Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is taking the optimistic approach to Le’Veon Bell’s franchise tag negotiations.
Appearing at the Hampton Roads Youth Foundation football camp over the weekend, Tomlin told WAVY Channel 10 that he would like the Steelers to sign Bell to a long-term contract before Monday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline.
“Obviously we want to get a deal done, he wants to get a deal done; everybody has said that,” said Tomlin, who returns to his hometown of Hampton, Virginia, every summer for the camp. “Now it’s just about the negotiators getting into a room and doing what it is they need to do. I’m excited and hopeful. Hopefully we’ll have some exciting news before Monday.”
Tomlin expressed similar optimism before last year’s deadline, when the Steelers failed to sign Bell and didn’t see him until training camp ended. Bell signed his $12.12 million tag on Sept. 4.
As the Steelers and Bell are pressed against the deadline for the second straight year, the running back is prepared to play on this year’s tag — worth $14.5 million — in the absence of what he considers a fair deal.
Bell told ESPN this offseason that he won’t sign an extension offer worth less than the tag number on an annual basis. Talks stalled in the spring after Bell turned down an offer, but both sides reopened negotiations over the past week.
Coach Mike Tomlin believes a long-term contract could be reached between the Steelers and running back Le’Veon Bell in the final hours. David J. Phillip/AP Photo
Bell started slowly in 2017 but finished with 1,291 rushing yards on 321 carries, 655 receiving yards on 85 catches and 11 total touchdowns. The performance earned him All-Pro status, and his 7,996 career scrimmage yards are the most since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger for a player’s first five seasons.
The Steelers report to St. Vincent College for training camp on July 25. Teammates are used to life without Bell — who has used boxing and a vegan diet this offseason to stay in shape — holding off from most football exercises to keep his knee fresh.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In an offseason that saw Jason Witten retire to the Monday Night Football broadcast booth while Antonio Gates awaits a team to sign him and Rob Gronkowski flirts with ending his NFL career, it’s safe to say the tight end position in the NFL is in a state of transition.
With those superstars moving on or close to it, there are a number of vacancies at the head of the class alongside the likes of Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz. While there’s no shortage of options to fill the void, one candidate wouldn’t immediately come to mind when looking at the next wave of tight ends, at least not for those outside of the Bay Area.
But in San Francisco, second-year 49ers tight end George Kittle has quietly emerged as one of the league’s most intriguing tight end prospects. And he’s not shying away from the opportunity to establish himself as one of the best at his position.
“Obviously I want to be the best as a tight end,” said Kittle. “I get on the field, I feel like it’s an opportunity to show that I can play football and I’m good at my job and I deserve to keep my job. … There’s comparisons everywhere, but if I can go out and show that I’m the best me, and I can ball and prove to myself that I can play really well and prove to Coach [Kyle] Shanahan and my tight end coach that I’m playing well and I’m the best one and they need me, then I’m satisfied.”
Kittle has lofty goals, especially for a fifth-round pick who entered the league with little hype just more than a year ago. Kittle’s high expectations aren’t exclusive to him. In fact, the 49ers have been high on him since they chose him with the 146th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.
During his career at Iowa, Kittle never finished with more than 22 catches per season for the run-heavy Hawkeyes. He had just 48 receptions for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns in four years. Iowa’s commitment to the running game, however, helped Kittle establish himself as a stout blocker, but blocking tight ends don’t usually get drafted very high.
George Kittle had 43 catches for 515 yards and two touchdowns during his rookie season. Sergio Estrada/USA TODAY Sports
Still, Kittle had a strong showing at the NFL scouting combine, where he ran the third-fastest 40-yard dash among tight ends (4.52 seconds) and had the third-best long jump (11 feet).
In Kittle, Shanahan saw the ideal fit for his offense — a tight end capable of in-line blocking and lining up in a variety of places. Among the many rookies the 49ers brought in last season, none had a bigger workload than Kittle, who was taking starting reps from the moment he arrived.
Kittle never flinched, despite playing through a high ankle sprain, as well as calf, hip, chest, elbow, back and hamstring ailments.
“It’s rare that you have a guy who is built to block very well who also runs in the 4.5s and who is quick enough to separate,” Shanahan said.
“This is the healthiest I’ve felt since I was going into college,” Kittle said.
Improved health wasn’t Kittle’s only offseason emphasis. He managed to finish his rookie season with 43 catches for 515 yards, rookie records for a 49ers tight end and second among all rookies at the position. Finally healthy in the season finale against the Rams, Kittle went for 100 yards on four catches. Still, those overall numbers could have been better if not for an early-season struggle with drops.
