First Call: Jonnu Smith's thoughts on trade to Steelers; Aaron Rodgers' photo of workouts with pass catchers
“First Call” for Thursday gets us into the holiday weekend by giving you a look at Jonnu Smith’s perspective after being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aaron Rodgers is working out with his new teammates during the offseason. The Pirates are hoping to stay hot against Seattle.
And we examine who is remaining in NHL free agency with Penguins ties.
What’s new for Jonnu
New Steelers tight end Jonnu Smith sounds like he’s happy with the trade that sent him to Pittsburgh from Miami.
“I’m blessed. I’m a Steeler,” Smith said on a videostream with former Dolphin Terron Armstead. “I’m playing for one of the most historic sports franchises in the history of sports. Under a great head coach, Mike (Tomlin). Back with my guy, Arthur Smith, who I’ve had a lot of success with throughout my career. And so I’m extremely blessed. I couldn’t be more excited.”
Smith added that it was important to him that the Steelers viewed him as a top tight end from an economic perspective. He got a $12 million extension from the Steelers this year. The 30-year-old is scheduled to make $4.6 million against the cap this year via OverTheCap.com.
The former Titan and Falcon said when he signed in Miami, he thought he would be there for a long time and viewed himself as a “key ingredient” and would be there “forever.” Even as recently as January, he was anticipating a long-term contract extension to remain a Dolphin.
He characterized himself as being “stung” that the Dolphins couldn’t come close to what he deemed to be a suitable contract. Smith claims he was even thinking of settling in for a while in South Florida and buying a bigger house.
Runnin’ with Rodgers
Aaron Rodgers posted a photo of himself with the Steelers’ pass catchers on Instagram. The group may have been working out at the Proactivs complex in California. Rodgers tagged them in the post.
Pat Freirmuth, DK Metcalf, Scotty Miller, Roman Wilson, Calvin Austin and Ben Skowronek were in the photo.
Perhaps a regrettable choice, having the 5-foot-8 Austin stand between the 6-foot-4 Metcalf and the 6-foot-5 Freiermuth.
I’ve been there, Calvin. Trust me. It’s like every photo I’ve ever taken in my life.
Rodgers also posted a photo of himself with some of the receivers on what looks like a deck at perhaps his palace in Malibu. Rodgers had spoken about the prospect of getting his receivers out there at some point this summer.
See you in Seattle
Earlier this week, the Pirates swept what had been a first-place team in the New York Mets. Now they get a club trying to track down first place in the American League West.
The Bucs are heading out to Seattle to play the Mariners this weekend, with games Friday through Sunday. While the Buccos are off, traveling out west, the Mariners are wrapping up their four-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.
The Mariners (45-41) are winners in three of their past four games and are currently in second place in their division, four games back of the AL West-leading Houston Astros. Houston has 52 wins. The Los Angeles Dodgers (55) and Detroit Tigers (54) are the only teams with more.
The Pirates have the longest active win streak in baseball right now at six games. They are 38-50. During that stretch, Pittsburgh has outscored opponents 43-4. They just shut out the St. Louis Cardinals for an entire three-game series at PNC Park.
One challenge for the Pirates will be keeping Cal Raleigh in the yard. He has 33 home runs to lead Major League Baseball. His 71 RBIs are also tops in the American League. J.P. Crawford’s .387 on-base percentage is fourth. Raleigh’s 4.3 WAR is behind only New York’s Aaron Judge (6.3) in the American League.
Another issue facing the Pirates is their play on the road. They vaulted to 26-21 at PNC Park during their 6-0 homestand. However, Don Kelly’s team is 12-29 on the road. Only the Colorado Rockies (11 wins) and the Chicago White Sox (nine wins) have fewer road victories than the Pirates.
More sports
• U mad, bro?: Pittsburgh fans launch opinions on Steelers' trade, Sidney Crosby's legacy, Oneil Cruz's focus
• Tim Benz: Why I'm 'out' on the 'all in' cliché for the 2025 Steelers
• Mark Madden: Acquiring Jonnu Smith shows Steelers' true commitment to Arthur Smith’s offense
Familiar names
As NHL free agency moves into its third day, two of the top remaining free agents are former Penguins.
According to the Daily Faceoff’s top-five remaining UFAs, two of them played in Pittsburgh last year. Anthony Beauvillier is No. 4 on the list. He finished the year in Washington after getting traded there by Kyle Dubas before the deadline.
The other player is Matt Grzelcyk, who played all year in Pittsburgh and posted 40 points in 82 games. He is fifth on the list, projected to make $3.8 million over three years, according to the website.
Beauvillier, who ended up with 25 points over 83 games between his two teams, is expected to earn $3.2 million over three seasons.
Another one-time Penguin, Conor Sheary, is still available. He played most of last season in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch. Vancouver just picked up former Pens defenseman P.O Joseph Wednesday on a $775,00, one-year contract.
LISTEN: Tim Benz and Kevin Gorman talk Pirates in our most recent baseball podcast.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.