More Details On Last Offer To Le'Veon Bell
- We heard back in August that Le’Veon Bell turned down a lucrative extension offer from the Steelers at the eleventh hour, and La Canfora writes that the star back would have actually received $18MM in the first year of the deal. However, the average annual value of the extension was $13MM over the first three years, and Bell has been adamant that his next contract pay him $15MM per year. Contrary to that August report, La Canfora says Pittsburgh officials never believed a deal was done, though they were optimistic given the strength of the offer. The two sides are expected to renew long-term discussions as soon as the season is over.
Details Emerge On Stephon Tuitt Deal
Following the extensions for Antonio Brown and Alejandro Villanueva, the Steelers locked down Stephon Tuitt on the eve of their 2017 opener. Tuitt agreed to a five-year, $61MM extension on Saturday, and the details of that deal are out. Tuitt will receive an $11MM signing bonus and stand to earn $24MM in new money in the deal’s first two years, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports, adding the fourth-year defensive end will collect $14MM in 2017 as opposed to the $1.05MM he was set to make. Florio adds there is no guarantee after the first year of the contract, which is typical for Steelers deals.
In Tuitt and Cameron Heyward, the Steelers have two interior defensive linemen earning at least $10MM annually. They join only the Jaguars and Bills in that group.
- The Bears’ Akiem Hicks extension followed Tuitt’s by a few hours Saturday, and he will be just shy of the Steelers defensive end on the AAV spectrum.
Steelers Activate Le’Veon Bell
It’s official now. Le’Veon Bell is a part of the Steelers’ 53-man roster going into the 2017 season.
The Steelers activated the fifth-year running back on Saturday and cut linebacker Steven Johnson, whom they re-signed earlier this week, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets.
Johnson played in Pittsburgh last season, seeing action in six games, after stays with the Broncos and Titans from 2012-15. The Steelers cut Johnson upon slashing their roster to 53 players but re-signed him two days later. The 29-year-old Pennsylvania native could conceivably be brought back soon.
Bell, who signed his franchise tender earlier this week, will play in Week 1 for the first time since the 2014 season. He missed the past two Steelers openers because of suspensions.
Steelers Sign DE Stephon Tuitt To Extension
Stephon Tuitt will remain in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), the Steelers have signed the talented defensive end to a five-year extension. Schefter adds that the deal is worth $61MM. The deal is effectively for six years, as the team ripped up the final year of Tuitt’s contract. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the defensive end will now earn $15MM in 2017.
We heard yesterday that the two sides were nearing a deal. Considering the team’s policy to not discuss new deals during the regular season, today appeared to be the unofficial deadline for negotiations. The team previously had $7MM in cap room, and with Tuitt set to earn a $12MM average annual salary, we can only assume that that number has been reduced. The defensive end was set to hit free agency following the season, and he was scheduled to earn $1.094MM in 2017. Our own Dallas Robinson noted that the going rate for similar defensive ends was around $10MM a year, and it looks like Tuitt will come in right above that mark.
The 2014 second-round pick has spent his entire three-year career with the Steelers. Following a solid rookie season, Tuitt broke out in 2015, finishing with 54 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 14 games (14 starts). The 24-year-old was equally productive in 2016, compiling 37 tackles, four sacks, three passes defended, and two forced fumbles. Pro Football Focus was especially favorable of his performance, as he ranked 20th among the league’s eligible interior defenders.
Considering the Steelers relative lack of depth at defensive end, Tuitt will be especially leaned on during the upcoming season. Besides fellow starter Cameron Heyward, the team is rostering a pair of backups in Tyson Alualu and Leterrius Walton.
Steelers, DE Stephon Tuitt Nearing Extension
The Steelers and defensive end Stephon Tuitt are close to inking a contract extension, according to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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Pittsburgh has a team policy not to negotiate new deals once the regular season gets underway, so the club will cease talks after Saturday. The Steelers are tight on cap space — just under $7MM, per Over the Cap — and that’s accounting for fellow defensive lineman Cameron Heyward‘s contract restructure, which opened ~$3.1MM. An extension for Tuitt would likely cut into those reserves, as Pittsburgh nearly always relatively large signing bonuses.
Tuitt doesn’t have to worry about a fifth-year option given that he was selected in the second round of the 2014 draft, so he’ll hit the open market next spring. Scheduled to earn just $1.094MM in 2017, Tuitt posted four sacks a season ago while grading as Pro Football Focus’ No. 20 interior defender. The going rate for non-Muhammad Wilkerson/J.J. Watt 3-4 defensive ends is around $10MM annually, and given his age (24), Tuitt could reach or surpass that mark.
The 2018 franchise tag for defensive ends figures to come in north of $17MM, a figure that’s probably untenable for a 3-4 end like Tuitt. As such, the Steelers will need to hammer out an agreement with Tuitt or risk losing him to free agency next year.
Steelers Restructure Cameron Heyward’s Deal
The Steelers will have some extra cap space on hand as the season approaches. They agreed to a restructure with Cameron Heyward, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Previously set to count $10.4MM against Pittsburgh’s 2017 cap, Heyward agreeing to rearrange his contract will create more than $3MM in cap space, Rapoport reports. While this will put more money on future Steelers payrolls, it frees up short-term funds. And the team wants to extend Heyward’s defensive line mate Stephon Tuitt.
