Actual Cut-downs

I think it's interesting that they cut Verron Haynes and kept both newcomers - Gary Russell and Carey Davis. I think it's interesting and I think it's dumb. Very, very dumb.

If the idea is to make Najeh Davenport both the 3rd down back and the closer, then you're depending on him too much to stay healthy. And that's a bad idea.

The other idea is even worse: Making Davis or Russell your 3rd down back. Neither can block and both aren't as accustomed to running the types of plays that the Steelers run out of the shotgun as Haynes is.

To put it in the simplest terms possible: I would rathered they cut Dan Krieder instead of Haynes. That's how important I think he is to the team. I'm going to assume that they're going to use the fullback sparingly this year and will run more plays out of the shotgun. Therefore, they should've kept their best 3rd down back for this season and given Krieder the opportunity to sign somewhere else.

As it stands, Krieder is going to be this year's Duce and the Davenport/Davis/Russell trio is going to struggle just as much on third down as the Parker/Davenport duo did last season when Haynes was injured. Think about how much third down sucked after Haynes got hurt in 2006. That's going to be this entire season.

One other thing from the cut-downs that didn't get much play but will be very important for the success of the coming season: The Allen Rossum Trade. This is actually a huge trade. It makes me wonder why they kept Willie Reid on the roster (or why they cut Marvin Philip and signed him to the practice squad as opposed to just cutting Reid and signing Walter Young off the practice squad). The important thing is that the punt and kick return duties are now in Rossum's capable hands.

While he's no longer a Pro Bowl return guy, he's still the best option we've had since Randle-El left and gives us a veteran presence back there that we've been lacking. If nothing else, he's going to catch the freakin' ball. Might not get a lot of electrifying returns out of him (although I think he's still got a lot left in the tank), but damnit, he's not going to lose the game for us.

Now, if only we'd traded for him last year...