Kittle finished with five drops on the season, tied for third most among tight ends. Some of those miscues were the product of his tendency to let the ball get too close to his body instead of using his hands to snatch it out of the air. Which is why tight ends coach Jon Embree has instituted a system of fines for his players when they don’t catch the ball away from their bodies in practice.
“In the NFL at our position, I would say that 85 percent of the passes you catch are going to be contested balls with people around you,” Embree said. “So he’s had to learn, and is still learning, how to play outside of his frame. In other words, playing with his hands away from his body, using his length.”
Assuming Kittle can stay healthy and eliminate some of those drops, it’s not hard to envision how Shanahan can put him to work. While tight ends have never been the primary target in Shanahan’s previous offenses (in part because he’s rarely had legitimate playmakers at the position), he has had a knack for getting the most out of them when the ball does go their way.
In two seasons with Shanahan in Atlanta, Falcons tight ends were fifth in the NFL in yards per catch (12.18) and third in yards before first contact with a defender (11.07). With Shanahan in 2014, Browns tight ends ranked second in yards per catch (15.22) and first in yards before first contact (14.33). In other words, Shanahan’s scheme has a way of creating openings for tight ends to run free for big gains.
Kittle still has a long way to go to be considered among the game’s elite at his position, but the 49ers are pleased with his trajectory.
“We put a lot of pressure on George early because we needed to and it was up and down throughout the year, but he never shied away,” Shanahan said. “… He is a tough guy who is going to play through things, but he’s healthy right now. He’s moving great and it’s allowing him to get better in the run and pass. That’ll continue. George has got a lot of ability.”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s one thing to have a great nickname. It’s another to give great nicknames.
So when ESPN.com asked NFL Nation reporters to come up with the best nickname on the team they cover, it was a slam dunk that the honor for the Carolina Panthers went to quarterback Cam Newton, the self-proclaimed “Sensei of Nicknames.”
Newton made his title known partly out of necessity in 2014 when apologizing for referring to then-Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh as “Donkey Kong Suh.”
“If anything, I was trying to say it as a compliment of him for wreaking havoc,” Newton said at the time. “Me going forward, I should have called him ‘Wreck-it Ralph.'”
It was during this apology that Newton said, “I just call myself the ‘Sensei of Nicknames.'”
He then rattled off a dozen or more from that Carolina team. Then-fullback Mike Tolbert had more nicknames — Tub of Goo, Tub of Mayonnaise, Plate of Paste, Chunky Soup, Toldozer, Fat Boy, Bowling Ball — than anybody because of his 5-foot-9, 250-pound physique.
Tolbert wasn’t offended. Carolina players just roll with whatever nickname Newton gives them.
“Cam’s weird. A good weird, though,” defensive end Mario Addison said. “He’s given me so many nicknames, I don’t know which one he really calls me by. He’ll say Rio, Super Mario — everything. Cam, man, I guess it’s what he’s feeling like that day which one you’re going to get.”
Newton gave himself the nickname “Ace Boogie” when he initially came into the league. He also considers himself the “Sensei of Swag,” for obvious reasons, if you’ve seen his sometimes out-there wardrobe.
Center Ryan Kalil said the nicknames show “what an incredible mind he has.
“I couldn’t come up with half the things he comes up with,” Kalil said. “A lot of them are more clever than people realize. There are a lot of them that are inside jokes that can’t leave the locker room that are really funny.
“He’s sharp that way. His mind goes 100 miles an hour.”
Not all nicknames are public knowledge. Kalil’s is one of them.
“He says it a lot to me,” Kalil said. “But it’s a quarterback-center bond thing. I can’t break that trust and tell you what it is.”
Garrett Gilbert, the front-runner to be Newton’s backup, is amazed by the depth of some of Newton’s nicknames.
“Depth is a good word,” he said. “They are extremely creative. Sometimes they take a while to craft. Sometimes it hits him the first day when a player comes on the field. But they are definitely, without a doubt, very creative.”
Gilbert’s nickname is a prime example, although Newton gets an assist from wide receiver Brenton Bersin on this one. Gilbert is called Glanch, after Matt Blanchard, who was on the Carolina practice squad in 2013-14.
“Cam heard it and took off with it,” Gilbert said.
Most of the nicknames Newton comes up with on his own. Some are obvious. Some not so much.
He dubbed former defensive coordinator Steve Wilks “Denzel” because the now-Arizona Cardinals coach reminded him of the actor Denzel Washington. He called former Carolina wide receiver Willie Snead (now with the Ravens) “Honeycomb” because of the blond-dyed tips to his hair that reminded him of the cereal.
