Le’Veon Bell keeps saying he wants to stay with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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The Steelers keep saying they want to keep one of the NFL’s best running backs in the fold for years to come.

They have until July 16 to make it happen.

The Steelers placed the exclusive rights franchise tag on the two-time All-Pro for a second straight spring on Tuesday http://www.bengalscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-drew-sample-jersey , putting Bell’s long-term status with the club up in the air.

Bell, a two-time All Pro, accounted for 1,946 total yards and 11 touchdowns for the AFC North champions in 2017. Both Bell and Steelers management said after the season they hoped to get a contract extension done quickly, but failed to do so by Tuesday’s deadline for teams to use the franchise tag.

Bell is scheduled to make $14.54 million in 2018 if he signs the franchise tender and the two sides are unable to reach an agreement on a new deal. He skipped offseason workouts and training camp last summer before signing the tender on the eve of the regular season. The absence led to a sluggish start, though he was an indispensable part of Pittsburgh’s offense once again, breaking his own club record by catching 85 passes.

The 25-year-old made the 2017 All-Pro team at the ”flex” position, one he considered a tribute to his versatility. Bell said repeatedly over the past year he believes he’s different than other backs in the league and wants to be paid accordingly. He is arguably the best receiving back in the NFL and he’s averaged nearly 25 touches a game in five seasons Germaine Pratt Jersey , though he’s only been healthy at the end of the year twice. Bell has twice been suspended by the NFL for violations of the substance abuse policy.

Bell turned down a long-term deal with the Steelers last summer and told ESPN in January he would consider retiring if the Steelers used the franchise tag on him again. He backtracked a bit during the Pro Bowl when he said he believed a new contract was in the works. It was a sentiment echoed by both Steelers president Art Rooney II and general manager Kevin Colbert early in the offseason.

Pittsburgh’s depth behind Bell is thin. James Conner carried the ball 32 times during his rookie season and the club signed Stevan Ridley at the end of the regular season as insurance. Bell tweeted Monday that regardless of the circumstances he wants to remain with the Steelers.

”Pittsburgh: the city that took in a 21-year old kid from small-town Ohio, the city I battled thru adversity in, the city that I became a man in,” Bell tweeted. ”I love everything about being a Pittsburgh Steeler, and I want nothing more than to finish the rest of my career in Pitt!”




Jeremy Bates is getting another chance at running an NFL offense.

The New York Jets promoted the quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator Wednesday, replacing the fired John Morton.

The team also hired Rick Dennison as offensive line coach/run game coordinator and Steve Jackson as assistant defensive backs coach. Bates also will continue his duties as quarterbacks coach.

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Bates takes over an offense that ranked 28th overall and struggled with consistency – resulting in Morton’s dismissal last month after just one season.

Bates was hired last offseason by coach Todd Bowles to work with the Jets’ quarterbacks after being out of football from 2013-16. The 41-year-old Bates has previous experience as an offensive coordinator, serving in that role for Seattle in 2010 under Pete Carroll.

”Jeremy is a talented coach who has a sound understanding of what it takes to build a successful offense,” Bowles said in a statement issued by the team. ”Having spent last season with us he offers continuity and has a good sense of what we need to do to improve. I look forward to him working together with our offensive coaches.”

He has also worked as an assistant under Mike Shanahan in Denver and Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay during his coaching career.

The former college quarterback at Tennessee and Rice is the son of former college and NFL defensive coordinator Jim Bates.

The key question facing Jeremy Bates – as well as the entire franchise – is who the Jets’ quarterback will be next season. He helped Josh McCown have the best season of his lengthy NFL career, but the 38-year-old quarterback is scheduled to be a free agent and uncertain to return. New York also has Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg on the roster, but neither is considered the quarterback of the future.

The Jets could also be interested in Washington’s Kirk Cousins if he becomes available with the Redskins trading for Kansas City’s Alex Smith. New York holds the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL draft in April, and could target a quarterback with that selection.

Running back Matt Forte is uncertain to return, and a few other players on offense are potential free agents, including tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, center Wesley Johnson, backup linemen Dakota Dozier and Jonotthan Harrison.

Bates got his coaching career started in 2002 on Gruden’s staff in Tampa Bay orking in offensive quality control before becoming the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2004. He went to the Jets the following season as Herman Edwards’ quarterbacks coach. In 2006, Bates joined Shanahan’s staff in Denver as an offensive assistant before becoming the Broncos‘ quarterbacks coach the next year.

He went to USC in 2009 to be the Trojans‘ assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach under Carroll, who brought Bates with him to Seattle in 2010 to be the offensive coordinator. But he lasted just one year after the Seahawks ranked among the NFL’s worst offenses.

After a year out of football, Bates was hired by Chicago as the Bears‘ quarterbacks coach, a stint that again lasted just one season when coach Lovie Smith was fired.

Bates spent the next four seasons away from football, including solo hiking the 2,900-mile Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2014 – a soul-searching journey that took him about 5 1/2 months to complete.

”I think at the time it was the right time for me to step aside, find out some things about mysel and have the opportunity to do some other things outside of football,” Bates said last June. ”I did a lot of hiking, a lot of traveling. I stayed involved with the game. I’m not going to really focus on my last four years. At the end of the day, I think it made me a better person, and I think it made me a better teacher.”

Dennison most recently served as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator, and served in the same role with Denver from 2015-16, and with Houston from 2010-13. He was a long-time assistant for the Broncos, where he coached from 1995-2009 and worked with Bates on the staff from 2006-08.

Jackson has spent 14 years as an assistan ncluding the last two as Tennessee’s assistant secondary coach. He has also worked for Detroit, Washington and Buffalo.

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