--LB Napoleon Harris, a UFA from the Minnesota Vikings, visited the Steelers after Larry Foote's release but there has been no move to sign him. However, the 2002 first-round pick of the Oakland Raiders remains a possibility.

Harris, 30, played for Mike Tomlin when the Steelers coach was Minnesota's defensive coordinator in 2006.

--Former Detroit tight end Sean McHugh, who signed with the Steelers last summer after his release by the Lions, did not fault Larry Foote for forcing his way off the Steelers roster to join the Detroit Lions, winless last season.

"He's been in a position where he's got a couple of Super Bowl rings and he's made a decision in his life -- what makes his life better is to be back home," McHugh said of Foote, a Detroit native.

--Steelers broadcaster Tunch Ilkin, their player rep during the 1987 strike and the commencement of free agency, believes some players do not understand the true concept of the system. He notes that some players with one year left on their contracts want to be treated as unrestricted free agents by their own teams.

"Some guys want to find out what they're worth on the open market." Ilkin said. "Unfortunately, you still hear that from guys with a year left on their contracts, and they don't realize you can't get fair value with one year left."

--With his new five-year contract, 33-year-old Hines Ward is in position to achieve yet another goal -- to play his entire career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

If he does, he will join a select number of players who have done so in the free agency era. In fact, there were only two Pro Bowl Steelers who played their entire career with the team, center Dermontti Dawson and nose tackle Joel Steed.

"It's a big honor for me to start my career here and evidently end my career here," Ward said. "I couldn't be happier."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "In my case, certainly when you play for an organization like this, I can't see myself wanting to go anywhere else. I definitely hope it ends up good." -- TE Heath Miller, signed through 2009.