By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/?m=1
Matthew Ludtke/Associated Press
The Steelers signed former Cowboys offensive lineman Flozell Adams.
The Steelers report to training camp today, and this could truly be a case in which the last shall be first.
The two widest open jobs in this camp, their 45th at Saint Vincent College near Latrobe, are on the right side of their offensive line, guard and tackle.
Thursday, they signed a veteran player who might become their next starting tackle, Flozell Adams, to a two-year contract. And the last rookie left standing without a contract as of last night is first-round draft pick Maurkice Pouncey, who could become their starting right guard.
Adams, 35, is a five-time Pro Bowl left tackle with the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers signed him in response to losing starting right tackle Willie Colon for the season with an Achilles tendon injury.
It's unsure whether the Steelers will use Adams on the left side or the right. Adams played his entire career with the Cowboys at left tackle and his agent, Jordan Woy, believes that likely is where the Steelers will put him.
Max Starks, their starting left tackle the past two seasons, started at right tackle in 2005 and '06. Under a new coaching staff, Starks lost his job at right tackle to Willie Colon in '07 but moved to left tackle when the starter there, Marvel Smith, had back problems that ultimately forced him into retirement.
Adams, nicknamed The Hotel because of his 6-7, 338-pound frame, last made the Pro Bowl for his play in the 2007 season. The Cowboys, who drafted him in the second round from Michigan State in 1998, released him in April.
The Steelers will have to release someone to make room on their 80-man roster for Adams.
No Steelers rookie has missed the opening of training camp since 2004, and the Steelers are hoping to have Pouncey there on time to start competing at right guard.
No Steelers first-round pick has become a regular starter as a rookie since Heath Miller in '05.
Although the Steelers drafted Pouncey, a center at Florida, to be their future center, they announced immediately that he would be used at right guard his rookie season. He practiced mostly at right guard in the spring but did see some time at center, where starter Justin Hartwig was limited after shoulder surgery.
Trai Essex, who became their starting right guard last season after Darnell Stapleton was lost for the season with knee surgery in training camp, will try to hold off Pouncey if the Steelers do not move Essex to compete at tackle, where he first played for them.
Other jobs up for grabs in this training camp are left cornerback and inside linebacker.
The Steelers re-acquired two of their former starters to compete at both spots, Larry Foote at linebacker with holdover starters Lawrence Timmons and James Farrior, and Bryant McFadden with William Gay at left cornerback. McFadden, though, ran first team all spring, and that competition might have ended the day they traded for him with Arizona.
That does not count quarterback, the most intriguing position of camp and maybe of any training camp this summer in the NFL. Starter Ben Roethlisberger will be suspended for at least the first four regular-season games but is permitted to practice and play in preseason games until the suspension starts. Byron Leftwich is the assumed starter because he held that job most of the spring and because coach Mike Tomlin said he will have his starter picked at the start of camp.
NOTE -- The Steelers have cut a marketing deal with XFinity by Comcast to wear the company's logo on their practice jerseys throughout the season, starting in training camp. It marks the first time the Steelers will wear advertising on a jersey other than a manufacturer's logo. Other teams have made such deals for their practice jerseys recently.
For more on the Steelers, read the blog, Ed Bouchette on the Steelers at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Ed Bouchette: ebouchette@post-gazette.com.
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