Larry Foote Discusses Steelers' Vets' Futures, Evaluates NFL QBs
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) -- Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Larry Foote joined The Fan Morning Show in-studio on Tuesday to hang out with the guys, which gave them the chance to get his thoughts on his impending free agency and on the future of a number of his teammates.
Foote told the guys that there haven't been many rumblings of potential moves, with the Steelers' offseason now a few weeks old.
"A couple of my teammates, we've been calling around, shooting some text messages, trying to figure out, 'What's the move?'" Foote said. "And Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin, and Mr. Rooney- I'm assuming right now they're trying to figure this out, what angle, because I haven't heard a peep. Right now, we don't know. I haven't gotten too much feedback."
However, he's fully aware that some changes might be coming. For instance, when it comes to Ryan Clark and Brett Keisel, he expects that they'll have to take pay cuts to stay.
To him, when it comes to his situation, their situations, or that of any other guy who might need to renegotiate, it's important to remember that they're part of a business, one that they've been seeing in action for a while now.
"I'm quite sure some big guys are going to have to take less money," Foote said. "They have to understand that it's not personal, it's the cap. You hear a lot of times when you go in negotiating, 'Well, we're pressed.' You hear your agent and GM going back and forth. But, we know here we're against the cap because we've been living through it the past three, four years."
He told the guys how he would handle some of the decisions pertaining to his fellow linebackers that have to be made.
"Putting my GM hat on, [LaMarr] Woodley, against the cap he's in a good situation," Foote said. "I would say let's high-tender [Jason] Worilds, let's see what he's going to do. Hopefully, Woodley will be healthy this year, and we'll keep those guys."
He thinks that Jarvis Jones is going to be a crucial piece for the group moving forward.
"Jarvis Jones didn't get the sack numbers that he would like, or what we would like, because he played a lot and he only came up with one sack," Foote said. "But he has upside to him. He's very explosive. He can move some linemen out of the way. And he's a very humble guy, and he's thirsty. He wants to learn. He wants to get better. He wants to play. And next year, if we're going to be anything, we're going to need him to take that big jump, that big leap."
Foote would like to see the Steelers keep their veterans around, because he thinks they still have a shot to do something special.
"When you've got a quarterback like Ben [Roethlisberger], you can't just blow up the team," Foote said. "2012 season, we started fading. This year, it was the opposite. We started playing better towards the end, so me being biased, being an old guy, bring the gang back, and let's see what we're going to do this season."
Foote's comments on the Steelers' offseason can be heard here:
Larry Foote on the Steelers' Offseason
Foote also told the guys which quarterbacks in the NFL scare him, a conversation that began with a crack Foote made about Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.
"I'm a Dalton fan," Foote said. "I'm glad he's their quarterback. Hopefully, they sign him to a long contract. I don't see him as an elite quarterback yet. He could be. He shows promise. But quite frankly, I'm not afraid of him. He doesn't scare me."
As for the other quarterbacks Foote discussed, he listed Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, and Phillip Rivers, who he sees as very smart, as quarterbacks that definitely scare him. However, he joked that Manning would only scare him during the regular season.
He's not really afraid of Drew Brees because of Brees' height. He fears Joe Flacco "when he's on" and when Flacco's unloading deep balls. Eli Manning only scares him in the postseason. Tony Romo and Russell Wilson simply don't scare him.
Foote's comments on which quarterbacks he's afraid of can be heard here
