It has been a busy offseason for Troy Polamalu.
He has been rehabilitating an Achilles' tendon injury in Los Angeles. He earned his bachelor's degree in history from USC. He'll have a maximum 99 rating in the "Madden NFL 12" video game when it's released next month.
But has the Pittsburgh Steelers' star safety also been planning a request for a contract extension once the NFL lockout is over?
"The Steelers always have done this sort of thing the year before a contract is up," Marvin Demoff, Polamalu's agent, told the *Pittsburgh Tribune-Review* when asked Thursday about the possibility. "There's been no discussion yet, but I'd say it's highly likely that was because of the lockout. We'd be open to it, sure. Troy's played there eight years and wants to finish his career in Pittsburgh."
Polamalu, who signed a four-year, $30 million extension in 2007, never fully recovered from the Achilles' tendon injury he suffered during a Week 14 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals when he approached the end zone to score a touchdown off an interception return. He missed subsequent games against the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before returning for the regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns.
Following treatment and rehab under the care of an orthopedic surgeon with ties to the Steelers' medical staff, Polamalu was expected to be ready by training camp -- whenever that might be.
"Troy tends to be pretty hard on himself emotionally and physically," Demoff said, "and he feels really good about where he is."
Now 30 years old, Polamalu has fully played a 16-game schedule in just four of his eight seasons because of his physical style of play. He has missed 13 regular-season games the last three seasons but still has 17 interceptions and 35 passes defended.
With the Steelers' defense rock solid but aging -- nine of the unit's 11 regular starters last season are either over 30 or about to turn 30 -- the question of a long-term contract might be troubling to the front office. But Demoff doesn't see his client just hanging around to collect a paycheck.
"That's not Troy," Demoff said. "He's not the type to keep playing when he's not at a high level. No offense, but he's not going to be Brett Favre."