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First Call: Le'Veon Bell, LeSean McCoy among rumored replacements for Ravens’ J.K. Dobbins; safety signings for Steelers to note | TribLIVE.com
Pirates/MLB

First Call: Le'Veon Bell, LeSean McCoy among rumored replacements for Ravens’ J.K. Dobbins; safety signings for Steelers to note

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell plays against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Jan. 14, 2018 at Heinz Field.

A couple of big signings for NFL safeties may impact the Steelers when it comes to Minkah Fitzpatrick’s thinking on his next contract.

Yoshi Tsutsugo’s walk-off homer at PNC Park created some widely varying reactions on Sunday. Joe Burrow’s return in Cincinnati was less than memorable. A couple of ex-Pirates kicked the Baltimore Orioles while they were down.

And the Baltimore Ravens lost their starting running back to injury. Guess what names have surfaced among prospective replacements.

Could Le’Veon Bell become a Raven?

The Baltimore Ravens found out Sunday that projected starting running back J.K. Dobbins tore his ACL during a 37-3 preseason win over Washington Saturday.

Dobbins had 925 yards from scrimmage in his rookie season. But now his second year will be cut short before it even starts.

Another well-known name at running back, Mark Ingram II, is no longer with the team. He was released in January and signed by the Houston Texans in March.

Fortunately for the Ravens, they still have two backs familiar with the system remaining on the depth chart. Gus Edwards and Justice Hill both averaged five yards per carry in 2020. In 2019, they combined for 936 yards rushing.

Nate McCrary and Ty’Son Williams, a second-year player out of BYU, will also be in the mix.

But if the Ravens want to bolster the running back depth, many outlets are suggesting the franchise consider signing 2017 NFL Offensive Player of the Year Todd Gurley. The former Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons back is currently a free agent after averaging just 3.5 yards per carry en route to 678 yards in 2020.

A pair of names with Pittsburgh ties have come up in the rumor mill — ex-Steeler Le’Veon Bell and former Pitt Panther LeSean McCoy.

Bell managed just 466 yards from scrimmage in 2020 between stops with the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. McCoy only had only 25 touches for 132 yards from scrimmage in 10 games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year.

What does this mean for Minkah?

Whenever T.J. Watt signs his contract extension, the next question will be, “When does Minkah Fitzpatrick get his money?”

As of now, Fitzpatrick is locked up through the 2022 season on his fifth-year entry-level contract option. That’ll be worth a fully guaranteed $10.6 million unless the team works out a long-term deal before then.

If you want a potential barometer, on Sunday, it was revealed that All-Pro safety Harrison Smith agreed to a contract extension with the Minnesota Vikings.

According to ESPN radio host Mike Golic Jr. — a former teammate of Smith’s at Notre Dame — it’s a four-year, $64 million deal. That makes Smith the second-highest paid safety in the league.

Two weeks ago, the Seattle Seahawks signed a reported four-year, $70 million contract to lock down Jamal Adams.

Per the report, Smith’s extension in Minnesota includes $26.38 million guaranteed. Smith is entering his 10th NFL season, all with the Vikings. He’s a five-time Pro Bowl selection and was named first-team All-Pro in 2017.

Fitzpatrick was a first-team All-Pro each of the last two years. So let’s see if the Steelers value him that much in terms of that type of money.

All that for … what?

There has been a month-long guessing game about when — or if — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow would play in the preseason.

Burrow has long maintained that he wanted to “feel the rush” for a few plays before starting the regular season against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 12. But the franchise was leery of playing last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick in the preseason since he is coming off of a knee injury.

Eventually, Burrow got his wish. Sorta. He was allowed to take all of three snaps against the Miami Dolphins Sunday. He threw just one pass. It was a bubble screen and receiver Ja’Marr Chase dropped it.

Drops have been a problem for the rookie pass-catcher out of LSU. Burrow didn’t attempt another pass and was quickly relieved by Brandon Allen who immediately led a touchdown drive, capped off by a pass to Chris Evans.

The Bengals went on to lose by a final score of 29-26.

Yelling for Yoshi

Yoshi Tsutsugo hit a game-winning walk-off home run to elevate the Pirates to a 4-3 comeback win over the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday afternoon.

And Buccos play-by-play man Greg Brown laid into the call with all he had.

Nice Phil Collins reference, Greg.

Meanwhile, as you can see via this link, the guys on the St. Louis broadcast were — how can I put this? — slightly less enthused.

Which is weird because they seemed plenty excited when Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt turned in a 10-bell play earlier in the game.

And they were pretty jacked up when outfielder Harrison Bader made this incredible play in centerfield.

Must’ve been the moment, I guess.

Bashing Ex-Bucs

Tsutsugo wasn’t the only guy with Pirates ties going deep.

Except these two are ex-Buccos. Jordan Luplow and Austin Meadows homered for the Tampa Bay Rays in Camden Yards during their team’s 12-8 win over the Baltimore Orioles Sunday.

That was Luplow’s eighth home run of the year. It was Meadows’ 22nd. He now has 91 RBIs, tied for the fifth-highest total in the Major Leagues. Tampa Bay’s Joey Wendle hit two homers and had six RBIs during the game.

The Rays have now won seven in a row. They lead the American League with 82 wins and are now an ungodly 41.5 games in front of the last-place Orioles.

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.

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Categories: Pirates/MLB | Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz
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