Steelers sign Suisham through 2018

[Steelperch]

http://www.theredzone.org/BlogDescripti ... fault.aspx

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced Friday that they have signed kicker Shaun Suisham to a three-year extension through 2018.

The 32-year-old Susham made 30-of-32 field goals for the Steelers last season and has made 95-of-109 over the course of his time with the team. He has also made all of his extra point attempts and limited the opposition to touchbacks on kickoffs just over 45 percent of the time. Suisham has also played for the Dallas Cowboys, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Washington Redskins.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Suisham is currently scheduled to earn $1.425 million for the 2014 season.

[Mick]

Boo.

[jeemie]

So...of the four guys whose contract expire at the end of this season, Sweezy was priority number one?

Um...OK.

[Legacy User]

No, Sweezy was the one they could get done. It takes two to tango.

[Legacy User]

I doubt he got much of a raise so it won't affect their cap number

[V DUB]

So we extend a 32 year old kicker with an already weak leg until he's 36...yay.

[Legacy User]

I don't know about shelf life, but the dude has been near absolute money the past three seasons (the Raiders game was brutal, but otherwise...). If the money is right, I don't see the reason for disappointment other than some might irrationally suppose doing a deal with Suisham Sweets somehow excludes doing deals with other key pieces. To wit, what Poltargyst and Pipes said.

[Legacy User]

Squeezer !!!!!!

[Steelafan77]

At first I was disappointed about this. I was disappointed Allen wasn't first. Then I thought about it from a different perspective. Suisham was the first of the four to sign cause he was the first to except their contract offer. I think others were offered contracts too. Or perhaps Suisham is the cheapest to get done so he was first. Now they go after the bigger fish? Not the end of the world either way.

[lifelongsteel]

Why on earth do people care who gets extended first?

And if you are about to draft a "we extended our kicker but won't extend Ben" post just walk away from the computer now please.

[R_S]

Why on earth do people care who gets extended first?

And if you are about to draft a "we extended our kicker but won't extend Ben" post just walk away from the computer now please.

This is great. Signing Suisham first is akin to hitting the fat girl first in dodgeball. Just get'em out of the way.

[Legacy User]

Why on earth do people care who gets extended first?

And if you are about to draft a "we extended our kicker but won't extend Ben" post just walk away from the computer now please.

This is great. Signing Suisham first is akin to hitting the fat girl first in dodgeball. Just get'em out of the way.

But this fat girl has the highest FG hit percentage in the history of the franchise.

[Legacy User]

Why on earth do people care who gets extended first?

And if you are about to draft a "we extended our kicker but won't extend Ben" post just walk away from the computer now please.

This is great. Signing Suisham first is akin to hitting the fat girl first in dodgeball. Just get'em out of the way.

But this fat girl has the highest FG hit percentage in the history of the franchise.

Are you calling Sushi a cute fattie?

[Legacy User]

But this fat girl has the highest FG hit percentage in the history of the franchise.

Are you calling Sushi a cute fattie?

[lifelongsteel]

Somewhat nonplussed by the signing.

While I certainly appreciate the player and believe that accuracy from 40yds and in is the most important skill for a kicker, I'm continually bemused by the steelers ongoing willingness to continue to lose the field position battle by trotting weak legged kickers and punters.

Most teams with a defense first mentality put a greater emphasis on this part of the game. Don't know if they just don't value this, or somehow can't seem to figure out how to fix it.

[R_S]

Why on earth do people care who gets extended first?

And if you are about to draft a "we extended our kicker but won't extend Ben" post just walk away from the computer now please.

This is great. Signing Suisham first is akin to hitting the fat girl first in dodgeball. Just get'em out of the way.

But this fat girl has the highest FG hit percentage in the history of the franchise.

If Suisham tried hard negotiating tactics he'd be selling insurance Week 1. Get'em out of the way.

[Mick]

Problem is, kicking accuracy is pretty random, where kickoff ability is pretty consistent year to year.

So the thing we can feel confident about for the next five seasons is that we'll have below average kickoffs. Figgies? We'll find out if his accuracy streak continues as they happen.

[Legacy User]

Problem is, kicking accuracy is pretty random, where kickoff ability is pretty consistent year to year.

So the thing we can feel confident about for the next five seasons is that we'll have below average kickoffs. Figgies? We'll find out if his accuracy streak continues as they happen.

Considering how often drives have stalled out, I don't doubt they place a possibly incorrect preferential emphasis on figgies rather than KOs, esp. now that they have been moved up.

[Legacy User]

I like Suisham OK. Save one season he's been very reliable.

It would be nice though to have the option to take a shot at a 52+ yarder every once in awhile. Maybe whichever punter makes the 53 can be the long range kicker? Not sure if either guy has that in his tool chest.

