[CBFF] Briggs just got angrier

[Kenny Claxton]

There are questions about what Porter has left in his tank:

>From CBS Sportsline:
*Porter no sure thing to make splash as Dolphin*

So now Joey Porter
<http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/players/playerpage/133392>is a Miami
Dolphin, and people want to know how much better he makes the
team's defense. To be honest, I'm not sure because I'm not sure what Joey
Porter has left.

Look, he has damaged knees and has missed portions of the past two training
camps because of surgeries. He turns 30 this month. And while he can still
drop into coverage and defend the run, he doesn't appear to be the pass
rusher he once was.

OK, OK, so he had seven sacks last season. All but one occurred in three
games ... two sacks apiece against Oakland, Miami and Tampa Bay.

In two starts against Cincinnati's Levi Jones he had no sacks. In two games
against Baltimore he couldn't solve Jonathan Ogden or Adam Terry. Porter
didn't beat San Diego rookie Marcus McNeill for a sack. He didn't beat
Jacksonville's Kalif Barnes for one, either.

I think you get the idea. Porter beat up on the mediocre pass blockers and
struggled with the others -- and, maybe, just maybe, that's the start of a
trend.

I guess what I'm saying is I don't know that the Dolphins can count on
Porter to be the playmaker he was when the Steelers cut him loose off the
edge. In those days, he could beat any offensive lineman, and he beat them
so consistently he was the Steelers' 2002 defensive co-MVP, a three-time Pro
Bowler and a two-time All-Pro.

But if he was invaluable to the Steelers do you honestly think they would've
let him walk? I mean, they were on the hook for a $1 million roster bonus. *Big
deal.* Porter was scheduled to make $4 million in salary this season, too.
OK, I pay that if I have someone who can make game-changing plays.

Porter could. And he made them again and again and again. But not lately.
That's one of the reasons Pittsburgh let him walk. I suspect fear of a
contract holdout might've been another. In any case, the Steelers figured
they needed the cap room more than they needed Joey Porter. That tells me
something about what he has left.


On 3/6/07, Westmalle Dubbel van't Vat <westmalle at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> On 06.03.07 1:49 PM, "Phil DeNomme" <pdenomme at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Wow...that's almost identical to the offer the bears gave Briggs last
> year.
>
> Which begs the question of why Briggs was all upset last year?!  He looks
> foolish now, not more justified in his anger, because he would have had
> that
> money beginning last season and been that much further ahead in growing
> the
> principle amount in any long-term investments.
>
> The only good reason I can imagine Briggs balked at last year's offer was
> that the guaranteed money was a lot less than the $20 million on Porter's
> offer.  The overall dollar amounts might be the same but I could imagine
> the
> Bears offering less guaranteed money.
>
> Steve
> --
> http://drlake.blogspot.com
>
>
>
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