Smizik: Taylor's talent terrific, timing terrible
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Cornerbacks such as Ike Taylor don't come around often. It wouldn't be a stretch to say Taylor, 6 feet 1, 191 pounds, has the speed, size and skill to be the best the Steelers have had at the position since the great Rod Woodson, a certain Hall of Famer.
It took Taylor three seasons to step up to the NFL big time, but he clearly did so last year as an anchor in the secondary for the team that won the Super Bowl. His development was slowed by the fact he played only one season on defense in college at Louisiana-Lafayette, but now there appears to be no ceiling for Taylor, who has shown the kind of lockdown talent that could make him a Pro Bowl player for years.
Too bad it won't be with the Steelers.
Taylor is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is a potentially outstanding player at one of the most important positions on the field, which will put him in great demand when he becomes a free agent at the end of this season. But he is on a team that has some depth at cornerback and, of greater importance, one that has financial commitments of a higher priority.
Taylor's agent, Scott Smith, is in a slow negotiating dance with the Steelers that appears to be going nowhere. The two sides are talking, just not often or with great seriousness.
"We've been in discussion for some time," said Smith over the phone yesterday. "We will continue to talk and work to get something done."
Translation: The Steelers aren't so much playing hardball as they are no-ball with Smith and Taylor.
It's nothing personal, just business.
The Steelers would love to sign Taylor and line him up against the best wide receivers in the league for the next five or six years. But there's this bothersome thing known as a salary cap. If the Steelers pay Taylor what the market will demand, it won't leave them room to sign other players who figure even greater in their future.
Smith isn't talking about what he specifically wants, but he makes no attempt to disguise the fact he believes his client is something special.
"Cornerback is a premier position, and Ike has established himself as a premier player at that position," he said. "We're seeking compensation commensurate with his performance on the field."
Translation: An eight-figure signing bonus -- as in $10 million. That's the amount of the signing bonus the Dallas Cowboys presented cornerback Anthony Henry before the 2005 season.
It's not even certain if Smith has been able to broach that figure with the Steelers, so slow has been the pace of negotiations. He was in camp last weekend for a visit, but had no contract discussions with the team.
The problem with Taylor is this: If the Steelers give him an eight-figure signing bonus, it will put them in an impossible situation with strong safety Troy Polamalu, a more important defensive player, when he's eligible for free agency in two years.
In the salary-cap era, you can't pay everyone.
The Steelers will discontinue negotiations with Taylor once the season begins and continue them after the season only if the two sides are close, which is highly unlikely.
Taylor was a disappointment in his first two seasons, when he started two games and had the look of one of those perennial underachievers. But given a chance to take Willie Williams' starting job in training camp last season, he came into his own. Bill Cowher allowed three young players, Taylor, Ricardo Colclough and rookie Bryant McFadden to challenge for the job, and Taylor came away the winner.
He started 15 games and four more in the playoffs and, in the process, established himself as one of the bright young talents at his position.
If he had one shortcoming, it was a large one. He couldn't hold on to the ball. Time and again he dropped potential interceptions. He was all over receivers, most notably Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals, but, when interception opportunities came his way, he didn't make the plays. He intercepted only one pass during the season and added another in the Super Bowl, a 24-yard return that set up a score.
"I want to be the complete corner, the lockdown corner," said Taylor before practice yesterday at Saint Vincent College. "I want to be somebody that everyone is talking about, one of the elite cornerbacks in the NFL."
He knows he's not there yet.
"I've got to work on a whole lot of stuff. One is catching the ball. I want to get my game to the point where I have no flaws."
Taylor maintains the problem with dropping interceptions is not his hands.
"My hands are fine, it's my concentration. I'm not looking the ball into my hands. I want to start upfield before I catch the ball."
He's that close to being a premier cornerback, just not one who has a long-term future with the Steelers.
First Published August 9, 2006 12:00 am
