In an offseason where they are expected to part ways with their star wide receiver Antonio Brown and officially sever ties with star running back Le'Veon Bell, the Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly going to sign tight end Jesse James to a new deal.
Lost in Kevin Colbert's comments about Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger today to @nflnetwork was that he seemed to maybe/sorta/perhaps/kinda let it slip that Jesse James and the Steelers are going to work out an extension?
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) February 22, 2019
The 24-year-old tight end will be entering his fifth season. Last year, James had a career-high 423 receiving yards and two touchdown on 30 receptions. He earned $1.9 million in the last year of this deal.
The Steelers are coming off a disappointing season where they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013 with a record of 9-6-1. They also dealt with distractions in the form of Bell sitting out and Brown having disagreements with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and head coach Mike Tomlin.
The Steelers announced that they would not place a franchise or transition tag on the Bell, explained general manager Kevin Colbert at the press conference Chris Adamski was referring to in his tweet. Bell declined to sign his franchise tender last year, leaving $14.5 million on the table and sitting out the entire season.
“Le'Veon is still a great player,” Colbert said. “We can't afford to use any other type of tags. Le'Veon will be an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year.”
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, during the run up to Week 17, Brown had a heated argument with Roethlisberger which lead to his benching. It capped off a season where barbs were being thrown across the locker room constantly. Acquiescing to his request, the Steelers claim that three teams have reached out about trading for Brown.
As Roethlisberger turns 37 next month, the Pittsburgh Steelers needs to lock down as many of their remaining offensive weapons as possible to ease the quarterback into the latter years of his career. Free agency begins on March 11.
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