Monday’s “First Call” looks at how a pair of NFL signings may impact the Pittsburgh Steelers. There is positive news regarding a Pirates prospect. And we identify what Quinn Priester will be facing in his Major League Baseball debut for the Pirates.
What’s in the ‘HOP’per
The Tennessee Titans have apparently won the bidding war for free-agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. The former Arizona Cardinal will head to Nashville for a two-year deal that could be worth up to $15 million in the first year. That’s according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini.
The deal is reportedly giving Hopkins a base salary of $12 million in the first year. It could reach up to $15 million with incentives.
This is significant for the Steelers in two ways.
1. It means the Steelers secondary, barring injury, will have to face Hopkins in 2023. The Titans come to Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 2 for a Thursday night game.
2. At least it’ll only be once. Two of the alleged suitors to acquire Hopkins at various points this offseason were AFC North divisional foes of the Steelers: the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens.
But Hopkins has decided to go to the AFC South instead.
So far in his career, Hopkins has 853 receptions for 11,298 yards and 71 touchdowns.
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Ripple effect?
One recent NFL signing may impact a current Steeler.
On Sunday, tight end Evan Engram got a three-year, $41 million contract ($24 million fully guaranteed) from the Jacksonville Jaguars. That’s according to his agent Mike McCartney, via ESPN.com. He had recently received the franchise tag from the club.
So what does that mean for Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth? He’s entering his third campaign in Black and Gold and will likely be looking for a contract extension after this season.
Engram is 28. He set career highs in catches (73) and receiving yards (766) in 2022. He also had four touchdowns last season. Those were the most catches and receiving yards in a season for any tight end in Jaguars franchise history.
Freiermuth will turn 25 in October. He had 63 catches for 732 yards and two touchdowns last year with Mitch Trubisky and first-year starter Kenny Pickett at quarterback.
The year before, as a rookie with Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger throwing him the ball, Freiermuth had 60 catches for 497 yards and seven touchdowns.
It’ll be interesting to see how often Freiermuth is targeted in the Steelers’ (allegedly) more open approach to offense in 2023 — especially since rookie tight end Darnell Washington is in the mix now.
But if he puts up good numbers in his third year, expect some of Engram’s contract numbers to be exceeded by Freiermuth if he signs an extension in Pittsburgh.
Phew!
Pirates prospect Termarr Johnson appears to have avoided serious injury after a scare during a minor league game Sunday.
Last year’s first-round pick appeared to have hurt his left knee during a swing with the Bradenton Marauders.
Termarr Johnson left the game in the sixth inning with an apparent knee injury. pic.twitter.com/FOt0OgKTYW
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 16, 2023
But now — via TribLIVE’s Kevin Gorman — the word is, Johnson was merely dealing with a calf cramp.
The Pirates said 2022 first-round pick Termarr Johnson left Low-A Bradenton's game today in the sixth inning with a calf cramp. Johnson had homered in four of his past five games.
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) July 16, 2023
That news is relieving as Johnson has been swinging a particularly hot bat of late. In fact, he homered earlier in the game, his fourth bases-clearing shot in five games.
Termarr Johnson is as can be.
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 16, 2023
Here's the fourth home run in the past five games with the @The_Marauders for the @Pirates' top prospect.
His OPS in each month this season:
April -- .567
May -- .788
June -- .847
July, entering today -- 1.156 pic.twitter.com/QGZQsgpK9x
The 19-year-old shortstop’s OPS is now .878 with 11 home runs in 208 at-bats this season.
Letting down your guard
On Monday night, all eyes in Pittsburgh will be on Quinn Priester. The Pirates’ 2019 first-round pick will make his MLB debut at PNC Park against the Cleveland Guardians (45-48).
And Priester may be catching the Guardians at a good time. They have lost four in a row, scoring just 10 runs over those four games.
Cleveland is particularly depleted in the power department, having homered just 64 times, the lowest total in the Majors. Their 374 runs are 12th out of 15 AL teams.
Despite all that, the Guardians are just 2½ games back of the Twins for first place in the American League Central.