[Gonzo]

Blecchhh

[Legacy User]

Why on earth do people care who gets extended first?

And if you are about to draft a "we extended our kicker but won't extend Ben" post just walk away from the computer now please.

God bless you, sir.

[Legacy User]

Why on earth do people care who gets extended first?

And if you are about to draft a "we extended our kicker but won't extend Ben" post just walk away from the computer now please.

God bless you, sir.

Amen. Nothing to see here. Minor news.

God please let preseason begin.

[Vertical Steel]

Fuck it. I like the Suishy signing. Dude is usually $$ when we need it.

Just hope we get it in the endzone more often this year.

[Legacy User]

Suisham sucks imo.......a kicker who cant hit 45+ is damn pointless......factor in pisspoor ko....and yet again it looks like this team has an agenda that isnt primarily based on winning

[Legacy User]

Suisham sucks imo.......a kicker who cant hit 45+ is damn pointless......factor in pisspoor ko....and yet again it looks like this team has an agenda that isnt primarily based on winning

Please enlighten us as to what the agenda is regarding the signing of Swishy.

[Jobu]

Just out of curiosity, I checked last seasons kicking stats...
Swishy was third in the league in FG% at just over 93%, but was the only (regular)kicker in the league not to have a 50+ yard attempt. He was 8-8 between 40-49.
He was 17th in kickoff average just under 60 ypko. That puts his kickoffs on average around the 5 yard line.
His 55 returns against we're most I the league.

[Legacy User]

Just out of curiosity, I checked last seasons kicking stats...
Swishy was third in the league in FG% at just over 93%, but was the only (regular)kicker in the league not to have a 50+ yard attempt. He was 8-8 between 40-49.
He was 17th in kickoff average just under 60 ypko. That puts his kickoffs on average around the 5 yard line.
His 55 returns against we're most I the league.

Somebody probably should had told Wing to practice kickoffs. If he could consistently blast the ball for a touchback then he would win the punters job.

[Jobu]

Just out of curiosity, I checked last seasons kicking stats...
Swishy was third in the league in FG% at just over 93%, but was the only (regular)kicker in the league not to have a 50+ yard attempt. He was 8-8 between 40-49.
He was 17th in kickoff average just under 60 ypko. That puts his kickoffs on average around the 5 yard line.
His 55 returns against we're most I the league.

Somebody probably should had told Wing to practice kickoffs. If he could consistently blast the ball for a touchback then he would win the punters job.

Sure as hell wouldn't hurt his chances.

[Kodiak]

I'm cool with it as long as there isn't much SB/guaranteed money involved (which would surprise me). Get a deal out of the way so you don't have to worry about it, but I'd have competition every year.

Suisham is basically a guy with a weak leg on a bit of a hot streak. As soon as he cools off even a little he's pretty mediocre.

Most decent kickers rarely miss inside 40. I think some people are dismissing the value of a few extra makes from 40-46/47 vs. almost no chance of 48+, much less consistently.

IMO he's not a top-10 kicker (not saying he's paid like one).

[Kodiak]

Here's some FG analysis over the last 3 years... I kept it to a minimum of 60 FGA (about 2 full years). 31 total kickers. The quick summary is there's nothing special about Suisham inside 50 - there's little differentiation (aside from a handful or two who are "bad" and won't be kicking long). He's the kicking version of the mediocre QB - good enough to be a 10-yr starter, but hanging around mainly because risk-averse teams don't want to risk getting a below average guy who won't survive in this league.

30-39: Suisham ranks 20th at 53/58 (91.4%). There are effectively 5 guys at the bottom who've missed 1-2 extra from there, and probably 13 who've missed a 2-3 less than Suisham. So very average for Suisham.

40-49: Suisham ranks 12th at 26/31 (83.9%). 5 guys at the top who've missed 2-3 less, Might be two tiers a the bottom of about 7-8 kickers each that missed 2-3 more (and the 7-8 below that who really probably be out of the league). So above average for Suisham, but not by a lot. This is where most guys kick themself out of the league, but it's not the money stat (50+) and more of the "standard". Suisham is comfortably in the top-half.

50+: At 2/5 (40%), Suisham is basically bottom-5 both in accuracy and attempts.

Bottom line: adjust for Heinz as you see fit, though I think we overrate it quite a bit (at least inside 50). Outdoors and weather is probably a bigger deal, but PIT probably plays in nice weather and/or a dome abou 6 times a year. Even if you don't care about 50+, Suisham has been fairly average in accuracy. Factor in Heinz and weather, and might argue he's top-10 (barely). Factor in kick-offs and I think it's pretty clear he's not a top-10 kicker.

Suisham looks a lot like Jeff Reed to me. Reed hit a cold streak and without a 50+ leg no longer looked like an NFL kicker.