LATROBE — There are many more steps that Willie Colon must take on his way back from a torn Achilles tendon before he’s completely in-step with his teammates.
But the most unpleasant one in Colon’s mind is out of the way, and the echo from the sigh of relief he must have emitted when it was completed still seems to reverberate around the St. Vincent campus. Colon signed a five-year, $29 million deal on Thursday, a process Colon said he was pleased was over.
“I don’t like the negotiating process, but I’m happy,” he said. “I’m here with my guys. I’m here with my coach. This is home for me so I’m happy.”
Chicago wanted Colon as a guard and put more money in front of him, but that wasn’t enough to pull him away from the Steelers.
“It didn’t bother me, so to speak,” Colon said about the potential position switch. “This is my family. This is my home. I never had money when I started. Money wasn’t going to make my career.”
That didn’t make the negotiating process any easier, especially considering it came during a truncated off-season following the prolonged lockout. The process ramped up anxiety as players and management try to make decisions in the span of a few days that would normally take weeks or even months.
It also led to some bittersweet moments for the close-knit veterans on the line. While Colon was happy to get a new deal, friends and linemates Max Starks and Flozell Adams were released. Starks and Colon talked before and after the personnel moves that resulted in Colon’s five-year deal and Starks being shown the door.
“It was weird to say the least. But at the same time, I knew there were going to some hard decisions they were going to have to make to keep me here,” Colon said. “I feel humbled by everything. At the end of the day, it was tough for everybody because of the whole CBA thing. A lot of things were put on the bubble and had to make decisions real fast that in the past they’d have five months.”
Colon will have to wait to finish the final portion of his return from last year’s season ending injury. Veteran free agent signees, even those who re-signed with their team from last year, aren’t allowed to practice until next Thursday. That means Colon and Jonathan Scott won’t work at their expected tackle spots for almost the entire first week of training camp, postponing an early look at who the Steelers will likely start up front in the season opener.
But Colon said with injuries playing a major factor over the course of a regular season, the flexibility of the line and early work for other players can only help.
“The guys that start the season are never the guys that finish the season,” he said. “You have to have guys who can fill in and get it done and play at a high level, and we’ve got a lot of guys that can do that.”
And in the meantime, Colon will continue to work and soak up the love he said he’s felt since coming back “home.”
“Coming in after getting everything signed and everything kind of committed, walking in and seeing everyone give me hugs, that was enough appreciation for me,” he said. “I don’t need anything else but that.”
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