Its not often that a free agent with a big name graces the presence of the Steelers complex on the South Side, but it happened today.
Joey Galloway, recently of the Tampa Bay, visited the Pittsburgh today as the Steelers began searching for a potential number three or number four wide reciever.
Galloway was a number one draft choice by the Seattle Seahawks in 1995 and has played for Dallas as well. Perhaps Galloway is one who never quite lived up to his billing, but he did post three consecutive 1000 yard seasons between 2005 and 2007. Two of his year’s there also overlapped with Mike Tomlin’s, which could explain the mutual interest, that plus Tomlin’s fascination of athletes of Galloway’s pedigree.
Realistic Chance?
Which begs the question, is there a realistic shot at Joey Galloway becoming a Steeler?
It depends.
He is 37 and is reaching the end of his playing days. Injuries last year limited him to 9 games and only 13 catches. This is not the typical profile of Steelers free agent pick up, yet Galloway also visited the New England Patriots, a team known for finding veterans who just enough left in the tank to make a contribution.
If he is willing to play for at or close to the league minimum, the Steelers would incurr little risk by bringing him on board. The Steelers did something similar back in 2002 when they brought in Terance Mathis as their fourth wide receiver and he caught 23 passes for 218 yards. Those are not impressive numbers at all, but are far better than the seven catches that Limas Sweed and Dallas Baker totaled in 2008 working out of the fourth receiver slot.
There’s also no certainly that any concrete talks will emerge from this visit. Last year the Steelers entertained Kyle Brady and Anthony McFarland and nothing materalized with either veteran.
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