Steelers

Green, Villanueva among many uncertain futures

Jan 23, 2017 • 5:00 pm

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When Ladarius Green returned to practice a few months ago, the tight end joked that it felt like he had retired and came back. Now, just one day after the Steelers' season ended with a 36-17 thrashing at the hands of the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, Green was asked if retirement was an actual option.

"No," Green said, adding a sarcastic chuckle in his response.

In fact, had the Steelers made it past the Patriots and to the Super Bowl, Green thought that he could have returned to the lineup and made plays.

"I felt OK. I was just trying to work back toward it. Was hoping there would be another week, but things didn’t work out that way," he said. "I feel well enough to play."

Green sat out the season's first nine games after recovering from offseason ankle surgery, played in the next six, and then missed the final five while in the league's concussion protocol. Green did, however, catch 18 passes for 304 yards in his six appearances, which is his third-best season as an NFL tight end in terms of both yardage and receptions.

Even so, the fifth-year pro is looking forward, not backward.

"I’m just going to do what I do every offseason," he said. "I’m going to go train and work, try to get ready for next year."

That means he's got to shake off the ankle injury and get past the concussion talk, both of which have created a dark cloud over Green's head for the first year that he's been in Pittsburgh. Green, though, said he's had conversations with the team doctors and assured reporters that he's not worried about concussions moving forward.

Still, there's a sense of annoyance at the way it all played out for him this season.

"It was very frustrating. Once I got going in the middle of the season, I was excited. I was happy to be out there," he said. "You can’t plan for stuff like that. I just had a setback. A frustrating season, but everybody has one. I just hope this is the only one I have."

Green signed a four-year, $20 million deal with the Steelers last offseason, giving him three more seasons under contract, which he hopes is enough time to earn the fresh start that he was looking for when he decided not to return to the Chargers last year. Now, Green's offseason will be geared toward just that.

"It was one of those years every player has one where things just don’t go right," he said. "Hopefully, next year works out better than this year did."

While Green's future remains murky on the medical side of things, the Steelers have 12 unrestricted free agents whose future will be up in the air this offseason. In addition to those guys, left tackle Alejandro Villanueva is an 'exclusive rights' free agent, which means the Steelers have right of first refusal.

Villanueva said he's uncertain what the future holds for him.

“I try to do the best I can at whatever I do. Whether it’s football, whether it’s the military, whether it’s academics, whether it’s anything in life. I can say that I really tried my best this season to put my best season together," he said. "Obviously there was a lot of emotional stuff regarding the beginning of the season, having to switch back and forth with another player during training camp, which was a little humbling. Made me feel a little insecure, but toward the end I was feeling comfortable about who I was as a player and hopefully I can get the trust from other teams — or this team — and continue to play left tackle in the NFL."

Villanueva is enrolled in Carnegie Mellon's business school and hopes to earn his degree soon. He told DKPittsburghSports.com earlier in the year that he wouldn't be opposed to starting his career after football if he didn't like what free agency offered him.

"I’ve gone through this type of thing in my life many times. You finish a milestone in your life, whether it’s the military, whether it’s the deployment, you just assess your life and you see what’s in the future. For me, it’s the same thing," he said. "I don’t know what the process is like. I’m 28. I have to understand that this is not going to pay my bills for the rest of my life and I’m going to have to work for quite some time. We’ll see. I’ll have to do some net present value analysis and figure out what’s best for me and my family."

Those 12 free agents will all have a different path, too. Le'Veon Bell is likely headed toward the franchise tag while decisions will need to be made on the likes of Lawrence Timmons, Jarvis Jones, James Harrison, DeAngelo Williams, Markus Wheaton and Landry Jones, among others.

"We don’t know who’s gonna come back next year, who’s gonna be here. Who’s gonna play and how we’re gonna start the season," Villanueva said. "It’s gonna be challenging, obviously, for next year."

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