Cam Newton has never been shy when it comes to fashion, and that creativity shows itself when he’s trying to find a nickname that will stick for a teammate. “Cam’s weird. A good weird, though,” Mario Addison said. David Newton/ESPN
Cam’s best creations
Many new nicknames are sure to come from the current roster during training camp, which begins on July 26. Here are some that are already out there:
Bud Light (WR Damiere Byrd): The Panthers had two players named Byrd on the roster in 2016, so Newton labeled Damiere “Bud Light” because he’s 5-foot-9 as opposed to the 6-4 LaRon Byrd.
Blistex (TE Chris Manhertz): Manhertz made the mistake of telling Newton he gets blisters on his feet in practice.
Bucky (OL Tyler Larsen): You have to dig deep to figure this one out. Larsen apparently reminds Newton of Bucky Larson from the comedy “Born to be a Star.”
Captain America (LB Luke Kuechly): The 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year is the All-American do-good super hero for the Panthers.
C-Mac (RB Christian McCaffrey): No explanation needed.
Clutchery (WR assistant coach Jericho Cotchery): Cotchery was Newton’s clutch receiver during the Panthers’ 2015 run to Super Bowl 50.
Frazier (DE Julius Peppers): This is after former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier, whose punch was as lethal as the hits the future Hall of Famer Peppers makes on quarterbacks.
Fun or Fun-Fun (WR Devin Funchess): Funchess always is smiling and likes to have fun, so this one is self-explanatory.
Kirko (WR Curtis Samuel): Newton originally gave this to safety Kurt Coleman, but after Coleman was released Samuel inherited it. Newton also called Coleman “Bishop.”
KK (DT Kawann Short): Not so much a Newton original since everyone calls Short this.
Lil Cap (CB Captain Munnerlyn): At 5-9, Munnerlyn is one of the smallest players on the team.
Mayor of Charlotte (LB Thomas Davis): The then-real mayor of Charlotte gave Davis the key to the city in 2015 for his leadership role in the community.
Major James (CB James Bradberry): Something to do with Bradberry being bald. Deep.
Old School (SS Mike Adams): He is old (37) in NFL years. He also likes to listen to what Newton would call old-school music.
Super Mario (Mario Addison): Again, no real explanation needed for the player who has been Carolina’s sack leader the past couple of seasons.
ESPN.com’s sports business reporter since 2012; previously at ESPN from 2000-06
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Formerly worked as analyst at CNBC
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A legal sportsbook will open Saturday, the first to do so on the same property that hosts an NFL team. Make that two teams.
FanDuel announced Thursday that it will open a 5,300-square-foot sportsbook with 10 tellers and 27 televisions at the Meadowlands Racetrack this weekend. The New Jersey location is adjacent to MetLife Stadium, where the New York Giants and Jets play.
“We’re hoping to be able to coordinate with [the Giants and Jets] so that their customers, if they get there early and want to make a bet, they could [come to the sportsbook] and then we could shuttle them to the stadium,” said Jeff Gural, chairman and CEO of Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment, which owns the track.
But just how closely the sportsbook and the NFL will work together is still very much up in the air.
The NFL has opposed the legalization of gambling and has advocated for Congress, not the states, to make the legislation. The states were given the right to make their own decisions when the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in May.
“Prior to this, we were persona non grata,” Gural said. “I think five years from now, we’ll look back and say, ‘What? Why were the sports leagues opposing sports betting?'”
Delaware and New Jersey began taking legal sports bets last month.
Matt King is CEO of the newly formed FanDuel Group, the result of the daily fantasy company’s acquisition by European betting conglomerate Paddy Power Betfair, which closed Wednesday. King said the company expects the NFL to be “a big part of our business” but can’t conclusively say how they’ll capitalize on crowds for NFL game days.
“It’s tough to speculate how things will work,” King said. “Obviously there’s a lot of people whose goal is getting this right and providing the best user experience for everyone. We’re playing the long game.”
Neither team would speculate on what would likely happen. An NFL spokesman did not return messages seeking comment.
Helen Strus, vice president of event marketing at Meadowlands Sports Complex, said in a statement that MetLife Stadium officials are “evaluating the options, but no decisions have been made” regarding what stipulations the stadium would possibly impose on the sportsbook.
FanDuel becomes the first originally online company to get its first brick and mortar sportsbook, but having betting by an app is very much part of the plan. King said the idea is to have it up and running by football season. The group is helped by the fact that FanDuel’s partner BetFair already operates the second-largest online betting operation within the state of New Jersey.
The NBA, a former equity partner in FanDuel, has divested from the company but maintains a commercial relationship.
The Giants host the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 9, the first NFL preseason game of 2018 at MetLife Stadium.
