The Price Is Right

Santonio Holmes … for a 5^th-round pick? No, that didn’t sound fair.

Not for the guy that showed enough to be considered the obvious heir to Hines Ward in Pittsburgh; and neither for the man that performed a spectacular display of athletic ability — worthy of MVP honors — at the end of Super Bowl XLIII.

And yet … it is right.

Thanks to a move aimed to put a band-aid on the Steelers’ reputation as the banner franchise in the League, the team from Pennsylvania consolidated the balance of power even further in the Eastern side of the gridiron world by “giving away” the talented wide receiver to the New York Jets. The transaction virtually ensures that the Aerial Ones will represent a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming 2010 campaign and it surely sends the Men of Steel into the tailspin of having to deal with a cavity that until Monday, was completely fulfilled.

But more importantly, it reinforces one of the more important lessons that all of us (myself included, of course) should be abiding on a consistent basis: accountability for our actions.

One can make the case that Santonio Holmes was made a convenient scapegoat to quiet the bad publicity that his current transgressions had brought upon the pride of the Rooney family — a statement that wouldn’t be defamatory at all. And another one can easily reply that the dismissal was meant to send a subliminal message to Ben Roethlisberger — a theory that probably wouldn’t be false either. Given that the signal-caller has revealed a particular lack of carefulness in a short period of time with a couple of shenanigans of his own, it was only a matter of time before the Steelers decided to start taking actions against their irresponsible affiliates.

Having said that (and regardless of the order in the misbehaving equation), the sight of Pittsburgh parting ways with Holmes was indeed perceived as a necessary measure that nobody questions as of right now. However, the issue of the compensation remains an inflammatory subject, because the on-field success that Holmes exhibited during his Pittsburgh tenure led almost everybody to scream for League intervention when the trade was confirmed. Not because of what the Jets had to offer but rather of what the Steelers accepted. And to that I say…

Really?

For all I know, both parties should be conferred a degree of responsibility in this matter. Even though Holmes clearly holds the upper hand in designated blame, the Steelers are very much accountable in this fiasco because of their inadequacy to draw the proverbial line in the sand. After word leaked out that Ben Roethlisberger was going to be the subject of a civil suit before the start of last season, Pittsburgh’s front office should have instilled a mindset of relentless awareness throughout its organization in order to avoid potential chinks in the armor — exactly what ultimately happened with all this drama. At least in my eyes, the recurring gaffes committed by Roethlisberger and Holmes are the byproduct of a relaxed attitude within the organization; and given the blue-collar standards historically boasted throughout the confines of the Steel City, that failing embodied a good enough reason to be punished.

That’s why making the aforementioned exchange for only a 5^th-rounder seems more appropriate to me than any other possible scenario. For the team, swapping Holmes for something higher would have been perceived as something of a shameless reward. And giving the now former Steelers receiver his outright release would’ve have been detrimental to the Ohio State product because that would have granted him the right to set the market for his services — in short, not the best of ways to make him learn from the experience.

Instead, for the mere price of a late-round draft pick, the Steelers are compromising enough to save face. They will get a chance to right the ship, and I’m counting that they will go to great lengths to avoid a repeat of this situation (beware Big Ben). On the other hand — and taking into account that the League hammer could fatally strike after one additional mishap — Santonio Holmes gets devalued enough for him to get his act together (and mature) if he wants to continue making a wealthy living playing football. Needless to say, that thought should be an adequate motivator.

Perplexingly, with red faces all around; comfort zones shattered; and notwithstanding the tribulations, all of this has the making of a win-win situation. Even with both parties losing.

A silver lining if I ever saw one.