Home 2018 Offseason SCB Steelers’ Quick Hitters: The “No Way in Bell” Edition

SCB Steelers’ Quick Hitters: The “No Way in Bell” Edition

by Steeldad
Cam Heyward

Good Tuesday to you fine Steelers’ Fans!

Mandatory Mini-Camp runs today through Thursday for the Pittsburgh Steelers and unless you’ve been living on Mars or in North Korea, you already know that Le’Veon Bell will NOT be attending this camp. Here’s what we need to recognize… Bell has not signed his Franchise Tag and therefore is not contractually obligated to attend. Thus, there is no penalty. For guys like Earl Thomas in Seattle and Julio Jones in Atlanta, they ARE under contract so the imposing of penalties is possible. Both have stated they are not attending their respective mini-camps due to contract squabbles (more on that below). Bell’s agent is not a fool; he knows that Bell attending anything is risky. His client will be a hot commodity should he remain healthy and have another big season for the Steelers. In other words, there’s now way in (ahem) Bell, we’ll see him until after the final preseason game.

Speaking of Jones… He apparently wants a new contract. Currently, he has three years and $35 million remaining on his deal which has seen him fall out of the top five in terms of highest paid receivers per season. I believe him Jones to be up there with Antonio Brown so I understand his approach. The more worrisome part of this? He’s been training with Terrell Owens. Enough said.

Keep a close eye on things in Baltimore. I’ve been told that the relationship between Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh is so bad that Flacco may have actually been the one to report the OTA violations to the NFL. There were reports last year that veteran players were the ones who reported Harbaugh then as well. Consider that Flacco is under pressure from Lamar Jackson, is making a ton of money and hasn’t performed well and perhaps you have a recipe for some nastiness there in Maryland.

Tweet of the Day… Any cartoonists out there for Cam?

There’s a strong indication that the Dallas Cowboys could pay guard Zach Martin $14 million per season. That is just stunning that an offensive guard would make that kind of money. Oh but then LB Khalil Mack may get as much as $20 million too. Wow.

From everything we’ve been told by the people that have solid opinions, James Conner looks very good so far. Keep in mind this has been non-contact stuff so far but you have to be happy and excited for him moving forward.

I don’t say this too often because it’s kind of a lazy narrative to just assume any former player can be a good coach but I really believe that with Ryan Shazier. The Steelers have already involved him in scouting and when you hear him talk about about football and more specifically, playing linebacker, I feel like he’d be a very good coach.

One final thought on Mini-Camp… The overwhelming goal is simple; avoid injuries. Outside of that, you want to see how veterans work with young guys and vice-versa. Every year in Pittsburgh is a “big year” but I can find numerous reasons why that’s more apt in 2018. It all starts with health so let’s hope things go well!

Have a great day Steeler Nation!

 

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2 comments

bob graff June 12, 2018 - 3:20 pm

I’ have been looking at the Steeler roster, and two things are clear. We appear to be real thin at RB and OLB. Surprisingly we look pretty good as far as DB’s goes. This is a really solid roster and i suspect if Ben and the OC mess well look for a really good year. But there’s a reason we play these games [anything can and does happen]. This off season is driving me nuts.

steeldad June 12, 2018 - 5:05 pm

Get ready for more offseason drama Bob… AB says he’s “not happy.”

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