Steelers Notes: Suisham, Boykin, Colbert

Shaun Suisham spent the season on IR and while he was out, kicker Chris Boswell sank 29 of 32 field goal tries. Will it be out with the old and in with the new for the Steelers? Not quite. Steelers GM Kevin Colbert says the team won’t cut Suisham anytime soon and instead the team will have a kicker competition, as Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweets.

“We feel very fortunate we have two kickers to work with. We should have a great competitive situation,” Colbert said (Twitter link via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).

Here’s more on the Steelers:

• Colbert said that cornerback Brandon Boykin didn’t play as much as the player and the team anticipated, Dulac tweets. When asked about the free agent, Colbert said, “He helped us down the stretch. He’ll definitely be an option [to re-sign] for us” (link).
• The feeling is mutual, as Boykin says he’d consider a return. “At the end, the organization said they appreciated how I went about it, being a pro, not really talking about it,” Boykin said (via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com). “I don’t have any hard feelings toward Pittsburgh. Absolutely, under the right circumstances, for sure [I’d return].” Boykin, Pro Football Focus’ 10th-ranked free-agent cornerback (sub req’d), was mainly relegated to special teams duty in 2015. That was a big step down for Boykin who recorded six interceptions with the Eagles in 2013.
• Colbert says his focus is on keeping talent in-house rather than acquiring it elsewhere (Twitter link via Dulac). “If there is a guy on outside who makes us better we’ll plug him in. Our big play is keeping our own,” the GM said.
• Colbert says the team’s cap situation “relative to other years is pretty good,” (Twitter link via Dulac). He went on to say that the team doesn’t have to “make a lot of drastic changes.”
• Earlier today, Colbert indicated to reporters that James Harrison is in the team’s plans for 2016. Soon after, the linebacker’s agent hinted that his client plans to be in camp with Pittsburgh, though other reps of his say things are still up in the air.