Steelers release Harrison

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By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

General manager Kevin Colbert has declared the Steelers are not a team in transition. Someone forgot to tell James Harrison that because the Steelers today released the former NFL defensive player of the year.

The Steelers had been negotiating with Harrison the past week, trying to work out a pay cut on a 2013 salary of $6.57 million. The five-time Pro Bowl linebacker was willing to do so, his agent said, but not enough of one to satisfy the salary cap-strapped team.

"We could not get together financially at all,'' said Bill Parise, Harrison's agent who lives in Beaver County. "We certainly had agreed to take a paycut but apparently there was a difference in how much of a paycut we would take and how we would take it.

"It simply came down to money. It's all about the salary cap."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/steelers-release-james-harrion-678603/#ixzz2N48BcktZ

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James Harrison (@jharrison9292) tweeted at 11:45 AM on Sat, Mar 09, 2013:

It's been a great run but all good things must come to a end. Thank you Steelers Nation I will miss you all!

I guess it had to happen sooner or later. It still sucks ass.

It was gonna happen sooner or later

Yep, you guys nailed it. It sucks, but it was going to happen sooner or later. The thing that worries me the most is losing Harrison's intensity. We need the defense to be nastier, not softer. Losing Harrison doesn't help. We said this before the start of last season, and it's even more true now ... they're going to need someone to step up and be a leader on the defense.

losing the leadership isn't going to help any either.

Woodley better get his ass in NOT good shape "Great" shape IMHO

Guess what our number pick will be this year??? OLB pass rushers Dion Jordan from Oregon or Jarvis Jones from Georgia. Might make moves to get both.

if no one picks him up we get back for the vet min.

a lot of DE/OLBers in this draft.

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Kovacevic: Harrison's exit comes with a cost

By Dejan Kovacevic

The first thought upon the Steelers' seismic release of James Harrison, a few minutes past noon Saturday, had nothing to do with whether it was the right move.

Of course it was.

Harrison, stubborn and strong-willed as ever, left Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin no choice. He could have taken a reasonable pay cut for a 35-year-old with a bad back, a bum knee and the overbearing $14 million he was due the next two seasons.

He didn't, and he's gone.

But first thought?

Not in this corner, sorry. My own had nothing to do with the dollars, decimal points or depth charts. Rather, it had to do with the sheer impact of it all. And it hit like a forearm to Tom Brady's blind side.

It had to do with the 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award, the five Pro Bowls and the two championship rings.

It had to do with six years of starting with 66 1⁄2 sacks, 29 forced fumbles, a 62-33 record for the team and countless rattled teeth. Before and after hits.

It had to do with the greatest play any of us will witness in a Super Bowl, the 100-yard tour de force interception of Kurt Warner that should rank even above Santonio Holmes' catch for that sixth Lombardi.

It had to do with body-slamming that Browns fan in Cleveland.

READ MORE http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3629414-74/harrison-steelers-player#ixzz2N7UQJEwN

I feel like he's earned the right to get paid but unfortunately we can't be the team to pay him that kind of money. The Brown's will sign him.

Drizztbob wrote:

Guess what our number pick will be this year??? OLB pass rushers Dion Jordan from Oregon or Jarvis Jones from Georgia. Might make moves to get both.

I would love to have Dion Jordan but I don't think we will get close to him unless we trade up in the draft which knowing the Steelers that won't happen.

as much as it sucks i think it was the right thing to do. i would have liked to see him stay one more year but not at his asking price. thanks for everything silverback

I would love for the Steelers to draft Jones!!!

steelerdude15 wrote:

I would love for the Steelers to draft Jones!!!

Yea I would take Jones in a heart beat he would start from day one with us.

Either one of those kids are year one starters. Impact performers who given an simplified Lebau scheme, can be inputted into the D to provide that pass rush we didn't have all of last season. THEN we may just see the talent of Heyward and Woirlds explode.

So Wallace is gone (now there's a shocker) and we lose Harrison.

You all can throw rocks at me, but I really do not have great expectations for next season.

Bye James -- I'll never forget your "longest run in superbowl history".

Gingerchip wrote:

So Wallace is gone (now there's a shocker) and we lose Harrison.

You all can throw rocks at me, but I really do not have great expectations for next season.

Bye James -- I'll never forget your "longest run in superbowl history".

I am concerned myself. It will be interesting to see the finished roster for the upcoming season. I pray to GOD they leave Miller and Dwyer alone. (but I think they are locked in?)