George Fant Tears ACL
The Seahawks now have a hole on their offensive line. Following last night’s preseason win over the Vikings, head coach Pete Carroll revealed that left tackle George Fant tore his right ACL and will require surgery. While the team hasn’t announced a definitive timeframe for the lineman, it’s assumed that he will miss the entire season. The 25-year-old was injured during the second quarter after teammate Justin Britt accidentally rolled into his leg.
“Really broken-hearted about George Fant getting hurt,” Carroll said (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “Just unfortunate. He’s done so much, come so far and everybody’s cheering for him and rooting for him all along. He’s going to be in trouble getting back this season. He’s got a knee injury that’s going to require surgery, unfortunately. Kinda takes a little something out of it for everybody.”
Fant had a bit of an unconventional path to the NFL. Despite not having played organized football since the eighth grade, the former Western Kentucky University basketball star decided to join the school’s football team for the 2015 season. After playing sparingly during his lone collegiate season, he signed on with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2016.
While he mostly played tight end during his college career, the Seahawks transitioned Fant into an offensive tackle. The 6-foot-6 rookie ended up playing a significant role for Seattle last season, starting 10 of his 14 games. While ProFootballFocus.com wasn’t particularly fond of his performance, the Seahawks clearly had high hopes for the lineman.
That sentiment was emphasized this offseason, as Fant came into camp 20 pounds heavier, and Carroll certainly recognized the player’s improvement at the position.
“I don’t think anyone has done more than George Fant,” Carroll said (via Matt Calkins of the Seattle Times). “George just had a fantastic spring and offseason … he got bigger and stronger and was able to add, shoot, maybe 22-23 pounds from where he was last year.”
Fant was expected to be the Seahawks’ starting left tackle, leaving the team with a hole on that unit. Rees Odhiambo replaced his injured teammate during last night’s contest, and ESPN.com’s Sheil Kapadia suggests that the team could also use left guard Luke Joeckel at the position.
Le’Veon Bell Flaked On Steelers Deal?
We learned shortly after the franchise tender extension deadline that Le’Veon Bell turned down a lucrative contract offer from the Steelers. Apparently, things weren’t that cut and dry. On July 17, Steelers officials thought they had reached agreement with Bell’s agent on a five-year deal. However, at the last minute, Bell nixed the contract, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Meanwhile, agent Adisa Bakari says he and his client never had any agreement with the Steelers. “All stories to contrary are false,” he told ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). 
The deal would have given Bell more than $12MM annually on average and roughly $30MM across the first two years, Bouchette hears. According to previous reports, he would have seen ~$42MM over the first three seasons. Sources tell Bouchette that Bell said no because he is pushing for $15MM annually, a sum that he first demanded in a rap track recorded last year.
“I’m not a real greedy guy. I don’t play football just for money or things like that. I just want to be valued — whether it’s $15 million or lower or higher, whatever it is,” Bell told ESPN after releasing his song. “I think we will get to an agreement eventually.”
Bell is slated to play out the year on the one-year, $12.12MM tender. He is currently staying away from the team, but it is expected that he will be back before the start of the regular season.
Ravens Sign C Jeremy Zuttah
The Ravens signed center Jeremy Zuttah. Mike Preston of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter) first reported that the two sides were nearing agreement. It’s a two-year deal with nearly $4MM in base salary and a max value of $6MM achievable through playing time, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). To make room on the roster for Zuttah, the Ravens waived/injured wide receiver Kenny Bell.
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The Ravens traded Zuttah to the 49ers this offseason, but he wound up on the free agent market when San Francisco cut him loose earlier this month. The Ravens were obviously ready to move on from Zuttah at that point, but that was before a rash of injuries and a surprise retirement left them with major holes on the offensive line. Alex Lewis and Nico Siragusa were both knocked out for the whole season with injuries while John Urschel opted to walk away from the game at the age of 26.
In 2016, the 31-year-old played nearly every offensive snap for Baltimore, grading out as the No. 13 center in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Zuttah is expected to regain his spot as the team’s starting center while Ryan Jensen will shift to left guard.
