Tackle Max Starks says ready to lead Pittsburgh Steelers’ young offensive line – NFL News
Veteran tackle Max Starks said he is ready to return to action after the Pittsburgh Steelers reconsidered him under a year long deal.
Max is recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery he had last year and following his signing he confirmed to have regained his health and fitness, ready to join the team at training camp later this month.
Steelers confirmed signing of the player to a one-year contract but did not disclose other terms of the deal. The veteran has played for the team throughout his career after being selected in the third round of the 2004 National Football
League (NFL) draft.
He confirmed his re-signing through Twitter postings, writing he is “game-ready” and then would "be seeing you in Latrobe", as Steelers are due to start their training camp next week.
One of the considerations for the team to bring back the veteran is that they are in need of a leader of otherwise young and talented offensive line. Since being hit by the salary cap problem, the team has parted ways with a number of
veterans and become total dependent on the young players.
Max happens to be the only re-signing from those waived off the roster this year. The team hopes this will strengthen their offensive line, offering protection to their quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.
Some commentators believe that the signing indicates that safety Mike Adams is not quite ready to play with the starting team. Max already has 79 games starting experience and can help in training and grooming young players.
This is a good comeback of the player given that he has been through a number of injury scares since 2010 when he was ousted with a neck fracture.
He was healthy and fit last season and played 11 games before being hit by the ACL injury. He is in recovery since having the surgery last season.
Steelers have selected Stanford guard David DeCastro before picking Adams off the 2012 NFL draft held in April. The team is particularly wary of the need of offering more protection to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who himself has been
suffering a number of injury problems lately.
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