Don't expect Ike Taylor back

With the NFL labor now over, the Pittsburgh Steelers will start the process of figuring out who to bring to training camp..

With owners and players moving ever closer to resolving their differences, the first order of business will be establishing dates for free-agent signings so teams can get their rosters in order.

Obviously, the Steelers' top priority is Ike Taylor.

The Steelers are currently over the salary cap and have to make drastic moves to get under it, cutting several verterans, restructuring other contracts, and possibly making some very important decisions.

Ike Taylor, the Steeler's best cornerback, is a free agent. Taylor can't catch a football to save his life and struggles in zone coverage sometimes, but other than that he's probably one of the best one-on-on cover guys in the NFL. He's also a good locker room guy and is a solid tackler at the corner position.

The only reason I would re-sign Taylor is because they have virtually nothing without him. Bryan McFadden is old and sucks. William Gay sucks. The rest of the cornerbacks on the roster are unproven. No wonder why Taylor looks so good as a Steeler.

The Steelers are going to get out-bid for Taylor, so hopefully they can find a way to sign a guy like Carlos Rodgers and/or Richard Marshall.  Although Taylor has never made a Pro Bowl, because of his lack of interceptions, he's still gong to command top corner money on the open market

Take away Taylor, and the Steelers would go to St. Vincent with perhaps the most suspect group of cornerbacks in the league.

It wouldn't be surprising if the Steelers also re-sign Gay, though. He had a roller-coaster performance last year, solid some of the time but abysmal at others. But because the lockout prevented teams from holding mini-camp and OTAs during the off-season, the two corners the Steelers drafted in April -- Curtis Brown of Texas (third round) and Cortez Allen of The Citadel (fourth round) -- will go in to camp with no idea of how Dick LeBeau's defense operates. So, Gay's knowledge of the Steelers' complex defense will certainly improve his chances of sticking around.

Taylor will be a big loss for the Steelers. Last year the Steelers biggest weakness on the entire team was the cornerback position and the pass defense. Take away their best cover corner and I'm scared to think of the results.

I don't expect Taylor to re-sign with the Steelers, and that personally scares the hell out of me.