UPDATED: Ike Taylor: ‘Hopefully I am back …’

By Mark Kaboly

The Steelers have a week to get compliant with the NFL’s salary cap, and one of the ways they can accomplish that is with veteran cornerback Ike Taylor.

Taylor is due $7 million in base salary in the final year of a 4-year, $28 million contract he signed in 2011. What has complicated the issue is that the Steelers have restructured Taylor’s contract in each of the past two seasons (including in late October) that has put his cap number near $12 million and his dead money around $5 million.

Taylor, who will be 34 in May, admitted only his weekly TribLive Radio Show Tuesday that he isn’t sure he will be back for his 12th year.

“Hopefully I am back as a Steeler in 2014,” Taylor said. “Time will tell. We will see. When you get around 33-34, they always try to find a reason not to pay you. They always … and it has been going for years.”

The Steelers would prefer for Taylor to agree to a pay reduction, but could resort to releasing the veteran corner even though the Steelers are thin at the position. Cortez Allen and William Gay are the only two corners on the roster with extended experience.

Read more: http://blog.triblive.com/steel-mill/2014/03/04/kaboly-ike-taylor-hopefully-i-am-back/#ixzz2v1AaUHyA
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I like Ike and think he is a valuable team player. He's certainly been valuable in the team's success. Every so often there are certain players that I'd like to see retire a Steeler. Along those lines, Polamalu is one of them, Miller - another, and so is Ike.

Wa Wa Waaaaa

Drizztbob wrote:

Wa Wa Waaaaa

Drizz, I know you have no love for Ike, and that's fine, but I have to ask ... other than Rod Woodson, who, in your opinion, was the Steelers' best cornerback in the past 20 or 30 years?

Last 20 years besides Woodson?? Carnell Lake probably. Late nineties and I know what you are getting at, but is that really a good excuse that he is the best of the worst during recent years? It's like being the tallest midget...

And I'm talking about Ike not Carnell...

Drizztbob wrote:

Last 20 years besides Woodson??  Carnell Lake probably.  Late nineties and I know what you are getting at, but is that really a good excuse that he is the best of the worst during recent years?  It's like being the tallest midget...

  

Lake played corner only a couple of seasons (to replace Woodson after his injury in '95 and then again after Woodson was let go). The point I was making is that other than Woodson, Ike was our best corner over the past 30 or so years ... so I'm not sure I understand why you have so much dislike for Ike.

There's no question that Ike's biggest drawback is his inability to catch the ball. If he had more interceptions during his career, he probably would have been regarded as one of the top corners in the league. Yes, he had bad games ... but even the best corners have bad games. If you look back over his career, there weren't too many receivers who had big games against him. Despite the occasional bad game, Ike consistently shut down other teams' No. 1 receivers. While more interceptions would have been nice, he more than held his own in coverage. Ike's play has fallen off the past few years, and his time is likely over. But I don't think that takes away from how he played over the course of his career in Pittsburgh.

Minus the occasional bad game, which every corner has, why do you dislike him so much?

Time to ruin Drizz's day. Maybe.  

Quote :

Ike Taylor agrees to paycut, will remain with the Steelers in 2014

The Steelers will retain cornerback Ike Taylor on a reduced deal that will keep him in Pittsburgh for the 2014 season.

Taylor tweeted earlier Monday that he signed some kind of deal with the team. Jason La Canfora confirmed it, so all that's left is the amount of money the Steelers will save with Taylor's new deal.

If this offseason is a movie, this is the big plot twist.

It hasn't been confirmed, although it appears it will be shortly. Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor is either indicating he signed retirement papers, or he signed some kind of contract that is confirming he will remain in Pittsburgh at least for this season.

It's a cryptic tweet, and exciting in that way. Taylor was thought to be the likely target of a contract reduction or a release, and judging by what he wrote, it really could be either option.

Whether Taylor has accepted a new, revised contract, or he's retiring, it's certainly an optimistic way to say it. One thing about Taylor, he's always interesting. This kind of cliffhanger is a good example of it.

http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2014/3/10/5493204/ike-taylor-indicates-he-has-signed-an-extension-with-the-pittsburgh

Quote :

Steelers reduce Ike Taylor's salary from $7M to $2.75 M
By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Another three-time Super Bowl veteran took a deep breath and accepted a steep cut in pay to stay one more year with the Steelers.

Ike Taylor will enter his 12th and perhaps final NFL season by agreeing Monday to a $4.25 million cut in his salary for 2014. Scheduled to earn $7 million in the final year of his contract, Taylor accepted a cut to $2.75 million. No years were added to his contract, which expires in one year.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/frontpage/2014/03/10/Steelers-reduce-Ike-Taylor-s-salary-from-7M-to-2-75-M/stories/201403100199#ixzz2vcnVCR2P

I like this move and I'm happy to see Ike take the 'hometown discount'. Ike wanted to be a Steeler and he got his wish. So did I   

I also believe that this move gives us some leadership in the secondary while the younger replacement players are groomed to take over.

