Off Season Activity
The front office's major goals coming into the off-season were to retain the bulk of the team's own free agents and to look to add talent primarily through the draft rather than free agent acquisitions. This has been the team's primary philosophy since Chuck Noll took over as head coach in 1969. The other major item on the team's agenda was to extend the contracts of a few of the players who were coming into the final year of their contracts – chief among these were linebacker and 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, James Harrison, tight end Heath Miller, and tackle Max Starks.
Management completed the highest-priority item on its off-season checklist by reaching agreement with Harrison on a six year, $51.175 million contract, which includes $20 million in guaranteed money. The team was also successful in extending the contracts of Starks (four years, $26.3 million) and Miller (six years, $35.3 million) both of whom were potential free agents after the season. Additionally, contract extension were completed with receiver Hines Ward (five years, $22.1 million), guard Chris Kemoeatu (five years, $20 million), center Justin Hartwig (4 years, $10 million) and defensive end Brett Kiesel (5 years, $18.885 million).
The team's primary needs coming into the 2009 season were considered to be shoring up the offensive line and improving performance on special teams, primarily at kick returner. In addition, they were forced to address the loss through free agency of two key contributors: starting cornerback Bryant McFadden and number three wide receiver Nate Washington. The front office and coaching staff also had to focus on uncovering for eventual replacements for some aging cogs: defensive end Aaron Smith and cornerback Deshea Townsend, who were 33 and 34 respectively at the start of the season. ESPN's Matt Williamson ranked the team's pre-draft needs as (in order), defensive end, offensive tackle, wide receiver and cornerback.
Read more about this topic: 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers Season
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