Steelers NT Casey Hampton has been a staple of Pittsburgh’s defense for the past 12 seasons, but the 35-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and there has been plenty of attention paid to the overall age of the team’s defense unit.
Hampton appears to be more than aware of the situation that he’ll be faced with in March, but believes he was two more years left in him.
“No question, I can see myself playing somewhere else,” said Hampton, per the Beaver County Times. “But I definitely would not want to go anywhere else. Why would I want to do that?”
Hampton grades out as one of the worst nose tackles in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. The good news is that he’s still a serviceable run defender, but he offers nothing in regarding to interior pass rush at this point in his career.
The Steelers must get younger on defense, so it makes sense that they would move on without Hampton next season. Pittsburgh should try to get Steve McLendon and Alameda Ta’amu to take the next step in their development, instead of hoping that Hampton is capable of returning to his previous form.
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