Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 by Adam Wagner
Alan Faneca, free agent casualty
Alan Faneca, one of the anchors of the Steelers’ offensive line for the past 10 seasons, will be leaving the team to play for the New York Jets. Faneca will be the highest-paid lineman in football, signing a four year contract for $32 million and showing that he actually did not care about going to a potentially winning franchise, instead just caring about receiving the largest available contract.
Yes, it is probably cruel to rip Faneca now, and yes, the Rooneys were being cheapskates by not offering him a solid contract extension, but it seems more and more like the guard just wanted the most money he could possibly get in the free agent process. Granted, none of the three teams (the Jets, the San Francisco 49ers, and the St. Louis Rams) that were vying for his services were successful last season, but the Jets just don’t have the talent on the offensive side of the ball to win football games. If he had gone to St. Louis or San Francisco, Faneca would be blocking for one of the most talented runners in football in a laid back football environment. Instead, he will be blocking for Thomas Jones in the biggest media fury in the NFL. Good luck with that, Alan.
Just as important as Faneca’s decision is what the Steelers will do to fill the hole that he left. Chris Kemoeatu may be the person to step up and replace the Pro Bowler, but this is the same player who Bill Cowher had issues with because he could not control his anger at times. That is not the Steeler way of playing football, as losing one’s temper often results in penalties, which are detrimental to the team. Mike Tomlin needs to be sure that Kemoeatu is a solid player who will not lose his cool before he deems him a starter.
There is, of course, the very likely possibility that the Steelers will target the line as a place to improve in the draft, but the whole right side of the line and the center are larger question marks than Kemoeatu and Starks would be on the left side, and that is by no means to say that Kemoeatu and Starks are the next Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden.
It certainly will be odd seeing a line anchored be Kemoeatu and Starks instead of Faneca next season, but in the modern-day world of the NFL, the salary cap unfortunately means more than loyalty.
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