Kevin Colbert
Kevin Colbert
Kevin Colbertis the general manager of the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers since the start of 2000. He is widely credited with putting together the Super Bowl XL and the Super Bowl XLIII teams in Pittsburgh along with owner Dan Rooney, president Art Rooney II, and coaches Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin...
felt player
We felt that Brett was going to be a full-time player on our team.
fact free lose people players sight signed
People say we haven't signed big free agents, but they lose sight of the fact that we signed significant players of our own.
address care couple free players progress replace sign step taken versatile
We could sign a couple of players (to replace the versatile Randle El) or address things in the draft. We've taken care of some of the players we wanted to take care of and we'll step back and see how things progress here with free agency.
agents coming contract defense free good kid player productive run ryan similar somebody types
The thing about Ryan as a player is that he was always at the right place at the right time. He was somebody who could set a defense and run a defense. Ryan's similar to the types of free agents that we've been able to sign, a young kid coming off his first contract as a starter. He was productive on a very good defense.
adjust certain game plan
You go into it with a certain plan and you have to adjust as the game unfolds. Personally, I think it's exciting.
hard hope nowhere prepared situation specifics worst
There's nowhere you can go, because you don't know what the situation will be. It's hard to speculate. You have to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. We don't know the specifics as to where we stand. It's all speculation at this point.
bigger chance coming dramatic good helped kid leap playoff small throughout win
We feel good about Nate. Nate was a kid coming out of small college, and he had to adapt. He had to make a more dramatic leap than a kid coming from a bigger school. Throughout the year, he got better and better and better, to where he helped us win a playoff game. You look at him and say, OK, this kid's got a chance to develop.
both larry thinking worked worth
We were unanimous in thinking Troy was worth the 16th pick. It worked out well for both teams. They got (running back) Larry Johnson.
good knew knows late
When it's this late in the year, you want someone who knows what it's all about. We knew him and knew he'd give us a good look in practice.
came kids last
So many of the kids came out (early) last year, it weakened this year's group.
became believe draft free gone guys keeping main market occasional plug recent team
We've never been a big free-agency team because we don't believe that's the way to put a team together, exclusively. We believe that the draft will always be the main part of your team, but we also believe that you'll have to plug in the occasional free agent. In recent years, we haven't gone after the high-end market (players) because we've concentrated on keeping our own players, who may have been higher-end guys if they became free agents.
believe best challenge everybody hard love offers players priority together
We don't say one guy's a priority over the other. We do believe that we would love to have everyone back. It's hard to say where you can and can't go, because you don't know what's out there for the players yet, because they can't get offers from other teams. We want everybody back. Is that realistic? No. It's our challenge to keep this thing together the best that we can.
caught contract guys minimum situation tear
We're not in a situation where we have to tear it up. When you look at our team, we have a lot of guys under contract for a minimum of two years. We're kind of caught up right now.
age age-and-aging available caliber came contracts design expired group guys marquee point reached together unusual
It's probably just one group of guys came of age together where their contracts expired or reached a point where they were all available at the same time. It's a little unusual to have that many marquee guys available. I don't think it was any design or plan. It's unusual to have that caliber available right now.