Pittsburgh Steelers: Getting back to the business of football
A franchise forged in reliability is making its share of negative headlines these days. Can the Pittsburgh Steelers get their collective act together?
For the most successful organization in the NFL since the merger in 1970, it’s been anything but business as usual for the Pittsburgh Steelers as of late. The last few months have included more drama and in afternoon of so poppers.
But over the last 24-plus hours, the franchise has apparently taken a look at itself in the collective mirror and made some tough decisions. While these ensuing moves may rob the team of some of the best players in the league at their positions, it should also steady the ship that has been a bit rocky as of late.
On Tuesday, Steelers’ owner Art Rooney II met with disgruntled wide receiver Antonio Brown. And it appears that the team and the seven-time Pro Bowler will be parting ways. On Wednesday, general manager Kevin Colbert announced that the club would not place either the franchise or transition tag on running back Le’Veon Bell. The versatile performer sat out of all of last season after being given the franchise tag for the second straight year.
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In the case of Brown, Colbert also made it very clear that the four-time All-Pro would not just be given away at any price.
"“If we can’t make a trade that’s satisfactory to us,” said the team executive via Bob Labriola of Steelers.com. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We know we have a significant player. We also know that it’s probably best that we move on. But we also know that will only happen if that benefits us.”"
As for Bell, he will now become an unrestricted free agent on the afternoon of March 13. If and when a team signs him, the Steelers could get a compensatory draft choice in 2020 as compensation.
There was also one other piece of “business” on Wednesday. Via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Colbert made it very clear that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was the “unquestioned leader” of the team. “He’s the elder statesman and the Super Bowl winner. If our players were smart, they’d listen to him because he’s been there. He’s done it. He can tell them, “No guys, what you’re doing is or is not good enough to do this.”
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Agree or disagree with the eventual end result, these are the Pittsburgh Steelers going forward. Bell’s avenue out of town is now as an unrestricted free agent. Brown will leave only it it’s beneficial to the franchise. And Ben is now bigger than ever. It’s too early to grade how this will all work out. But the Steelers are hoping to get an “A” after their handling of the two “B’s.”