The team’s targeted a Tuitt extension before the season, and the window to meet that goal is obviously closing. But after Heyward’s agreement and other moves, the Steelers firmly possess eight figures of cap space, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes.
The Steelers have authorized multiple key extensions this year — for Antonio Brown and Alejandro Villanueva — and despite not being able to reach a deal with Le’Veon Bell, a Tuitt re-up would continue a notable talent-retention offseason.
Heyward is signed through the 2020 season on a $52.81MM deal.
Joe Haden, J.J. Wilcox's Cap Figures Set
- Newly acquired Steelers defensive backs Joe Haden and J.J. Wilcox account for a combined $5.541MM in 2017 cap hits, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes. Pittsburgh now holds $11.07MM in cap space.
Valentino Blake To Retire
Veteran cornerback Valentino Blake has decided to retire, according to Dan Duggan of NJ.com (Twitter link).
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New York designated Blake as “left squad” at the end of last month after the veteran defensive back left the team for a personal reason. It’s still unclear as to what exactly Blake — who was formerly known by the first name “Antwon” — was dealing with, but it’s possible he was simply contemplating the end of his career.
The Giants signed the 27-year-old Blake in March, after he proved to be a durable defender for the Jaguars, Steelers and Titans over the first five seasons of his career. Blake, who has appeared in 78 of 80 regular-season games since going undrafted in 2012, logged his third straight 16-game campaign last year with the Titans, though Pro Football Focus graded his performance an underwhelming 76th among 110 qualified corners.
With Blake out of the picture, the Giants picked up extra cornerback depth on Saturday, acquiring Ross Cockrell from the Steelers in exchange for a conditional 2018 draft pick.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/4/17
Here are today’s minor moves.
- The Browns claimed offensive lineman Zach Banner off waivers from the Colts, who cut him despite drafting him in the fourth round this year. Cleveland made room for Banner by placing offensive lineman Rod Johnson on IR. Additionally, the Browns continued their busy offseason regarding secondary turnover by releasing former safety starter Ed Reynolds from IR.
- The Steelers re-signed linebacker Steven Johnson and waived safety Jordan Dangerfield with an injury designation. Johnson initially saw his name appear on Pittsburgh’s cut list Saturday, but the backup will return. Pittsburgh also placed cornerback Cameron Sutton, a rookie third-rounder, on IR.
- Jacquies Smith will move from the PUP list back to the Buccaneers‘ 53-man roster. The team reinstated the defensive end on Monday. A fourth-year player, Smith is expected to be a rotational player in Tampa Bay this season.
- The Dolphins re-signed tackle Sam Young. Miami cut the offensive lineman on Saturday but will keep him around for now. Miami guaranteed Young’s salary, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets, signing Young this week instead of next because an unspecified team wanted him. This will mark Young’s eighth NFL season. The Dolphins signed him to an extension in December.
- Quarterback Jeff Driskel will land on the Bengals‘ IR list. The former 49ers sixth-rounder has yet to play in a game.
- A starter in three games last season, linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin landed on the Jets‘ IR Monday. To replace the third-year player, Gang Green re-signed linebacker Bruce Carter. Now a seventh-year veteran, Carter played a depth role with the Jets last season.
- Wide receiver Chris Matthews re-signed with the Ravens, who made room on their 53-man roster by placing cornerback Maurice Canady on IR.
- The Falcons released defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman, who resides on the Commissioner’s Exempt list as a result of misdemeanor charges from 2016. While Hageman is on that list, the Falcons will not have to pay Hageman.
- The Chargers claimed linebacker Hayes Pullard off waivers from the Jaguars. A former Browns seventh-rounder in 2015, Pullard started two games for the 2015 Jags and played in all 16 Jacksonville contests last season.
- Jelani Jenkins was expected to start for the Raiders, but the former Dolphins linebacker found himself on the team’s cut list Saturday. The Raiders, though, reached an injury settlement with the fifth-year linebacker, Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports (on Twitter). Jenkins suffered a groin injury during the preseason. Oakland also reached an injury settlement with Jaydon Mickens, per Gehlken, who adds Mickens suffered an ankle injury.
- The Seahawks waived cornerback Demetrius McCray with an injury settlement, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets.
- The Redskins reached an injury settlement with center Ronald Patrick, waiving the interior blocker from IR as a result.
Le’Veon Bell Signs Franchise Tender
It’s officially official now. Le’Veon Bell has signed his franchise tender, according to an announcement from the Steelers. 
Bell stayed home during training camp and preseason action after the two sides could not reach agreement on an extension before the deadline. All along, we heard that Bell would report to the team before the regular season and he made good on that when he arrived at team headquarters on Friday. He did not put pen to paper on his one-year tender, however. On Monday morning, he did.
The running back will now play out the season on a one-year, $12.12MM tender. If he continues to play at a high level, the Steelers will have to either use a second tag on him worth roughly $14MM or give him a monster multi-year deal to keep him.
Bell ran for 1,268 yards off of 261 carries last year, good for a 4.9-yards-per-carry average, and seven touchdowns. He also had 75 catches for 616 yards and two touchdowns. Bell earned a Pro Bowl nod for his performance and also was named team MVP.
The Steelers have received a roster exemption for Bell, so they are actually carrying 54 players on the roster as of this writing. They have two weeks to get the roster back down to the 53-man max.