Former Steeler, and current free agent linebacker LaMarr Woodley recently joined Sirius XM NFL Radio about his status. Woodley, who has recently bounced around from the Oakland Raiders to the Arizona Cardinals, claims he’s healthy and ready to contribute to an NFL franchise:

(transcript via NFL Draft Diamonds)

“Yeah, I’m staying in shape, but the thing is, I’ve put myself in a situation where I’ve been hurt these past few years, so I don’t really control my situation right now,” Woodley said. “I can’t make a team call me. So all I can do is prepare myself and keep myself ready, but also I’m going to make sure that my mind is working and that I’m doing other things — things that I can control.”

“I still can go out there, I can get the job done,” said Woodley. “I still can go out there and play at a high level. I just have to be out there on the field to go out there and play at a high level and not just be used for certain situations as far as going out there stopping the run. As an outside linebacker, they predicate our game on sacks and I have to be out there on third-down situations to get sacks. But if I’m not out there on third-down situations, you ain’t gonna see any sacks.

LaMarr is self-aware of the issue that keeps him currently unemployed: injury history.

The Good Years

Originally drafted by the Steelers in 2007, Woodley converted from being a college defensive end to an outside linebacker in the National Football League. His transition was successful, with a near immediate impact playing alongside James Harrison. In his first week as a starter, Woodley was named GMC Defensive Player of the Week, after recording 3 tackles, a sack, an interception, a pass defended, and recovering a fumble.

Woodley would go on to start 15 games in his sophomore season, contributing 11.5 sacks, en route to the Steelers Super Bowl XLIII victory. He would add to his success the following season, starting all 16 games in the regular season and increasing his sack total to 13.5, on way to being named to his first Pro Bowl.

The linebacker would continue rolling into 2010, once again starting all 16 games while adding two interceptions and 3 force fumbles to his resume, though his tackle and sack numbers regressed slightly. Pittsburgh would once again play in the Super Bowl, and heading into 2011, the team had to make a decision on Woodley’s soon-to-be free agent status.

First, the Steelers franchise tagged Woodley, a move which would’ve paid the defender $10 million for one season, but also put the team over the cap. Thus, the front office would enter into a long-term deal with their star pass rusher, making him one of the highest paid players at his position. The six-year, $61.5 million contract signed by Woodley, remains the highest-valued deal ever given to a Steelers defender to date (not all Steelers, because, Ben Roethlisberger.)

In hindsight, everyone now knows that contract turned out to be a bad deal for the Steelers. However, at the time, no one questioned giving a young, highly productive player (and one in Defensive MVP conversations) a boatload of money. Based on prior performance, and projecting into the future, the guaranteed money was deserved, and looked like a win for both sides, for a player who recorded at least 10 sacks in each of his previous 3 seasons.

The only thing that could burn both parties would be an injury.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened: and Woodley would never record 10 sacks in a season again.

The Bad Years

After signing his contract in August, Woodley would be limited to playing in 10 games during the 2011 season following a hamstring injury in week 8 against the New England Patriots. Woodley would attempt two returns during the season, but struggled to get on the field full-time.

Many hoped that with a full offseason to recover, LaMarr could regain his previous form in 2012. Up until his hamstring injury, he had played in 40 consecutive games for the Steelers, racking up an ungodly 34.5 sacks over that period of time, including 7.5 while filling in at James Harrison’s spot when the latter missed four games in 2011. While he was on the field for 13 games in ’12, Woodley struggles continued, leaving games with injuries, which made his numbers slide to 4 sacks and 27 tackles that season.

With Pittsburgh going 8-8 and missing the playoffs that year, once again the hope was that Woodley could play up to his cap-crippling contract in 2013: he would fail to do so, missing 2 more games than 2012 (11 played) while his sack total upticked by 1 (up from 4 to 5) and his tackles dipped to 20 total.