Before he landed back in Baltimore, the Colts also expressed interest in signing Zuttah.
Former Ravens LB Zach Orr Retires
Zach Orr is retiring for a second time. The linebacker will not be making a return to football as teams feel his medical condition puts him at too great of a risk. 
“Today, I’m officially retiring from professional football … again,” Orr wrote in a piece for The Players’ Tribune. “And I’m even more at peace this time around because the teams have spoken. If there was any way I could come back, I would. Now, I know that’s not possible.”
Orr first announced his retirement in the winter due to his congenital neck condition. Months later, Orr said that he wanted to return to football after new doctors told him he could play again. The Ravens did not apply the restricted free agent tender to Orr after his retirement announcement, so he became a hot name in the late stages of free agency this summer.
Orr was told that he was only at risk to play football again if he played with herniated discs and was under the belief that those herniated discs had corrected themselves. However, he spoke with roughly a dozen teams and visited six of them and none of those clubs were willing to take the gamble.
Orr, signed by Baltimore as an undrafted free agent in 2014, climbed the ranks to become a starter for the first time in 2016. In that season, Orr appeared in 15 games and played the most defensive snaps of any Baltimore linebacker. All in all, Orr recorded 89 tackles, three interceptions, and five passes defensed.
At the age of 25, Orr will have to transition to a new career.
Patriots’ Derek Rivers Done For Season?
Derek Rivers’ rookie season has ended before it could even start. The team fears that the defensive end has suffered a season-ending knee injury, according to Field Yates and Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Specifically, Rivers has suffered a torn ACL and sprained LCL, per the initial MRI, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Additional testing will likely confirm that surgery is needed.
Rivers was injured during a kickoff coverage drill on Wednesday. It’s a bad break for both the player and the team as Rivers was expected to pitch in at both defensive end and outside linebacker in the wake of Rob Ninkovich‘s retirement.
Rivers was a third-round pick in this year’s draft, but he wound up being the team’s highest draft choice after the Pats sent their first-round pick to the Saints for wide receiver Brandin Cooks and dealt their second-round choice to the Panthers for defensive end Kony Ealy.
The injury could prompt the Patriots to look at free agent options. There aren’t a ton of high-impact edge rushers left, but Dwight Freeney is one of the more notable names left on the board. As a pass rush specialist for the Falcons last year, Freeney finished out with 3.0 sacks and ten tackles in the regular season.
Sean Smith Charged With Assault
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that it has charged Raiders cornerback Sean Smith with assault. Smith “faces one felony count each of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury” stemming from an alleged assault on his sister’s boyfriend on July 4. Smith, who allegedly beat and stomped on the victim’s head, could face up to seven years in prison if he’s convicted of the charges. His first court date is scheduled for Sept. 29.
“Sean has maintained his innocence,” Smith’s attorney, Daniel Rosenberg, told Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We are going to enter a plea of not guilty and fight these charges.”
Smith, whom the Raiders signed to a four-year, $40MM contract in 2016, is in his second season with the club. The former Dolphin and Chief started in all 15 of his appearances last year, totaled two interceptions and ranked a stellar 16th in performance among Pro Football Focus’ 110 qualified corners. Smith, 30, has been competing this summer to retain his starting role for a Raiders team with Super Bowl hopes, but his chances of remaining near the top of their depth chart are now in even greater jeopardy.
Even if Smith avoids serious legal punishment, the NFL could discipline him in some form, as it has done with other players in the past. For now, it’s possible Smith will go on paid leave, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports.
DeMaurice Smith Expects 2021 Work Stoppage
The NFL hasn’t seen a work stoppage since a three-plus-month offseason lockout in 2011, but it appears more labor strife is on the horizon. The collective bargaining agreement the owners and players negotiated six years ago expires at the conclusion of the 2020 season, after which a strike or a lockout is “almost a virtual certainty,” NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith told Albert Breer of The MMQB this week (video link).
While Smith is unsure if another stoppage will lead to missed games (it didn’t last time), there are obvious cracks in the relationship between the owners and players that could force a drawn-out battle. For example, Smith stated there won’t be another uncapped year before the current CBA expires because the owners “lied and cheated” about the previous one in 2010. He added that there was collusion on the owners’ side when they unanimously voted in 2008 to opt out of the prior CBA in 2011.
