Lawrence Timmons came into his 2016 season with a lot of pressure on him. 2015 could be considered a down year for his play, and as one of just two Steeler starters on the defensive side of the ball left with a Super Bowl ring, the blame of leadership and accountability in rebuilding the unit fell on him. Add in that his backloaded contract had him as the highest paid inside linebacker in the NFL and a lot of talk about “most overpaid player in the NFL” came about.
Timmons is a free agent to be this off-season, and when the Steelers extended his backup, Vince Williams, before even negotiating with Timmons, the writing was on the wall that this would be the end for Timmons in black and gold. However, as we are now almost finished with the 2016 season, Timmons not only looks to be a contributing piece and leader during the Steelers push for the playoffs, he also looks like he could do this for the next five years.
Lawrence Timmons Has Proven His Worth
Slow Start
Timmons started his year slow, and the Steelers defense followed. Early on, the Steelers rarely mixed blitzes and Timmons saw most of his snaps in coverage, on tight ends and running backs. This brought out the comments of overpaid and over-the-hill Timmons. Coverage has never been his best game, and now at age 30, it is his worst game. However, as the season went on, the team began to mix its coverages and find different roles for Timmons, and his play got substantially better.
Five-Game Win Streak
Over the Steelers five-game winning streak, it has been younger players such as Bud Dupree, Sean Davis, and Artie Burns getting a lot of the credit. However, Timmons has been the veteran leader, and the rock in the middle of the defense that has kept the unit together. Over the past five games, he has recorded 21 tackles, 13 assisted tackles, one sack and two interceptions, as he has also blitzed from different areas of the field to create pressure that was not there before, and boosted the pass rush in the process.
Timmons has also has been a force in the defending the run, and has a huge goal line stuff to add to the highlight reel, and his ability in coverage has shown with two interceptions in wins against the Giants and Bengals. In every facet of the defensive game, Timmons has been there to help.
Not Overpaid
At the end, of the day, Timmons was not overpaid in 2016 but was due what he was owed. Timmons was the last year of his five-year, $47 million deal that started back in 2011. So while his cap hit for 2016 was over $15 million, the average annual salary that the Steelers had signed him to was just over $9 million. The Steelers continued to backload his contract as they dug themselves out of a salary cap hole led by the fact that LaMarr Woodley was still on the team’s cap until just last year, despite being cut in 2014.
Timmons restructuring his contract and waiting on 2016 for his big pay day helped create cap room to sign safety Mike Mitchell, re-sign Cameron Heyward, and give Antonio Brown a bonus he had wanted, all while maintaining a previous disaster of a contract such as Woodley. So after years of taking less than what was originally owed to him, Timmons got what he was owed, and he has rewarded them by continually showing up, as he looks to finish off his sixth straight season with 16 starts.
To Re-sign or Not to Re-sign?
So after a season where the Steelers finally gave him what they owed him, the question is, what is Timmons worth now? He will be a free agent in 2016, and as mentioned, the Steelers have not had any plans to re-sign him quite yet. Ryan Shazier, Vince Williams, and Tyler Matakevich will be on the roster, so the need is not drastic, but if the Steelers can get the same consistent play they have received from Timmons, they should certainly be interested in bringing him back.
Timmons has given the Steelers everything they could want from a 2007 first-round pick at inside linebacker. He is now 30, and on the backside of his career, but with that, knows that his big contract days are now complete. Paul Posluszny signed a 3-year, $15 million deal in 2015 at age 31. The Steelers, who now have cap room thanks to the help from players such as Timmons, should see this deal and think that if they can get Timmons at a price tag in the similar area that they should jump all over it. Timmons has proven that he can live up these contract expectations and while he is not a necessity, he would be a great luxury at a more affordable price.
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