Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Keenan Lewis' 2013 team
By Tim Kavanagh
There has been buzz that the Pittsburgh Steelers will not overboard in trying to re-sign any of their impending free agents this offseason. That's a group that includes significant contributors like WR Mike Wallace, NT Casey Hampton and CB Keenan Lewis. After the close of the 2012 campaign, Lewis indicated that he'd like to be back with the Steelers for 2013 and beyond, but as we know, it's a two-way street.
On Tuesday, however, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette buried new information on Lewis within a post explaining why the Steelers won't go after Darrelle Revis in a trade:
"Of all the areas the Steelers need to address this offseason, cornerback might be at the bottom of the list. Especially if the Steelers re-sign Keenan Lewis, which they almost certainly plan to do. Lewis was the team's most consistent cornerback last season after making a dramatic leap in performance from the previous season. Because restricted free agents Mike Wallace and Rashard Mendenhall will not likely be re-signed, Lewis quickly becomes the team's No. 1 priority to be retained. With Lewis, Ike Taylor and Cortez Allen, the Steelers have the three cornerbacks you need to compete in today's pass-oriented National Football League."
The Steelers generally don't go after big-name free agents, instead developing their own players and rewarding them with new deals if they believe that the player's best days are ahead of him. It's been awfully quiet on the Lewis front thus far this offseason, but that could heat up as the start of the league year (and free agency) approaches.
