Steelers Designate LB Olasunkanmi Adeniyi For Return
The Steelers have designated rookie outside linebacker Olasunkanmi Adeniyi to return from injured reserve, according to Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk.
Adeniyi played three seasons as Toledo before entering the 2018 draft with a year of eligibility remaining. Last year, Adeiniyi played in 14 games for the Rockets and posted 8.5 sacks, 20 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles on the way to being named second team All-MAC. In his pre-draft profile of Adeniyi, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com called the now-21-year-old a “high effort player” who nonetheless lacks exceptional athletic talent.
Pittsburgh thought enough of Adeniyi’s work during the preseason to keep him on its initial 53-man roster, a move that now makes him eligible to return from injured reserve. Now that Adeniyi is back at practice, the Steelers have a three-week window during which they must either activate Adeniyi, or leave him on IR for the remainder of the season.
The Steelers don’t necessarily need any help on the edge, as they rank first in the NFL in sacks and second in pressure rate. Adeniyi, if activated, would likely serve as depth behind T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, and Anthony Chickillo while also playing on special teams.
Sanders Recalls Steelers' Talks In 2014
Following in the footsteps of Plaxico Burress, Emmanuel Sanders has thrived after leaving the Steelers. Pittsburgh’s permitted many of its wideout finds to depart over the years, prioritizing only long-term partnerships with Hines Ward and Antonio Brown this century. In advance of the latest Broncos-Steelers game, Sanders said (via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski) Mike Tomlin told him prior to 2014 free agency the Steelers “didn’t have the money to pay me.” Denver added Sanders to a $5MM-per-year accord then extended him two years later.
The Steelers have let Sanders, Mike Wallace, Santonio Holmes, Martavis Bryant and Antwaan Randle-El go either after the wideouts’ rookie deals expired or, in Bryant’s case, trading him away. But Pittsburgh continues to find wideout talent, with JuJu Smith-Schuster being the latest such discovery. After an injury-plagued 2017, Sanders (763 receiving yards) is on pace for his fourth 1,000-yard season in five years with the Broncos. He’s signed through 2019. Despite a $10.15MM base salary next year, the 31-year-old pass-catcher may be in line to play out his contract. The Broncos traded Demaryius Thomas, with Courtland Sutton waiting in the wings, but don’t have an obvious Sanders replacement lined up just yet.
Steelers Work Out Tight End
- The Steelers already have a couple of talented tight ends in Jesse James and Vance McDonald, but are apparently doing due diligence on the position. The team worked out former Eagles tight end Billy Brown yesterday, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Brown, a 2017 undrafted free agent, has never appeared in a regular season game so perhaps this is just for the updating of emergency lists.
Steelers Made Late Push To Convince Le'Veon Bell To Return; Latest On Bell's Market
- Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says the Steelers made an eleventh hour push to get Le’Veon Bell to rejoin the team before last Tuesday’s deadline. They reportedly outlined the significant role they had in mind for him for the remainder of the season, and they made it clear that they wanted him back. They also made him aware that they intend to use the transition tag on him this offseason, but Bell simply had no interest in playing in 2018.
Steelers' Stephon Tuitt Out Against Jags
- While the 2018 Jaguars haven’t been the kind of impediment the 2017 version was, the Steelers will be without a key starter in their attempt to beat a team that went 2-0 against them last season. Stephon Tuitt will miss Sunday’s game with an elbow injury he sustained against the Panthers. Tyson Alualu will start in Tuitt’s place up front, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.
Execs Predict Le'Veon Bell Landing Spot
Steelers franchise-tagged running back Le’Veon Bell didn’t report earlier this week, meaning he won’t play in 2018 and will likely leave Pittsburgh next spring (the Steelers could still use the transition tender, but that wouldn’t bind Bell to Pittsburgh). Given that Bell will hit the open market, Mike Sando of ESPN.com (ESPN+ subscription required) asked NFL executives where Bell will play in 2019, and for how much. The Jets and Buccaneers are seemingly viewed as the favorites to land Bell, while clubs like the Packers and Redskins are viewed as under-the-radar candidates to add the former All-Pro. As far as price tag, execs believe Bell could ask for $16-17MM annually, but will ultimately fall in the $15MM/year range. Sando’s entire piece is well-worth a full read.
Bell Transition Tag Still Steelers' Plan
In becoming the first franchise-tagged player since the Chiefs’ Dan Williams in 1998 to commit to skipping an entire season, Le’Veon Bell ensured himself to be a key name in NFL business history henceforth. Steelers GM Kevin Colbert confirmed Bell did not sign his franchise tender on Tuesday and will not play in 2018. He’s likely bound for the 2019 market. Here’s the latest from the Bell front:
- Pittsburgh’s plan will still be a transition tag, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets. This will be for Bell’s would-have-been 2018 franchise tag amount ($14.5MM), though it’s not like the Steelers will be prepared to match a big offer. They have James Conner in the fold for at least two more seasons on a third-round deal and have obviously been through quite the ordeal with his predecessor. The Steelers also won’t match an offer because of a preference to avoid other teams structuring their contracts, The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly notes (subscription required). A trade could commence, but with no draft compensation attached to the transition tag, Pittsburgh wouldn’t have much leverage here.
- Conner remains in concussion protocol, and Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes neither Jaylen Samuels nor Stevan Ridley have shown to be on his level. Citing past Steelers running backs’ absences in playoff games — including Bell, who either missed or failed to finish four postseason contests over a three-season span — Bouchette notes Conner’s health now becomes even more important if the team is to finally break through after several January letdowns this decade.
Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell Will Not Play This Year
The Le’Veon Bell saga – or, at least, this part of it – is over. The running back will not report to the Steelers or sign his franchise tender before the Tuesday afternoon deadline, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. This renders him ineligible to play in 2018. 
The Steelers tagged Bell for the second straight time, but he refused to play on a one-year, $14.5MM contract. There was previously confusion about the ramifications of a year-long holdout, but Bell’s camp recently confirmed that he cannot be tagged again at the same rate. A third franchise tag would cost the Steelers roughly $25MM, which assures that he’ll reach unrestricted free agency unless the team throws him a curveball and uses the transition tag.
Bell has sacrificed roughly $8MM in salary up until this point and he’ll forfeit another ~$6MM in earnings by stretching his holdout through the end of the season. He’ll also miss out on a possible Super Bowl run. Despite a rocky start, the Steelers lead the AFC North and appear well on their way to another playoff berth.
Bell’s stance has been the source of controversy this year, but, from a financial perspective, it’s hard to argue with his approach. If Bell suffered a serious injury this year, he would have jeopardized a massive payday in free agency. It’s likely that he’ll be dinged for his high usage in recent years and Bell did not want to take another hit as he seeks to break the mold for running backs.
Some GMs may shy away from Bell for a perceived lack of commitment to the game, but he still figures to command a record-breaking contract in the spring. The Jets, for example, are projected to have upwards of $100MM in cap room and figure to make a strong push for Bell, who will have just turned 27 in March.
Bell’s free agency will be a fascinating case to watch. It’s not often that truly elite players reach unrestricted free agency and Bell will arguably be one of the best to ever hit the open market.
Fortunately for the Steelers, they have found a very capable replacement in Bell’s former understudy. James Conner, 23, has 771 yards off of 164 carries in nine games this year, giving him a stellar average of 4.7 yards per tote. He also has ten rushing touchdowns and a 39/387/1 stat line as a receiver.
Steelers Don’t Expect Le’Veon Bell To Report
Tuesday marks the deadline for Le’Veon Bell to report, but the Steelers aren’t expecting him to show up, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Of course, if the running back does not come to the Steelers and sign his franchise tender, he will not be able to play in 2018. 
Bell is determined to preserve his body before free agency, so, from a business perspective, it would make little sense for him to suit up now. He’ll forfeit his remaining $6MM in salary if he does not play this season, but that’s relative chump change compared to the riches that await him on the open market. Already, Bell has sacrificed approximately $8MM in game checks this season.
Bell’s camp has limited its contact with the Steelers this year, so the possibility remains that the running back plans to show. The Steelers aren’t planning on having Bell for the final stretch of the year, but they won’t know for sure unless the 4pm ET/3pm CT deadline passes and the contract is not signed.
The Steelers lead the AFC North with a 6-2-1 record and they’ve hardly missed a beat on offense thanks to the emergence of James Conner. Conner’s concussion is not expected to keep him off of the field this Sunday against the Jaguars, so the Steelers are far from desperate for a Bell reunion.
Steelers Expected To Use Transition Tag On Le’Veon Bell
Even though nothing is ever certain when it comes to Le’Veon Bell, it does not appear that Bell will report to the Steelers by the November 13 deadline, which means that he will be ineligible to play at all in 2018 (although he would still be eligible for the third-year franchise tag amount of $25MM+). Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network acknowledges that, when Bell’s camp learned that his franchise tag price would be unaffected even if he stayed away from the team for the entire year, that seemed to tip the scales in favor of a year-long holdout (video link).
Of course, the Steelers are not going to put the franchise tag on Bell, which means, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, that the team is likely to hit him with the transition tag. That designation would allow Pittsburgh to match any offer sheet that Bell signs with a different club, but the Steelers would not receive any draft compensation in return if they elected to not match (and they almost assuredly will not match).
So even though it is mostly a moot point, the league is preparing for how the transition tag process will unfold. As La Canfora writes, the transition tag value could fall anywhere between $9.5MM and $14.5MM, and once the tag is put on, a hearing would be scheduled for an arbitrator to decide on precisely what the amount of the tag should be.
La Canfora suggests that a team could front-load an offer to Bell or guarantee him money beyond the first two years of a contract in order to entice him to sign, but he also suggests that the demand for Bell’s services could be quite tepid. Bell’s holdout and his injury/suspension history will surely give his potential suitors some pause, as will the fact that he will be another year older in 2019. While he is certainly preserving his body by not playing in 2018, Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network tweets that there are a number of “football folks” who believe that age is age and whether Bell plays this year or not will have no impact on his performance moving forward. It would certainly be interesting if the Steelers end up applying the transition tag and Bell does not get the type of interest he is clearly anticipating on the open market, because then he may have no other choice but to sign the tag and return to Pittsburgh in 2019.
More important to the Steelers at the moment is the health of James Conner, who has excelled in Bell’s absence. Conner remains in the concussion protocol, but Rapoport says the Steelers are optimistic that the second-year back will not miss any time. They would, however, love to have Bell back, as Albert Breer of TheMMQB writes. They believe he truly can be deadly on fresh legs and would enhance an already excellent offense. As Bell has still not said anything definitive to the team one way or another, Pittsburgh is hoping to see him walk through the door prior to the deadline.
Assuming Bell does not appear, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com writes that, in addition to the $14.5MM he would have received this year if he had signed his franchise tag, he will also miss out on another $200K in pension, annuity, 401K, and health reimbursement benefits, plus however that money would compound over time.