Levi Wallce buried on depth chart; if he's cut...?

[Thurman#1]

10 minutes ago, boyst said:

still to this point, the steelers could benefit cutting him for cap reasons.

 

and the other statement you made is about his integrity - he was honest and forward with what happened. i respect the hell out of that

 

 

Yup, agree on both points. $2.5M gained and he came across as thoughtful, responsible, honest and very much worthy of approbation. Seemed like a hell of a man.

[mykidsdad]

im always for depth and competition. he has a leg up because he knows the system, but, in the end, i think our current roster would make Levi a PS guy. Which is okay, because  the better your PS the better your depth. Also, does he play special teams?

[ElMarko]

On 5/10/2023 at 11:33 AM, boyst said:

Levi Wallce is buried behind Patrick Peterson and once projected starter Ahkello Witherspoon. Joey Porter, Jr. comes in with lots of fanfare and will be shoved down everyone's throats Tevon Diggs style, while fellow rookkie Cory Trice is also in Pittsburgh.

 

He is owed $5.5mm while a hit of only $1.5mm.

 

If he was cut should we consider bringing him back to Buffalo as a depth CB behind White, Elam, Jackson and Benford (who maybe moving to safety?).

He's NEVER coming back to Buffalo. The coaching staff was obviously angered by his play during 13 seconds. he seemed to defy exactly what he was instructed to do... they never wanted him back when he reached FA.

[bigK14094]

On 5/10/2023 at 11:48 AM, GunnerBill said:

 

That isn't that bad and it is better than Tre White was last year. 

 

I wouldn't bring Levi back to start, but if they want to bring him back as depth to fight for a spot I wouldn't hate it. 

If Tre isn't physically recovered, he might be better than Tre 2023

[boyst]

24 minutes ago, ElMarko said:

He's NEVER coming back to Buffalo. The coaching staff was obviously angered by his play during 13 seconds. he seemed to defy exactly what he was instructed to do... they never wanted him back when he reached FA.

arguments against that can be made. and in the aftermath, as already stated - the coaching staff was never held accountable for their failure. this was on ay more than Wallace.

[Sierra Foothills]

On 5/10/2023 at 9:18 AM, MJS said:

Yep, the Bills knew how to use him and cover up some of his weaknesses. But the Bills tried every year to replace him.

 

On 5/10/2023 at 9:20 AM, FireChans said:

citation needed.  Drafting DBs in the 7th isn't "trying to replace your starter" level investment.

 

On 5/10/2023 at 9:21 AM, MJS said:

They brought in vet corners in free agency as well.

 

On 5/10/2023 at 9:25 AM, FireChans said:

I mean I guess you could call old legs Josh Norman a "replacement" attempt, but a 1 year deal for a known quantity in the McD defense is just as much a depth signing.

 

17 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

There were other replacement attempts... Kevin Johnson, Vontae Davis, Phillip Gaines if I recall correctly.

 

13 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

That isn't quite right. Gaines and Davis were brought in as FAs in 2018 before Wallace was signed as an UDFA after that year's draft. Davis retired in game 2 and Gaines got first shot at replacing him, sucked, and that is when Levi first got his shot. Levi replaced them. Not the other way around. Kevin Johnson came the next year. He was a 1 year $3m deal and was definitely brought into compete. Maybe they thought he'd flat beat Levi out, but he didn't though at times in the season they job shared. Then in 2020 came Josh Norman. It was really only those two guys who might have been efforts to replace Levi. He beat them both out and then held off the challenge from Dane Jackson in 2021.

 

8 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

All true but same general idea... as an undrafted free agent Levi wasn't supposed to be a 4 year starter for the Bills.

 

He was never supposed to be the guy.

 

7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Correct. But we are not talking about him coming back to be a starter either.

 

3 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

There's not really a thing about who is supposed to be the guy. Whoever plays best, that's who's supposed to be the guy.

 

@Thurman#1, I'm not really understanding your point above. Levi Wallace was an undrafted free agent who ended up starting for 4 years.

 

Doesn't someone who is drafted generally carry greater expectations than someone who is undrafted? Doesn't someone who is drafted earlier generally carry greater expectations than someone who is drafted later?

 

Of course there are UDFAs who buck the odds and exceed expectations. And certainly we would like to believe that sports is free of politics and is a pure meritocracy but if a guy is undrafted, isn't it fair to say that no team envisioned him being a starter for 4 years?

 

That's what I mean when I say "He was never supposed to be the guy."

 

[Maine-iac]

Reading a few Steelers articles it sounds like he had another very Levi Wallace type year.  The Steelers tried playing two guys in front of him and within a few games he was starting.  People still throw at him because he's frequently the best option to throw at but he doesn't make it easy.  He only gave up a few TD's (to four picks) and was far better against the run than the two guys they played before him.  If you asked me who'd I'd start first Dane or Levi it would be Levi just because of Levi's size.  I'm betting the Steelers keep him anyways.