NFL Network: Pittsburgh Steelers won't keep Hines Ward

2-11-12 / espn.com

The Pittsburgh Steelers, with a Hines Ward roster-bonus deadline fast approaching, have decided not to keep the veteran receiver, the NFL Network has reported, citing unnamed sources.

Ward, who lost his starting job in 2011, was scheduled to make $4 million in the last two years of his contract but has said he was willing to take a pay cut.

A decision is required by March 1 to satisfy a clause in his contract.

"I plan on playing with the Pittsburgh Steelers and going from there," Ward said last Thursday during Super Bowl week.

STORY: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7564969/pittsburgh-steelers-plan-keep-hines-ward-report-says

Wow -- that'll be a significant departure. Ward is the longest-tenured player on the Steelers (Wiki).

More from Wikipedia:

Since being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft, he has earned three team Most Valuable Player (MVP) selections. He is considered to be one of the best wideouts in the game because of his great hands and his willingness to block. He is also a four-time NFL Pro Bowl selection (2001–2004). He also had a streak of 4 consecutive 1,000 yard seasons, which likely could have continued in the 2005 NFL season if he had not missed a game due to injury. In 2002, he set a Steelers franchise record for receptions (112) and touchdowns (12) and was named to his first of two consecutive All-NFL teams. While he is considered one of the best blocking receivers in the NFL, he has also been criticized for habitually hitting defenders on their blind-side. Ward has twice been named the NFL's dirtiest player, as determined by a Sports Illustrated poll of NFL players; the most recent was in 2009.