It was inevitable, no other team would pay him even what the Steelers gave. And Wally, I dislike him so much because I have probably watched 5 or 6 games over the past 3 years that Ike has PERSONALLY been responsible for blowing. Whether it be directly related to him getting destroyed for a long TD or his lack of vision on a blown route, or indirectly when one of those things happen and the momentum shift begins for the other team and we lose the game because of it.

I scream countless times at the TV every game:
"WTF are you doing IKE??!!"
"Ike Taylor with his head up his ass again!!"
"Ike is about to get completely burnt here...YUP!!"
"Ike Taylor is my LEAST favorite Ike. At least Ike Turner made Tina afraid of him, Ike Taylor doesn't scare ANYONE!!"

Drizztbob wrote:

It was inevitable, no other team would pay him even what the Steelers gave.  And Wally, I dislike him so much because I have probably watched 5 or 6 games over the past 3 years that Ike has PERSONALLY been responsible for blowing.  Whether it be directly related to him getting destroyed for a long TD or his lack of vision on a blown route, or indirectly when one of those things happen and the momentum shift begins for the other team and we lose the game because of it.

I scream countless times at the TV every game:
"WTF are you doing IKE??!!"  
"Ike Taylor with his head up his ass again!!"  
"Ike is about to get completely burnt here...YUP!!"  
"Ike Taylor is my LEAST favorite Ike.  At least Ike Turner made Tina afraid of him, Ike Taylor doesn't scare ANYONE!!"

Managing to effortlessly work an Ike Turner joke into a Steelers discussion will get you a Rep point every time.   

I get what you're saying, Drizz. I disagree with you on Ike, but you know I'm not the kind of fan who criticizes other fans for liking or disliking a certain player. We all have our reasons for disliking certain players. I was just curious about your reasoning.

I do want to respond to this comment though:

Drizztbob wrote:

I dislike him so much because I have probably watched 5 or 6 games over the past 3 years that Ike has PERSONALLY been responsible for blowing.

I understand what you're saying, but the same can be said for any number of players. How many games has Ben personally blown? Antonio Brown absolutely killed us in the game against the Raiders two years ago. I've seen Polamalu play so poorly that we would have been better off if he wasn't playing.

As I said earlier, Ike has had some bad games over the years, but even the best cornerbacks have bad games. And as fans, sometimes we blame certain players when it isn't their fault. For instance, Ike got all the blame for the overtime playoff loss against the Broncos. But if you watch the play, Ike did exactly what he was supposed to do ... shut down the outside route. The problem was that Ryan Mundy didn't drop back in time to cover the inside, which allowed Thomas to be wide open across the middle. Watch the video twice, and first pay attention to Ike leading up to the catch, and then pay attention to Mundy.



It wasn't Ike who blew the coverage on that play ... it was Mundy. Ike was expecting help underneath and didn't get it. If Ryan Clark was playing instead of Ryan Mundy, the result would have been much different. Instead of blaming Mundy for not being in position, everyone unloaded on Ike for blowing the game, even though he did what he was supposed to do on the play.

The only thing we can blame Ike for on that play is not making the tackle. That's fair criticism. But if Mundy had gotten back in time, the catch probably wouldn't have happened to begin with. After the game, no one blamed Mundy ... everyone blamed Ike.

There's no question that Ike has lost a step over the past few years, and I really hope we can get someone to replace him this year. But if you look over the course of his career, minus a handful of bad games, Ike Taylor has been a great cornerback for us. The only cornerback we had who was better than Ike is Rod Woodson.

Ike says that after this season, he'll retire if the Steelers no longer want him ...

Quote :

“If Pittsburgh wants me to continue playing for them, I will” Taylor said. “If not, I am going to hang the cleats up.”

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2014/03/15/ike-taylor-says-it-was-a-no-brainer-to-stay-with-steelers/

Wally, only you can appreciate my humor...I understand that Ike has had a few good games, and of course not every CB is going to shut down every game, but I will never get over all of the BAD games I've witnessed. And unfortunately the NFL is a "what have you done for me lately" league. And lately, Ike hasn't done much.

Drizztbob wrote:

Wally, only you can appreciate my humor...I understand that Ike has had a few good games, and of course not every CB is going to shut down every game, but I will never get over all of the BAD games I've witnessed.  And unfortunately the NFL is a "what have you done for me lately" league.  And lately, Ike hasn't done much.

Fair enough. That's the great thing about being a fan in a community like this ... we all have our own perspectives that create great discussions. It would be boring if we all agreed on everything.

 

I wish we would have kept Ziggy over Ike.

Whyant5 wrote:

I wish we would have kept Ziggy over Ike.  

I couldn't agree with you more.