The 2016 season is unfortunately over, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are now embarking upon their latest offseason journey, heading back to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, formerly known and still referred to as the ‘South Side’ facility of Heinz Field. While the postseason is now behind us, there is plenty left to discuss.
And there are plenty of questions left unanswered as well. The offseason is just really the beginning phase of the answer-seeking process, which is lasts all the way through the Super Bowl for teams fortunate enough to reach that far.
You can rest assured that we have the questions, and we will be monitoring the developments in the offseason as they develop, and beyond, looking for the answers as we look to evaluate the makeup of the Steelers as they try to navigate their way back to the Super Bowl, after reaching the AFC Championship game last season for the first time in more than half a decade.
Question: Will former Steelers tight end Ladarius Green be given an opportunity to continue his career with another team?
This is only somewhat tangentially related to the Steelers at this point, though a connection still exists that could be meaningful, because if he signs with another team, he would no longer be eligible to receive money for injury.
A day after Pittsburgh released tight end Ladarius Green after just a year with the team, it was reported that he is hoping to continue to play with somebody in 2017. The former Charger who made it just a quarter of the way into a four-year contract with the Steelers doesn’t believe that his playing days are done.
He was participating during the first two phases of offseason workouts with the team at the time that he was released with a failed physical designation, so he hasn’t exactly been sitting on the coach for the past half a year, but whether or not he is physically capable of continuing to play football without severely risk the future of his cognitive health is another matter.
It’s not necessarily uncommon for players to fail a physical and be released, and it is true that some of them end up signing with another team. When it comes to a player dealing with concussions, however, it’s a little more concerning. Some team’s doctors may have differing opinions, but I would hope that one wouldn’t put Green at undue risk.
To be fair, we don’t know for a fact that Green was released due to a failed physical, but it is the logical assumption. He was healthy and playing at the time that he suffered the concussion, which forced him to miss the last five games of the year for the Steelers.
Presumably, the Steelers were not comfortable with what he showed on his baseline cognitive test, believing it serious enough to warrant his release due to a belief that he wouldn’t be able to play. It will be interesting, if he begins to take visits, what the medical reports from other teams will say.
