Kevin Colbert: Lawrence Timmons is a “valuable contributor”

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When Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert spoke to Pittsburgh media last week, he said that the team’s cap situation is “pretty good” relative to recent years and the retirement of tight end Heath Miller added some more money to the coffers.

Colbert also said that the team will look for remedies for players whose contracts are out of line with their production, including restructuring or terminating those deals. Some would put linebacker Lawrence Timmons in that group thanks to a $15.1 million cap hit and an $8.75 million salary.

Colbert met the media at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Wednesday and he didn’t make it sound like a move to remove Timmons from the roster was in the offing. Colbert called Timmons, via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, a “valuable contributor” and suggested that the team wants him back as long as he’s under contract.

Timmons can remain under contract without costing $15.1 million against the cap, of course, so an attempt to lessen that burden could come before the start of the season. It’s the last year of Timmons’ deal, which leaves an extension as one possible way to keep Timmons on the roster while also bringing his cost in line with the team’s needs.

21 responses to “Kevin Colbert: Lawrence Timmons is a “valuable contributor”

  1. $15 million for a player who can’t stop old Peyton Manning, a 2nd stringer from Cincinnati, and a 4th stringer from Baltimore. Hahaha. What a joke.

  2. Timmons’ contract is a non-issue. He’s not a me first type of a player and he wants to end his career in Pittsburgh. He’ll get an extension which cuts that number in half.

  3. One of several bad contracts that Colbert has engineersed recently. Cortez Allen and LaMarr Woodley come to mind and, as much as we all loved Troy, that extension was a real bad idea. I understand that often the contracts are drawn up while a player is producing and they can’t control injuries and such, but lately he has laid some eggs. And speaking of injuries, it would be nice if Maurkice Pouncy could play for more than 20 minutes into a season.

  4. I’m a Steelers fan and while Timmons is a reliable, solid contributor, I think there were times this year where he started to look a step slow for the first time. He’s been playing for 10 years now, has never missed a game, and for most players at that point it’s only downhill from there. That’s just the reality of the NFL, no matter how tough you are. Like I said I respect the heck outta the guy, but I think that $15 million would be better served to upgrade the talent in the secondary. $15 million is a TON of money for a team as cap-strapped as the Steelers.

    And even if he does an extension to lower his number this year (which seems likely), eventually we are gonna have to pay the piper. All an extension does is delay the inevitable, until Timmons has a year when it’s clear he’s washed up and then we HAVE to cut bait and hope he retires, ala Troy and Ike. Steelers used to be known as a team who moved on from players before they started declining, now it seems like it’s the opposite.

  5. 700levelvet says:
    Feb 24, 2016 11:28 AM

    I like the way this offseason is shaping up…
    ~~~
    Hilarious! Well played.

  6. According to all the pundits over the past few years, the Steelers are supposed to be in salary cap hell right now…..

  7. He is the last thumper left on the Steelers D, ignoring Harrison as he plays limited snaps. They need him for two more years until they can find a replacement for his physicality in the middle of the D.

    Salary converted to bonus upcoming.

  8. Just how do GMs let contracts get to this point where the cap hit is almost twice as much as the player’s salary? Agents have to know what’s going on because their client is either going to get cut or threatened to take a pay cut in the last years of the contract.

  9. Anyone who thinks Timmons isn’t a crucial part of this Steelers team needs to watch more football. That defense needs a lot of work and you can say an ILB should lead in these areas, but he had more solo tackles, assisted tackles, and total tackles of anyone on that team. Plus 5 sacks, and an awesome 1-handed interception against the Cardinals. Those numbers are all better than Moseley’s. I’ll take that.

  10. I wear a Timmons jersey to games. I am partial to the MLB, played it a bit in high school. Used to wear a Farrior jersey.

    He is another first round pick that lived up to his billing. Maybe not the star power of Polamulu or Big Ben, but up there with Heath and Pouncey. The only reason he did not get quite the accolades was that in the prime of his career he did double duty covering for injuries at OLB.

    In 2015, he had another solid year where he was the only constant on the linebacking crew … an injured Shazier and rotating OLBs. I think his coverage speed has dropped; I hope Shazier can stay healthy and take care of that, leaving Lawrence in the box. If not, maybe it is time Spence or Williams started rotating in for him on coverage plays.

  11. Shazier is gonna be better than Mosley and numbers wise Timmons is better. We have solid LBs for years to come.

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