Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham is supposed to be in a roster battle with Chris Boswell, but there might not be much of a fight if Suisham doesn’t get healthy soon, as Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Suisham says he has yet to recover from a torn ACL that he suffered last year and he has not attempted a kick since then. Now, Suisham isn’t sure if he will be ready for training camp at the end of July.
“Any sort of a battle is not an issue with me right now because I am not healthy,” Suisham said. “I will continue to work to get there, but I don’t know when that will be. I don’t have a time frame. Hopefully, it is for training camp.”
Suisham signed a four-year, $12.5MM extension in 2014, making him one of the top 10 highest-paid kickers in the NFL. The Steelers would save $2.4MM by releasing him. Boswell, meanwhile, makes the NFL minimum $525K.
Here’s more from the AFC North:
- Paul Dehner Jr. of The Enquirer (Twitter link) suspects that if the Bengals sign Dwight Freeney, it won’t happen until we get “much closer” to training camp, if not August. He adds that a reunion between the Bengals and cornerback Leon Hall is unlikely, but the same parameters apply if it were to happen. Freeney says he’s 95% sure he’ll play in 2016, he’s just not sure where.
- In an interview on ESPN, former Browns GM Ray Farmer said that the organization was not ready to handle Johnny Manziel‘s level of celebrity, which hindered the quarterback’s development. “In Johnny’s case, I truly feel like a lot of people piled on the young man,” Farmer said (transcript via USA Today). “He’s done his share of helping everybody get on top of that bandwagon, but the reality is the responsibility is born by both the club, and the player. And when the club doesn’t follow up on its end, it makes it that much easier for players to get off track.”
- Former UNLV tight end Jake Phillips worked out for the Steelers on Monday, according to a league source who spoke with Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).
- Browns defensive end Desmond Bryant says he was absolutely hoping that Cleveland would hire Hue Jackson, whom he referred to as his favorite coach (Twitter link via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal). Bryant played for Jackson in Oakland in 2011.
- Former Steelers cornerback Brandon Boykin is reportedly dealing with serious hip issues which could be keeping him from finding a new NFL home.
- Recently, the Navy OK’d Ravens rookie Keenan Reynolds to play in 2016.