By BOB LABRIOLA
Steelers.com

It wasn't done because his play was judged to be slipping. It wasn't done because of the rumblings he made last offseason about wanting a new contract. And it wasn't done because he was one of Bill Cowher's guys and today Mike Tomlin happens to be the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert said the decision to release Joey Porter just made cents, as in dollars and cents.

"Releasing a player like Joey Porter, who has meant so much to this franchise and helped us win a Super Bowl championship, is not an easy thing to do," said Colbert on Thursday. "It's one of the decisions you have to make under this current system, and it's definitely a salary cap-related issue where we needed some short-term relief. But we also had to factor in what our cap situation is going to be in 2008 and 2009 and beyond."

The Porter move was the big one among those announced by the Steelers on Thursday afternoon, a day in which the team also released Verron Haynes and Barrett Brooks while tendering restricted free agents Max Starks and Brian St. Pierre.

Starks received a tender for a salary of $1.83 million in 2007, which means the Steelers have the right to match any offer he gets from another team and receive a first-round pick as compensation if they do not. St. Pierre's tender was for $850,000, which means the Steelers could match or get a fifth-round pick as compensation. If either player does not sign a long-term contract, he would become an unrestricted free agent in March 2008.

Starks, a third-round pick from Florida in 2004, became the team's starting right tackle in 2005. He has started 30 career games. The Steelers could have tendered Starks at $1.3 million and received a second-round pick as compensation but made the decision to go with the higher number.

"This is the first year we have the system where you have a second-round pick as compensation, and we're just not sure exactly how that's going to play out in terms of what kind of interest other teams might have," said Colbert. "Max is someone we want to be with us, and we wanted to secure that."

There is a theory around the NFL when it comes to dealing with restricted free agents that maintains a high tender might actually preclude the sides from coming to a long-term agreement. For example, in Starks' case, he'll be receiving such a significant raise over his 2006 salary that he could opt to play out this season for $1.83 million and then test the open market a year from now.

"It probably does inhibit your ability to do a long-term deal, but it also prohibits anybody else's ability to negotiate with him," said Colbert. "We never want another team to negotiate a contract for us. If you like the player, sometimes you want to take the extra step to assure he's going to be here."

Porter isn't going to be at right outside linebacker for the Steelers for the first time this century, and his absence creates a hole there the team will have to reinforce during free agency and the draft. In his eight seasons here, Porter started 106 games, and along with 10 career interceptions, he ranks fourth in team history with 60 sacks. The other outside linebackers currently on the roster are Clark Haggans, James Harrison and Arnold Harrison, who is coming off major knee surgery.

Even though Porter's numbers in 2006 were sub-standard for him, Colbert said the Steelers' decision was not an indictment of his play.

"If we were able to handle Joey's cap number this year, we certainly would have liked to have him on the team," said Colbert. "Joey can and will still be a productive player in this league. Other teams are going to be looking at the guys we released today, and I'm sure Joey will attract a lot of interest very quickly … especially when you compare him to the rest of the class.

"We'll stay in touch with Verron; that's a very similar situation to the one with Mike Logan last year. He's eligible for some injury protection under the CBA, and he'll continue to rehabilitate with us with the idea of adding him back when he's healthy."

So, the Steelers have some operating room as free agency begins, but that doesn't mean they're going to change the way they approach it, even with a new head coach. In the past, the Steelers have waited for the market to set itself and settle down a bit before making any overtures to players, and that's not expected to change.

"History probably will repeat itself. It's not our style to be calling players at 12:01 a.m.," said Colbert. "There are not a lot of great players available, but even at that, you have to let things settle a little bit because there will be other players terminated just as Joey was terminated today. You know what you like and don't like about this free agency class, but that can change day-to-day."

Change certainly is to be expected this year for the Steelers, simply because of the fact Tomlin is now the coach. Because of Tomlin's background in the defensive system known as the Tampa-2, there has been speculation he will implement that instead of the 3-4 alignment favored by Cowher during his 15 seasons.

Whether that happens or not, Colbert said it had no bearing on the decision to release Porter.

"That didn't factor into it at all," said Colbert. "When you're trying to manipulate the cap and be in compliance, you're going to have to look at some terminations, some reductions, some restructuring. Unfortunately, some times you have to terminate a good player to make it all work. You get some short-term relief, and it may allow us to do some things in this free agency period, and it also will free us up long-term for some other issues that will be coming up."

Among those issues could be contract extensions for All-Pros Alan Faneca and Troy Polamalu, both of whom will be going into the final years of their existing deals. The Steelers already came to an agreement on an extension for Aaron Smith.

"The thing you have to remember when you're in free agency, you're still going to have a draft and you have to have enough room to compensate however many picks we may get," said Colbert. "Plus, there always are some long-term issues you have to consider as well. It's not like you suddenly have all of this cap room, because you have to keep those other things in mind."