do well for himself in the Steelers offense, too.
Again, $5 million per season for a guy who ran a 4.56 forty at the Combine with a 10-foot-4 broad jump at 6’6″, 240 pounds is just astounding. I seriously have no idea how the Steelers pulled this off, since the Saint and New York Jets should have been just two of the teams bidding for Green’s services. It’s not like he’s all upside either, since he did catch 37 passes and four touchdowns last season. Oh, and he’s also more than capable of holding his own as a blocker.
I might be overrating him, but he profiles as the type of tight end who can dominate with his first feature role in a high-octane offense that just might be the NFL’s most explosive.
The Cincinnati Bengals should be even happier that they managed to keep key free agents in the defensive backfield, because the likes of George Iloka will have to be at their best in order to defend a guy like Green, who adds yet another playmaking dimension to this Steelers offense.
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Remember, sometimes it isn’t the biggest-name free agents who make the biggest impact, and New England Patriots breakout star Jabaal Sheard is a prime example of that from 2015.
So congrats to the Steelers for doing this:
This offense will be worth watching almost every week in 2016.