“All of the mutual benefits that were supposed to happen as a result of the opt-out didn’t happen last time,” said Smith. “Owners colluded with each other. We found out they colluded with each other. All of the bad things that went to the players happened and all of the bad things that went to the owners didn’t happen.We have a new deal where if it doesn’t get fixed, you head into a certain small ‘A’ armageddon.”
When serious discussions do commence on a new CBA, it’s fair to speculate that more financial security for the players and a less austere disciplinary system could factor into talks. The players have made it known on multiple occasions, particularly in light of recent contracts given out to NBAers, that they aren’t content with the non-guaranteed deals in the NFL. There has also been unhappiness toward the way the league has doled out punishment to players during commissioner Roger Goodell’s time at the helm. In fact, the NFLPA is currently in a public fight with the league over Cowboys superstar running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game ban stemming from domestic violence allegations.
Latest On Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell
Le’Veon Bell will report to the Steelers before the regular season starts, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. However, it’s still unclear exactly when Bell will report to the team. 
[RELATED: Rams’ Aaron Donald Could Miss Games]
If Bell were to miss games, he would be forfeiting the prorated portion of his $12.12MM salary for 2017. That would be a major gamble for Bell, whereas Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald can afford to hold the line since he’s only making $3.225MM. All along, the Steelers have expected that Bell would show up before Week 1.
“Really, a holdout does not benefit him in any way,’’ GM Kevin Colbert said recently. “So, again, I hope that he sees the benefits of being here and comes in here sooner than later.”
Prior to the franchise extension deadline, the Steelers offered Bell a five-year, $60MM deal with $30MM in the first two years of the contract and $42MM over the first three seasons. The pact would have reset the market at the running back position, but Bell presumably balked at the lack of true guarantees at signing.
The Steelers have the ability to franchise tag Bell again next offseason for roughly $14.5MM.
Rams’ Aaron Donald Could Miss Games
Aaron Donald‘s holdout might not end anytime soon. The Rams defensive tackle could take his holdout into the regular season, league sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (Facebook link). 
One of Schefter’s sources even speculated that he could envision Donald sitting out the entire season. That would be an extreme measure, of course, but it says a lot about where negotiations are at this point in time.
Recently, Rams GM Les Snead indicated that the team has made a substantial extension offer to Donald. Apparently, the proposal was not to Donald’s liking.
Donald, 26, is slated to earn $3.225MM in 2017 and $6.892MM in 2018 through the fifth-year option. Those numbers are way below market for the player who graded as the league’s No. 1 interior defender in 2016, per Pro Football Focus. Donald may be seeking a deal that tops Ndamukong Suh‘s six-year, $114MM pact, making him the league’s highest paid defensive tackle.
An extended holdout may give Donald the leverage he needs since he still has two years of club control remaining on his contract.
Seahawks Sign Justin Britt To Extension
The Seahawks and center Justin Britt have agreed to a three-year extension worth more than $9MM per year, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Britt, a second-round pick in the 2014 draft, was slated for free agency after the 2017 season. The team has confirmed the deal via press release. 
[RELATED: Seahawks Sign CB Tramaine Brock]
The new deal marks a significant pay bump for Britt, who will carry a cap number under $1.1MM this year. Britt’s extension won’t kick in until 2018, but the yearly average would tie him for third in the NFL with Alex Mack of the Falcons if it were starting immediately. Only Cowboys center Travis Frederick ($9.4MM) and Brandon Linder ($10.3MM) have higher AAVs. He’ll now be among the league’s highest-paid players at the position with the ability to cash in again at the age of 29.
Britt has been a starter for the Seahawks in each of his three seasons, but he has been moved around the offensive line quite a bit. He played mostly right tackle in 2014 and shifted to left guard in 2015 before settling in at center last year.
The 6’6″ lineman graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 11 center in the NFL last season, putting him ahead of notable names like Maurkice Pouncey, Max Unger, and Jason Kelce.