This is not a Cimini story, it was a story picked up by all the writers. There's no doubt Holmes had issues last year, he has a checkered past as well. To come back on day 1 and do this was silly. Do I think it affects him in the season? I don't know, I hope not. Am I giving up on him? of course not, I expect a big season from him. I have no issue w/ a player being upset w/ losing but w/ the way last year ended he didn't need to begin this year the way he did.
Holmes isn't paid like an average NFL wideout and the average NFL wideout isn't a team captain. The QB sucking and the highly overpaid wr captain of your team acting like a jerk and giving up when the team still had a chance to make the playoffs aren't mutually exclusive. Holmes was rewarded with a huge contract when he was essentially banished from his former team. He didn't just get a big contract Rex made him a captain. He has a professional responsability to the team to at the very least act like a profesional. Rex and Tannenbaum went the extra mile for Holmes and he essentially took a dump on both of them.
I mostly agree but let's not forget he would have signed a similar(if not for more money) deal w/ another team. He was a highly sought after FA so to say he was "banished" by Pitt and then we gave him a huge contract is a little misleading.
I question "highly sought after" realy. The Jets got him for a 5th round pick. If he was highly sought after by many teams the Steelers would have gotten alot more from him than that. ...Plus, the Jets gave this to a guy who had two strikes on him... I doubt many teams would have given $24mil guaranteed to him.
I look at it like this. they got a upper tier WR. (certainly not top 5 but once you get around 9 or 10 you have to include him in the discussion) for a steal because the Steelers had to save some face with Holmes failed drug tests and the pressure of the Rapelisberger news coverage. Holmes doesnt strike me as a cancer. Holmes strikes me as someone who hates losing so much he throws the "unwritten rules" of not throwing teammates/coaches under the bus out the window. and I think the boiling point for him was the playcalling against his former team in the AFCCG. it was evident he hated Schotty. it was even more evident Wayne Hunter was the weak link on the line. by the end of the year, combined with knocking on the door twice to only fall on their faces. you get what you saw in Miami. is it justified? nope. that being said Holmes is by far the best skill player on this team not named Revis. the simple solution to all of this is keep Sanchez upright and shore up the uncharacteristically bad Rex Ryan defense. and this will obviously be the key to being better than 8-8 last year. funny how when we were in the playoffs and Holmes was a big part of it everyone painted the Jets as geniuses for rolling the dice on Holmes. well we saw the losing side of that bet last yr. plain and simple. I think Holmes is at his best when he has someone to take the top off a defense and he can turn short and intermediate passes into big plays. He had Edwards to draw double teams and coverage over the top and they are trying to replicate that with Hill. how it plays out remains to be seen but I think Holmes is a volatile guy who puts winning above everything and thats why you get a fierce competitor when happy and a vocal malcontent when hes part of a losing team.
When you look back at the 2010 team/WR corps you see Sanchez had options: Edwards-Deep threat Holmes- #2 underneath Cotchery- slot, get out of trouble. Keller- PA pass LT- younger, flats, get out of trouble. Last year, #1 Hunter was a major problem (problem has not been addressed) and injuries to Oline throughout season. Sanchez came into the season with zero continuity with Burress. Holmes was not Holmes we thought he was (baby, quitter, me, me me) so last year we had: Burress- slowest deep threat in the league (hell of an outside blocker though and fabulous in the rzone) Holmes- the real #2 **fart**(dropping passes, taking plays off, fumbling the football, never getting up field, tackled on first contact, knocked off his routes, quitting, name calling, just a fucking loser). Old ass from Baltimore- slot fired week 4-5 Kerley- rookie new slot stepped up big on given opportunities. McKnight- surprisingly a pretty good receiver on given opportunities Keller- What the fuck happened? LT- Old Greene- can't catch. Our offense was really pathetic down the stretch. They never really played as a team. It was just a bunch of individuals and collectively they sucked balls. I hope under new leadership we can preform as a team and reach our ultimate goal. Really, I expect our defense to win games and our ground game, #1 priority must keep the chains moving, control the clock and give our Defense rest. We are going to win games the old fashion way. Like it or not, we're not your grandmothers team. Ground 'N Pound!
We got him for a 5th for two reasons 1) He was going to serve the 4 games regardless 2) He was in need of a new contract after the season So we basically gave up a 5th rounder to the steelers for 12 games; I doubt other teams were offering anything more and they (Steelers) wanted to get ride of him ASAP to clean up their image (Rape-lisburger). That being said, Holmes is a class A, immature, douch
Don't confuse the circumstances around the trade w/ his value a year later on the open market. They got rid of him for nothing b/c A) ben was having trouble and they needed to get rid of one of them and it wasn't going to be the QB and B) they had young quality WRs ready to step in. He would have signed for as much, if not more, if the jets didn't sign him.
I agreed with everything in your post, with maybe the exception of him only being about winning. I distinctly saw him put his head down and walk toward the sidelines after Plax caught his 3rd TD last year, rather than go congratulate Plax. Sanchez walked over and put a hand on his shoulder to console him. I do give him props for clutch... he has made a couple of the best clutch catches in the league over his career, except for maybe a couple by some asshole Giants receivers...
market rules and market pressures would still apply. The claim was that holmes was highly sought after. If that were the case, why did he "only" go for a 5th round pick ? Now, you can say all the stuff about Pitt wanting to deal him because of the PR, or that Holmes was carrying the 4 game suspension, and that's why he went for a 5th round, but then it belies the original claim. If he was indeed "highly sought after", his price would have been bidded up higher.
2010 and 2011 were different times. As has been explained Pitt wanted to move him quickly b/c of the ben stuff, b/c they had depth at WR and he wasn't great trade bait b/c he was going to be a FA and was going to miss 4 games to start the season. That's why he came cheap in 2010, he had an excellent 2010 season which made him a lot of money in the offseason where many teams wanted to sign him. How much higher did you want the price to go up? he's paid very well for the caliber of WR he is.
And the Steelers would not have let him go to the Jets if any NFC team was willing to give up a 5th rounder for him. I think the Jets paid at least a round higher than they needed too for Holmes. For the Steelers to let him go to a team that they were worried about probably took an overbid.
I think you are missing my point. Someone else claimed that there was "high demand" for Holmes, and as you just admitted, "he wasn't great trade bait" and "that's why he came cheap".
Everyone says that running backs are a dime a dozen. You can fill in here or there no big deal, just draft a running back. I feel like receivers are more easily replaced than any other position on the field. Antonio Brown is just as good as Holmes, if not better (at least Brown blocks, gets up field, overachieves). I am a Holmes hater that expects reconciliation for last years bull shit. Better get it this year HOlmes, ya bum.
High demand as a FREE AGENT, Pitt was basically unloading him for the reasons that were stating but in 2011 as a FA he was in high demand.
Based on his production with us in 2010 if you pro-rate his catches and yards to account for 16 games played instead of 12 he ranks 25th in catches and 18th in total yards for NFL WR in 2010. We basically bid against ourselves because we wanted to lock him up long term and put him and Sanchez together for years. He basically slapped Rex and Tannenbaum in the face with his actions.
http://www.profootballfocus.com/blo...action-new-york-jets-re-sign-santonio-holmes/ Wash wasn't alone but the skins in it will drive up any price as they are never afraid to overpay
