Steelers Roster Moves to Get to 53-man Limit

The have placed back-up QB Charlie Batch on the Reserved/Injured List and placed the following the 3 players in the Waived/Injured List: LB Arnold Harrison, LB Mike Humpal and S Ryan Mundy.

Here are the other 18 players the Steelers cut yesterday:

LB Patrick Bailey, WR/KR Eddie Drummond, P Paul Ernster, FB Billy Latsko, OG Doug Legursky, OG Matt Lentz, CB Roy Lewis, S Grant Mason, DE Ryan McBean, OT Jeremy Parquet, DT Scott Paxson, DE Jordan Reffett, WR Willie Reid, WR Micah Rucker, TE Dezmond Sherrod, TE Lee Vickers, RB Justin Vincent and CB Travis Williams.

Marvin Allen was added to practice squad as an international player. The NFL allows 8 players to be added to the practice squad, but an international player can be added as well without counting towards the 8-player limit.

James Farrior gets 5-year extension

The Pittsburgh Steelers and James Farrior agreed to a 5-year contract extension that is more heavily weighted in the first 2 years ($10 million). The total value of the contract is $18.25 million.

"That's the game plan, to finish out my career here," Farrior said. "The Steelers have been good to me, and I have put all my heart and soul into this, so I'll just try to close it out."

"James has played at an extremely high level the entire time I have been here," second-year coach Mike Tomlin said. "Not only is he an outstanding player, he's also an outstanding professional and, of course, he's an outstanding leader for us."

Along with Timmons and Woodley, the Steelers have one of the best LB corps in the league. They will continue to do so for several years as Farrior should finish his career in Steel Town.

Steelers sign Byron Leftwich

Today, the Steelers signed Byron Leftwich to a 1-year, $605k deal. Only $445k of the $605k will count towards the Steelers cap, because it is a minimum exception contract.

The Steelers also looked at Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper is interested in a starting gig somewhere so I'm not sure why he came in. Nonetheless, Leftwich was chosen partly because of his willingness to accept the backup QB role.

Leftwich was taken in the 1st round of the 2003 NFL Draft by Jacksonville, but he's battled injuries over the past couple of years. After the emergence of David Garrard, the Jaguars released Leftwich. He signed with Atlanta, only to be released by the Falcons in February.

Hefty Praise from Kevin Greene

How good is LaMarr Woodley going to be? If you ask Kevin Greene, he says "He's going to be better than me." Considering where Greene ranks on the All-time sacks list (#3), it would be tough to find more meaningful praise for Woodley.

Plus, the Steelers have Pro Bowler James Harrison on the other side.

"When James doesn't want to be blocked, it's very difficult to block him," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "He's a Pro Bowl player for a reason."

The 6-foot, 242-pounder was cut by the Steelers three times before sticking with the team, and he understands as well as anyone how tough it is to get to where he is -- and to stay there.

"If you're satisfied, then you might as well retire," said the 30-year-old Harrison, who was voted Steelers MVP by his teammates last season. "I want to improve on last year, so you look at those numbers, and you tell me."

When discussing the the duo, Greene says:

"You've got one who is a bona fide Pro Bowler already and the other has a great gift," Greene said. "I think they're going to be fine."

Couldn't agree more with Greene. Expect a lot more of these...