Craig hasn't done the "Shocked, Louie, just shocked" bit in a while, so if I may:

Knicks are the NBA team stupid enough to take on Vin Baker.

Speaking of free agents, I have mixed feelings leaning negative on the Steelers' Duce Staley signing.

PROS:

1. Five years, $14 million is not nearly as bad of a contract as I might have expected
2. God knows we needed a new feature back.
3. No really, it was bad--Zereoue is done, and Bettis ran for 3.0 per carry even when he played well last year down the stretch.
4. Staley is a Steeler mold, solid-citizen type of player.
5. He has probably learned to spell chrysanthemum by now.

CONS:

1. Running back is the most eminently replaceable non-kicking, non-long snapping position in the league. Every year some back named Davis is drafted on the second day and ends up rushing for 1200 yards as a rookie. You can get one cheap without even spending a high pick.
2. Staley is 29, which is starting to approach old (if and only if you're a running back, I might add!).
3. It's unclear how good of a feature back Staley is, especially in an offense not built around a lot of passes to backs.
4. It seems like every team in the league has signed a shutdown corner in the off-season except the Steelers, who apparently thought bringing on Chris Gardocki was more of a priority. Every moment spent addressing any other need is a moment wasted until that need is taken care of.

Bottom line: I don't really like the signing, but I'm glad it didn't totally break the bank. I'll like it a whole lot better if it still allows us to make some moves to improve our pass defense.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be focusing all my sports energy on the Panthers' upcoming tourney run, because after that it could be ugly for a while for Pittsburgh sports.