The Pittsburgh Steelers can claim that they’re done with free agency all they want, but until they stop signing players no one will believe them. Since Kevin Colbert and Art Rooney went on record say the Steelers had pretty much finished up with free agency the Steelers have resigned James Harrison and then offered a contract to Darrius Heyward Bey.
- Today they did it again today, as the Steelers resigned Clifton Geathers.
No, this is not (another) April Fool’s joke, although it almost was. Literally.
Back at the beginning of the month I finished our Steelers 2015 Free Agent Focus profiles on all of the Steelers free agents. It was only then that I realized that I’d forgotten one. Clifton Geathers.
IT from there came the brainwave to offer Steelers Nation a challenge:
- $50 Argentine pesos to any scribe in Steelers Nation who could write a compelling case for why the Steelers should resign Clifton Geathers and keep a straight face while doing so.
This was a dead serious idea. I’d started a post and had it 2/3 of the way completed but stopped because of other distractions and because the copy wasn’t as compelling as it could have been.
Well, apparently Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin were able to do just that, without batting an eye. And they would know Geather’s capabilities far better and anyone whose eyeballs have passed over this site, truth be told.
The Steelers of course signed Clifton Geathers to “replace” Brett Keisel when Keisel went on injured reserve. Clifton Geathers is not listed as having even dressed for any of the three games that he was on the roster for, and his only claim to fame was starting a fight with Maurkice Pouncey during his first practice with the team for practicing too hard.
But perhaps practicing hard is what Geathers needed, because Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin, and John Mitchell wouldn’t have offered to bring him to St. Vincent’s unless they saw something they liked. No terms of the deal were announced, but one can imagine it is a veteran minimum, which means Geathers will have to win a job in Latrobe.
- If nothing else, Geathers gives the Steelers some depth on defensive line, where Cam Thomas is their only back up defensive end.
Prior to “playing” in Pittsburgh, Geathers played for Dallas, Miami, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Washington.
Thanks for visiting. Click here for more of our Steelers 2015 Free Agent Focus.
