Mychal Kendricks is headed to Cleveland — at least for now.
Conflicting reports surfaced Sunday regarding the 27-year-old inside linebacker, with several outlets, including NFL.com, reporting the Browns had agreed to terms with Kendricks and then Kendricks himself adamantly denying the deal had been reached via the St. Paul Pioneer Press, saying, "No, it's not accurate. That's all I have to say. I'm not talking about it."
Kendricks, released by Philadelphia two weeks ago, had been scheduled to visit Oakland Monday. He signed a one-year deal with Cleveland Monday.
All along, Steelers fans have continued to wonder if the Steelers have done enough to replace injured Ryan Shazier at inside linebacker.
As much as Kendricks would have helped in that regard, he wouldn't have been a replacement all by himself, either. As Vince Williams told DKPittsburghSports.com at the start of OTAs, replacing Shazier with one person isn't going to happen.
“What everybody needs to understand is this: Ryan Shazier is an amazing player. If anyone thought we could pick a linebacker this year who was like that, that’s idiotic. Ryan Shazier is a tremendous talent. You don’t have linebackers who run 4.3s in the 40 and jump 40-something inches in the vertical, who can cover tight ends … you don’t have that in every draft. So just to pick a linebacker to say you picked a linebacker … that’s not really going to accomplish much. You either needed to find somebody that talented, or you need to do it by committee.”
What might that look like?
Williams will certainly be in the mix, especially on early downs. And, as his eight sacks last season from his inside linebacker spot would suggest, he'll likely be out there quite a bit on passing downs, as well.
Veteran Jon Bostic was signed in free agency and he's looked smooth in coverage. The former second-round draft pick out of Florida has talent. His issue has been the ability to stay healthy, though he largely did last season, appearing in 14 games for Indianapolis and recording 97 tackles, one sack and three pass break-ups. He also appeared in 16 games as a rookie for Chicago in 2013 and 13 games in his second season before being traded to New England, where he played in 11 games in 2015.
Bostic did miss all of the 2016 season with Detroit — which also traded for him — with a foot injury, but in a league in which players rarely are traded, he has been acquired via that route twice. There is talent there. It will be incumbent upon inside linebackers coach Jerry Olsavsky to bring it out of him and make him part of that committee to which Williams referred.
Tyler Matakevich, healthy after suffering a shoulder injury in the same game in which Shazier was injured last season, also will be in that mix, as will safeties Morgan Burnett and Terrell Edmunds.
Is that enough to offset the loss of Shazier? We'll see. But at least the Steelers have time in this offseason to work on how they want to approach the issue, rather than having to do it on the fly as they did last year. Opponents averaged 134.2 yards rushing per game in the five games the Steelers played without Shazier in the lineup, 96 when he started and played the whole game.
It's difficult — some would say impossible — after all, to completely blow up your defense in late December and adjust for missing not only your top defensive playmaker, but his backup, as well.
As for Kendricks, the Steelers wouldn't have wanted to sign him to only a one-year deal, especially if they felt he could be the long-term answer for Shazier. But, coming off a deal that paid him upwards of $7 million per season, he might have wanted only a one-year deal so that he could hit the open market at the start of free agency next year, when teams will again be flush with cash.
He wasn't going to accept a multi-year deal that offered only the $3.4 million per season he got from Cleveland. And the Steelers, with possible contract extensions for Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell, Chris Boswell and Williams looming at the end of the season — as well as a decision to make at left guard between Ramon Foster and B.J. Finney — likely looked at a long-term deal as a non-starter.
That doesn't mean they won't do anything. The team would still like to sign Boswell to a long-term extension before training camp begins. It wouldn't be surprising if Williams also gets an extension if the team doesn't do something with Bell before the start of training camp.
And a number of veteran inside linebackers, most notably Navarro Bowman, Lawrence Timmons and Gerald Hodges, remain on the market. None will replace Shazier by himself, but as Williams said, that's not the expectation.