Good Tuesday to you Steelers’ Fans.
Not surprisingly, Steelers’ tight end Jesse James has made the decision to go to what he hopes are greener pastures. The “Outlaw” is expected to sign a new deal with the Detroit Lions when the league year officially begins tomorrow. It was James who was the first to refer to the 2018 Steelers as “The Kardashians” and that seemed to give most of us the idea that he wouldn’t be returning. Actually, that was probably a pretty small amount of why he’s leaving. While the financials have not yet been disclosed, James will undoubtedly make several million dollars more than what the Steelers would have offered him. The former Penn State star’s departure leaves the Steelers precariously thin at tight end. Vance McDonald will be the starter but past injury issues will always follow him. After that is Xavier Grimble whose most famous play in a Steelers’ uniform will be his fumbling away sure touchdown in a loss to Denver last year. The free agent tight end market is not overly impressive but there should be some hope in the draft which features a fairly deep class. As for James, his durability and professional attitude will be missed for sure.
The clock is ticking on Bud Dupree. If the team does nothing between now and the start of the new league year tomorrow he’ll be owed over $9 million for the season. I don’t care how you slice it, Dupree’s 5.5 sacks last season are not worth that kind of money. I’m going to assume the Steelers are trying to get a long-term deal with him that lowers his salary and cap hit. Otherwise, get ready for another year of expensive “run past the QB” moves by Dupree.
Tweet of the Day… $17 million… That is NUTS!
Ravens obviously had a ceiling when it came to paying ILB C.J. Mosley. Baltimore chose not to give him $15M under the franchise tag. So, Ravens weren't going to come close to matching the Jets' offer of $17M per season.
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) March 12, 2019
The New York Jets are in line to sign free agent LB C.J. Mosley. They’ve also announced they’re ready to part ways with current LB Darron Lee. He’s a guy that would really fit a need in Pittsburgh but he’s also in stage two of the substance abuse protocol. That may be enough for them to look elsewhere.
Tweet of the Day #2… Ryan Switzer looking ahead.
That’s been confirmed. https://t.co/4JElrGW07x
— Ryan Switzer (@Switz) March 11, 2019
Check out Cnic’s latest profile. This one is on Stanford LB Bobby Okereke.
And don’t look now but Ian is all over the NCAA Basketball tournament. Check out his latest pieces in his very own ‘Bracketology’ category here at SCB.
As we look ahead to the Draft in the next several weeks, I would have to think LB, WR and CB (not necessarily in that order) are the top three positions of need. With the news of James departure, which I’m sure the Steelers knew was coming, the tight end position has to be considered high on the list now too.
Don’t be surprised if we see some action from the team today in regards to roster moves…
Have a great day Steeler Nation!
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