The NFL combine is tampering central, the unofficial week when free agency pretty much begins.

Behind the scenes, Agents and NFL clubs all set the stage for deals this week for when the free agency window opens.

The official free agency window period begins March 7-9 where teams can begin negotiating with agents openly. Players can be officially signed at 4:00 p.m. on March 9.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were somewhat of a player in free agency last year, signing Ladarius Green to a $20 million contract, while also pursuing safety Eric Weddle.

Already giving Antonio Brown a $72 million contract with the likes of Le’Veon Bell and Stephon Tuitt on the docket later this off-season for big contracts, could the Steelers still be a surprise player in free agency?

The talk in Steelers circles is the team feels a sense of urgency with Ben Roethlisberger at age 35 and already floating retirement that they aren’t ruling out being aggressive for the right piece to go after a Super Bowl with the small window they still have with Roethlisberger at the helm.

The player they have pinpointed [hide] as a missing piece is cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick.

Pittsburgh has signaled to Kirkpatrick’s camp they intend to pursue Kirkpatrick and the interest in Kirkpatrick is said to be serious. They have an idea of what it will cost.

More Buzz

The Steelers in negotiations with Lawrence Timmons on a long-term deal, believe the New England Patriots plan to go hard after Timmons if they don’t resign Dont’a Hightower. Agent Drew Rosenhaus has surveyed the market and expects a strong market. We’ll see if either side blinks before the ninth.

— Kevin Colbert has said he believes Landry Jones is better than 80% percent of the backup quarterbacks in the league. That said, the Steelers have reached out to multiple agents who rep quarterbacks on the market. Steelers coaches love Mike Glennon who they see starter potential in. Glennon, though, likely has better opportunities elsewhere.

— Jarvis Jones agent has heard from six teams that plan to explore signing Jones. A number of clubs are pursuing him to come in and compete for a starting job. One Steelers source said there’s talk Jones is going to get a three year – $12 million contract on the market. [/hide]