Relapse Thursday: Rod Woodson and the Steelers start of an unrestricted free agency

Steel City Underground takes the fans back into the past to present events, special moments and historical times and players in the world of the nation of Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers. Visit us in our series “Steelers Throwback Thursday” while we visit these moments again.

With the beginning of the free agency and a new NFL League year, it is difficult to remember that there was a time when the madness of legal manipulation times and the headline theft commitments was not the order of the day. It was not long ago that the only way to buy a player from another team was to take a trade or to wait for the release of a player from his current contract.

While the modern era of the NFL is often discussed, the time of the unrestricted free agency is often overlooked as a turning point. The Pittsburgh Steelers would be at the head of this new horizon in the nineties when one of their players, CB Rod Woodson, together with eight other NFL players, sued the league for unrestricted free agency. Woodson received 1.1 million US dollars as part of the agreement.

The league would implement its current system of the Free Agency on March 1, 1993. According to an article by the Los Angeles Times, 484 players were used on this day to sign with new teams. Although Woodson's history of the contract with Pittsburgh did not become a free agent in 1993, he was always a turbulent and unrestricted freelance agency would significantly influence his career.

Woodson was confiscated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 1987 NFL design. He sat down due to a contract dispute that lasted 95 days before he lasted a four-year-old $ 1.8 million contract in October 1987. The holdout would be the longest in franchise history until Le'veon Bell refused to sign his franchise day in 2018.

Woodson started his career as a backup under head coach Chuck Noll, but worked as a kick and punt returnee in the starting line -up after an outstanding athletics career included a bronze medal at the 1987 Olympic Festival. Woodson would maintain his returns with the Steelers during his time and enter the 1988 season as a start cornerback.

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Until 1990 it was time for the two sides to discuss a new deal. According to reports, the Steelers Woodson offered a contract extension of three years by $ 3 million, which would make him the highest paid player in the team history. The best paid players in Pittsburgh would be a recurring topic in Woodson's term, especially after QB Neil O'Donnell would replace its income in the coming years.

O'Donnell would sign a new three-year contract worth over $ 8 million for the 1993 season. Where Woodson is not exceeded, Woodson O'Donnell's contract would exceed a four-year agreement of $ 12 million that made Woodson the best paid defensive in the league.

Woodson's performance in the field would justify his income. As a three-time all-Pro, he received another All-Pro nicken in 1993 and the NFL Prize The NFL Prize of the year and joined the All-Pro team again in 1994 after he was appointed second-placed in the defense of his DPOY crown.

In 1995 everything would be for nothing, mainly when Woodson suffered a torn ACL in the first game of the season during an attempt by Detroit Lions RB Barry Sanders. According to an AP news archive article: “On September 11, 1995, Woodson was subjected to a reconstructive operation and his ACL in the left knee was replaced by a patella tendon from his right knee.” It was suspected that he ended for the season, but would make a wonderful return to play in the Super Bowl XXX, although to a limited extent.

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In 1996 another turning point in the crossing paths of the Steelers and Woodson would be. After the team had fallen to 27-17 on the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX, a game made it new to sign O'Donnell, but did not bring their start quarters back. O'Donnell would accept a five-year contract of $ 25 million with the New York Jets.

In contrast, the Steelers Woodson gave a low ball offer of three years, $ 9 million, which reduced its average profit per season by $ 1 million compared to his previous deal. Pittsburgh increased her inquiries, including an extension of five years $ 10 million and an offer of $ 13.5 million with incentives and a signature bonus of $ 500,000. Woodson rejected these business and would return with his current contract in 1996 for the last year.

Woodson would be appointed as an all-pro name in 1996, but little would someone know that he played his last game in a Steelers uniform in a division round against the New England Patriots.

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After the 1996 season, the Steelers would continue to pursue a new contract with Woodson. The two sides would not come to terms with a four-year contract worth $ 7 million, the lower offer according to Woodson's reconstructive knee surgery in '95 and several injuries that the cornerback went through in 1996. At the age of 32, Woodson would leave the Steelers after ten years of term. He would be replaced by 1997 until 1997 the Draft Pick Chad Scott.

As Free Agent, Woodson joined the San Francisco 49ers with a new three-year contract worth $ 5.1 million.

In 1997, however, a down year would be a down year, since it was not recorded after post -season and was then published the following season. From there, Woodson would sign a similar contract for three years at the Baltimore Ravens $ 5.7 million, which contained a signature bonus of $ 3 million. At the age of 33, he played as a cornerback, but changed free security the following season in 1999.

The change in the position extended Rod's career, as he has been included in Pro Bowl in 1999, his first since 1996. He would continue with the Ravens for a few more seasons and won a great bowl with Baltimore in 2000. In 2001, the Ravens rejected Woodson, but ultimately the 36-year-old back with a five-year contract. However, the team would publish Woodson in 2002 for reasons of the salary limit.

Woodson would find a new home with the Oakland Raiders and continue his career as free security and at the age of 37, which the NFL all-project did again after led his new team to the Super Bowl. (The Raiders would fall the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-21.) His season would estimate after the 2003 season after a further knee operation from 2003.

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Woodson left the NFL in numerous statistical categories after 17 seasons. It was called 11 Pro Bowls, 9 All-Pro teams (6 first teams, 3 seconds team) was the NFL defensive player of 1993 and in the NFL all-decade team, the all-time team with 75th anniversary and the 100-year-old team for the 100th anniversary. Woodson would be anchored in both professional and collegiate football Halls of Fame. The Pittsburgh Steelers have also honored his legacy with the team in recent years by naming him to their honorary hall.