The Pittsburgh Steelers’ season is over, but if you think the news surrounding the black-and-gold is over — think again. For the drama-filled Steelers, things are just heating up, and this is where the daily links article comes in. You might have missed some key news, and we fill you in and give you the latest, and sometimes greatest, news surrounding the Steelers.
Today in the Black-and-gold links article we take a look at all the moves the moves made by the Cleveland Browns this offseason, and whether they are now the favorites to take home the AFC North crown.
Let’s get to the news:
- After signing Odell Beckham Jr., among others, all of the media is jumping on the Browns’ bandwagon. Will they be able to make noise in the division, and the AFC?
Myles Garrett on Beckham deal: ‘Tide has turned’
By: Marc Sessler, NFL.com
On the heels of a headline-exploding swap for ex-Giants wideout Odell Beckham, Cleveland’s football team finds itself stationed in alien territory.
”Absolutely,” Garrett told NFL Network’s Total Access on Tuesday when asked if the Browns were the new team to beat in the AFC North. “I think the tide has turned and we can’t wait to get out there and prove it.”
Browns general manager John Dorsey has been full of surprises during his brief run in Cleveland, but Garrett acknowledged his teammates, as a collective, felt a disturbance in the Force in recent days -- the good kind of disturbance.
“I did,” Garrett said. “I’m not going to say I predicted anything, but it was surprising to me that we had a very quiet Monday [in free agency] and we were hearing a lot of inklings about OBJ coming to us, getting him on a trade, so, you know, making this happen, I was kind of expecting something big.”
To read the full article, click HERE
- For all those who think Le’Veon Bell took a gamble on himself, and lost, you aren’t alone...
Tim Benz: Le’Veon Bell can blame only himself for contract with Jets coming up short
By: Tim Benz, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Le’Veon Bell agreed to a contract with the New York Jets that’ll reportedly pay him somewhere between $52 million and $61 million over four years.
The last reported offer he had to stay in Pittsburgh was $70 million over five years.
Most outlets indicate that $35 million of the Jets money is guaranteed.
Todd Gurley got $45 million last year. And the Steelers were planning to pay Bell $33 million over the first two years of a deal he was offered before they exercised the franchise tag prior to last season.
So the numbers are slightly better on paper until you realize that he also left $14.54 million on the table by refusing to play on the tag last year.
This is Bell’s fault — and his agent Adisa Bakari’s — for over-estimating the market and looking a gift horse in the mouth. But since the national media seem to be intent on shifting blame away from Bell and Antonio Brown whenever possible, another reason for Bell’s seemingly soft market has popped up.
To read the full article, click HERE
- For all the Steelers fans out there who were excited to see the likes of C.J. Mosley, Terrell Suggs, Zadarius Smith and more leave the Baltimore Ravens, that joy was dampened on Wednesday when the Ravens announced the signing of Earl Thomas.
Earl Thomas expected to sign 4-year deal with Ravens
By: NFL.com
Earl Thomas is replacing Eric Weddle in the AFC North.
The former Seattle Seahawks safety is expected to sign a four-year, $55 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday, per a source.
Former #Seahawks Pro Bowl S Earl Thomas is headed to the #Ravens and he got his money. pic.twitter.com/7vDVb0vv2D
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 13, 2019
- Speaking of the Ravens, and the 4 teams who call the AFC North home, the Ravens signed a running back Mark Ingram.
Mark Ingram expected to sign with Baltimore Ravens
By: Marc Sessler, NFL.com
Baltimore on Wednesday reached a three-year, $15 million deal with Mark Ingram, per NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. The deal came down moments after the Ravens struck a massive four-year deal with star safety Earl Thomas.
The 29-year-old Ingram moves north after eight productive seasons as a hard-running centerpiece for the Saints. New Orleans and the one-time first-rounder failed to settle on a new contract, leaving the Saints to sign former Vikings and Raiders back Latavius Murray -- and Ingram to test the market.
Rapoport had previously noted the Bears and Packers showed interest in Ingram, but the Ravens present a natural fit.
To read the full article, click HERE