Steelers expect Harrison to return as mentor
PITTSBURGH – At the conclusion of the 2015 season, veteran Steelers linebacker James Harrison said he was unsure if he would return in 2016 to play out the final year of his contract.
General Manager Kevin Colbert said Tuesday the Steelers want Harrison, who turns 38 in May, back and expect him to return for a final season.
“We are anticipating that he wants to continue playing,” said Colbert. “I wouldn’t see any reason we wouldn’t want to have him here.
“James came back, and he did a great job, not only on the field, but he was a great mentor to our younger players. (That was) not only the linebackers, but everybody. He quietly inspired those guys.”
Harrison is under contract for 2016 at $1.25 million in the final season of the two-year deal he signed with the Steelers last year after spending 2014 with Cincinnati.
Outside linebackers coach Joey Porter anticipated Harrison getting 20 to 25 snaps per game backing up 2013 first-round draft pick Jarvis Jones, but Harrison wound up playing more snaps than Jones last season, recording 40 tackles, five sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception.
The Steelers would like Harrison to continue mentoring a young defense that Colbert said needs to take a step forward in 2016 if the team is achieve its goal – winning a Super Bowl.
That will be important because Colbert doesn’t see the Steelers as being one player away from fixing a pass defense that ranked 30th in the NFL last season.
“It’s more than that,” Colbert said. “I think it’s the young guys. I think the young guys will have to continue to improve. Sure, we’re going to have help from the outside and how quickly a veteran can acclimate himself to our scheme – if we bring in a veteran. Or how quickly can a rookie get up to speed where he can provide help? But you want the guys who were here last year to take a significant step. I think you saw that specifically with (defensive end) Stephon Tuitt. Stephon really took that next step last year. Jarvis was better to a certain extent, (though) you’d still like to see more sack production from him.”
Two of those players in Colbert’s eyes could be the team’s past two first-round draft picks, linebackers Bud Dupree and Ryan Shazier.
“You want more from those guys and you know they haven’t peaked yet,” Colbert said.
That will be critical since the Steelers have never been big spenders on the free agent market and they have just six draft choices in 2016, one each in rounds 1 through 4 and two in round seven. The Steelers traded a fifth-round pick for cornerback Brandon Boykin and a sixth-round selection for placekicker Josh Scobee, while recouping a seventh-round pick for punter Brad Wing in a trade with the Giants.
Colbert said he expects to get a compensatory pick from the NFL for free agents losses in the 2015 offseason and the Steelers also have high expectations for 2015 second-round draft pick Senquez Golson, who missed all of last season with a shoulder injury.
“We’ve always had the mindset that Senquez Golson is a pick for this year,” Colbert said. “We always felt he would be one of our second-round picks in 2016.”
Those draft picks will be important as Colbert and his staff along with Pittsburgh’s coaches head to Indianpolis next week for the NFL Scouting Combine.
Though Colbert said the Steelers are in better shape in terms of where they believe they are in position to the projected salary cap, he doesn’t forsee Pittsburgh being a major player in the NFL’s open market, as is usually the case.
Pittsburgh’s improvements will have to come largely from within or from the draft.
And with the team’s needs being mostly on the defensive side, this could be a good draft to make that happen.
“It looks like it’s more of a defensive draft,” Colbert said. “The secondary looks to be a deep position, both at safety and at cornerback.”