Larry Foote: 'I'm Not Going To Play For The League Minimum'

PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) – Former Steelers LB Larry Foote joined The Fan Morning Show on Thursday for his first interview since the team released him on March 5.

Foote said that teams are pursuing him, but he's not going to accept a deal at the minimum.

"I got a couple offers," Foote said. "I don't want to come off stupid, but I just don't want to play for the league minimum. So I'm hoping, summertime or whatever after the draft, that they can up the ante a little bit, and I'll play. I'm not going to play for the league minimum."

In his mind, he's worth more than that.

"I know I'm going to play wherever I go, and I wouldn't be getting what I'm putting out," Foote said.

He has also had teams approach him about coaching.

"I got some coaching offers out there on the table," Foote said. "I have to really sit down and put some thought in, if I want to coach on that level. Ideally, I would love to coach high school."

He actually expected the Steelers to keep him after Mike Tomlin told his agent that his absence had a noticeable impact on the team, but he ended up getting released in the end.

"The week before, where all the coaches and everybody go down to the combine, he basically said Mike Tomlin told him, 'Shoot, we couldn't get lined up. We lost four games because we couldn't get lined up,'" Foote said. "Me and my agent took that as, well, you're coming back, then the next following week he called me and gave me the bad news."

Foote doesn't expect to reunite with the Steelers after they released him, despite his low cap figure.

"I doubt it," Foote said. "If they wanted me, they would have kept me."

He has been preparing for the possibility of his career being over, but he's still holding out hope that he gets the kind of deal he's looking for.

"I know I'm on deck," Foote said. "I've been on deck the last three or four years, but that batter that's in the batter's box- it's a full count. Hopefully, (there's a) rain delay or he starts fouling some balls away to preserve my career."

The interview can be heard here:

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