Linebacker Larry Foote said he has not been released and that director of Football operations Kevin Colbert told him this afternoon that the Steelers are trying to trade the eighth-year veteran.
When asked if the Steelers plan to release him if they can't work out a trade, Foote said, "That's the question that I posed (to Colbert) and he said that's up to (coach) Mike Tomlin," Foote said. "He said he doesn't know."
Foote, who has been a starter at inside linebacker since 2004, said he wants to part ways with the Steelers so he can become an every-down player somewhere else.
Foote said he will not attend mini camp, which starts Friday and runs through Sunday and is mandatory.
Foote said he has no ill feelings toward the organization and that he will always look fondly on the time he spent with the Steelers , especially since he won a pair of Super Bowls in Pittsburgh
"I want a bigger role than what I currently have with the Steelers ," Foote said, "and I've been wanting that for quote some time even before (Lawrence) Timmons actually got there."
The Steelers took Timmons in the first round of the 2007 draft and his emergence last season appeared to make Foote expendable. Timmons would replace Foote in the starting lineup if the latter is traded or released.