In Woodley’s absence, the Steelers drafted an outside linebacker in the first round, Jarvis Jones, while also focusing on getting 2010 2nd round pick, OLB Jason Worilds, on the field as well. While Jones was named a co-starter in his rookie season, he too struggled with injuries and production, while Worilds rose into the starting lineup with 11 starts by the end of the year, contributing 8 sacks.

Worilds’ ascension left the team in a difficult situation of whether it was worth taking a cap hit to release Woodley, or let the now more reliable Worilds enter free agency. Pittsburgh would do what was unthinkable just seasons earlier, releasing Woodley in order to kick the salary cap can down the road in order to place a transition tag on Worilds.

Life After Pittsburgh

While Worilds would have a decent 2014 season, Woodley would sign a two-year deal that was worth a potential $12 million. The Raiders, would release the former All-Pro after one season, in which Woodley appeared in only 6 games, recording 3 tackles and no sacks.

The next move for Woodley would be signing a one-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals, a team notorious for stockpiling former Steelers. Used sparingly in situational downs, Woodley would play in 10 games, starting 7, before tearing his pectoral muscle, and landing on the injured reserve list in Week 11.

He would only register a single sack in the desert.

Current Status

The unfortunate circumstances following Woodley’s historic contract signing have driven him to the unemployment line of the NFL, which begs the question: could LaMarr Woodley join a long list of players who left, and returned, to the Pittsburgh Steelers?

I prefaced much of Woodley’s history for the sake of making a case for, and a case against. Obviously, Woodley’s injury history and age (he turns 32 in November) put him on the “do not touch” list. Yet, like some other productive Steelers who regressed, and left the team, we could potentially see a scenario where Pittsburgh may give their former standout a chance.

Would The Steelers Show Interest?

Keyword: chance.

That shot would be predicated on several conditions:

• a team-friendly one-year deal (ideally at the veteran minimum)
• A successful workout and passed physical
• Several of the younger prospects can’t cut the mustard on the NFL level (Zumwalt, Feeney, Matakevich, Chickillo)
• An injury to one of the rotational edge rushers: Harrison, Moats, Jones or Dupree

First and foremost, the Steelers aren’t going to spend more money on Woodley. (And despite not being on the roster, the Steelers had him on the books through 2015, with dead cap money.)

A desperate player with no interest from other teams may be willing to back up his words by putting his money where his mouth is. That means a veteran minimum “prove it” deal.

Of course, Woodley will have to prove he’s healthy, and capable of playing. Beyond that, I don’t see the Steelers going after Woodley’s services, unless they decide one of their younger players isn’t worth putting more time and money into. An injury prone, aging player, regardless of his past accomplishments, can’t take precedence over younger prospects, at least not at this point in the league year.

The perfect storm for Woodley’s phone to ring, would be situations similar to James Harrison and Brett Keisel‘s comebacks. Harrison was officially retired before a Jarvis Jones injury prompted his return. Keisel sat out most of training camp and the preseason, before the Steelers reached out to the veteran, due to a lack of defensive line talent and depth.

The Steelers might not even be an injury away from a lack of talent or depth along the edge, though a setback to one of the projected contributors may definitely prompt an inquiry into Woodley’s availability. Unlike previous protocol, many former Steelers boomeranged back to the team after leaving, such as William Gay, Will Allen, Harrison, Antwaan Randle El, Plaxico Burress, and most recently, David Johnson.

The Burress signing is the outlier, where an older former star overcame any past animosity with the front office, in order to suit up in a Steelers uniform once again. While the nays would have their say (and I agree at this point) past history dictates a “never say never” business approach to building the 53-man roster. Adding a veteran with proven team experience could be a boost to the defense; at the right price, it could be a bargain similar to James Harrison’s return. (Though SCU contributor Eric Herrmann offers 3 reasons the Steelers will definitively say “no.”)

Signing LaMarr Woodley isn’t a priority, but it most certainly could be a possibility, in the near future.