[ad_1]
As always, there are two sides to this Joe Schobert story.
On Sunday, after a closed-door practice at Heinz Field, the latest Steeler addressed reporters, expressing his excitement about joining the Steelers and returning to AFC North. However, Schobert dropped an interesting nugget during his media session on Sunday, saying that current Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke told him the Steelers were persisting in their pursuit of the veteran linebacker, via Ray Fittipaldo’s tweet. at the press conference on Sunday.
Joe Schobert said Jags general manager Trent Baalke told him the Steelers called early Thursday and were very persistent in their pursuit. It’s a different story than the one Mike Tomlin told yesterday when he said Schobert was introduced to them. ??
– Ray Fittipaldo (@ rayfitt1) August 15, 2021
” The Director General [Baalke] just told me Pittsburgh called 12 hours before they had a meeting with them, ”Schobert told reporters on Sunday. “And he said they were very persistent in trying to make a deal to get me up here. So that’s the reason he said he was like, ‘there’s a good situation and I wouldn’t put you in it if it wasn’t a good situation for you and your family, uh, come to Pittsburgh, to be on a good team. ‘ So that’s it, that’s what I was told.
Schobert’s statement of what Baalke told him doesn’t match what Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said on Saturday after practice when ESPN’s Brooke Pryor asked him if the franchise had sought to add another veteran inside linebacker after Vince Williams retires or if Schobert was just available?
“It was available,” Tomlin told reporters. “It happened to us, but it didn’t take long for us to consider it as we know his skills and productivity very well. “
Well what is the truth? Probably somewhere in between.
There’s no question this is a pay cut by the Jaguars, given they pay $ 3.65million in 2021 to dump Schobert off the books while taking a sixth-round pick in 2022. in exchange for a linebacker the franchise just signed at five-year, $ 53 million in free agency in 2020.
Granted, it’s a new diet in Jacksonville, so it’s understandable that they left it so quickly. It’s not an indictment of the player in my mind.
However, the Steelers are highly unlikely to pursue Schobert, given they were all on Robert Spillane heading into the second preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, a game in which Spillane still struggled to cover. .
The deal likely materialized on Wednesday or Thursday at some point, and the Steelers jumped on it, adding a guy they know very well to Schobert and almost half of his salary being paid by the Jaguars, while also separating from a delay Draft pick of day 3.
Whatever the truth of how the deal developed, the Steelers are all the better for coming together, adding a linebacker of Schobert’s caliber alongside third-year linebacker Devin Bush for 3-4. coming years.
[ad_2]
Source link