First Call: JuJu Smith-Schuster waits; Zach Banner will play right or left tackle; humiliating loss for Flyers

As Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster waits for a new contract, another one of his receiver peers found one in Washington.

Offensive tackle Zach Banner talks about the process that kept him in Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia Flyers suffered humiliation while the New York Islanders absorbed an injury. And the ties between the Pirates and the Tampa Bay Rays get even deeper.

All that in Thursday’s “First Call.”

Banner back

Recently re-signed Steelers free agent tackle Zach Banner spoke with 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday, and he revealed some nuggets about his negotiation with the franchise.

Banner referred to it as “easy” and felt reassured that the team had an interest in his development long term. He also said that both head coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger reached out to tell him that a deal would get done.

Also, Banner said there were other offers, including interest from other AFC North teams and a few from the NFC, too. He said he’ll play either left tackle or right tackle. But most of his experience is at right tackle. And he said the team can’t be mad at the players that left in free agency because they “made life-changing money.”

Jumping JuJu

It may be a slow wide receiver market. But another free agent pass catcher has signed before JuJu Smith-Schuster got a new contract.

Carolina Panthers receiver Curtis Samuel got a deal from Washington.

#Panthers FA WR Curtis Samuel is expected to sign with the Washington Football Team on a 3-year deal worth $34.5M, source said.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2021

If you want a comparison, Samuel had 77 catches for 851 yards and three touchdowns last year. Smith-Schuster had 97 catches for 831 yards and nine touchdowns. So it’ll be interesting to see if Smith-Schuster accepts a deal similar to what Samuel got or if he demands more.

Career-wise, Smith-Schuster has (in five more games played) 123 more catches, 1,639 more yards, and 12 more touchdowns, and his yards per catch is 12.1 versus Samuels’ 11.3.

Losing Lee

The East Division co-leading New York Islanders suffered a significant blow on Wednesday. The team learned that it’ll have to play the rest of the season without its team captain.

Anders Lee is slated for surgery later this week to repair a torn ACL. He got tangled up with New Jersey Devils center Pavel Zacha last Thursday.

Lee is tied with Brock Nelson for the team lead with 12 goals. He is tied for second with 19 points.

ESPN.com speculated that the franchise may be interested in acquiring 2018 MVP Taylor Hall from Buffalo or Devils winger Kyle Palmieri.

Aw, that’s a shame

The Philadelphia Flyers may have just played one of their worst games in franchise history Wednesday night.

I know. Try to contain your sympathy.

How bad was it? How about 9-0, courtesy of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden? And it could’ve been worse. The game was 9-0 after the first 40 minutes.

Mika Zibanejad led the way with three goals and three assists.

Mika Zibanejad.

You love to see it. pic.twitter.com/goer67ytZN

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 18, 2021

Pavel Buchnevich had four points as well.

As far as who was in net for Philadelphia, Brian Elliott yielded the first five on 13 shots. Carter Hart came on and allowed four goals on 16 shots.

Rangers coach David Quinn and his assistants Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg Brown were unavailable due to NHL covid-19 protocol guidelines.

Kris Knoblauch, coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, the Rangers affiliate, filled in for Quinn. Hartford associate coach Gord Murphy and Rangers associate general manager Chris Drury were on the bench as assistants.

Zibanejad scored all six of his points in the second period. Former Penguin Bryan Trottier is the only other NHL player to score six points in a period of an NHL game. Trottier did it with the Islanders against the Rangers in 1978.

More Meadows

Former Pirate Austin Meadows homered against his ex-team for the second time this spring. The Tampa Bay Rays outfielder turned on a fastball thrown by Bucs starter Mitch Keller.

You will find this @austin_meadows home run ball in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow pic.twitter.com/TCQZw00DRW

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) March 17, 2021

The Rays went on to win 10-9. Keller gave up 10 hits and eight runs over just two innings during his outing.

Another former Pirate, Tyler Glasnow, wasn’t particularly sharp either for the Rays. He had seven strikeouts but yielded four earned runs and six hits. Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds homered off of Glasnow along the way. Colin Moran hit one, too, off of the next Rays pitcher, Nick Anderson.

Before the outing, Glasnow was told he would be the team’s Opening Day starter. Manager Kevin Cash also told MLB.com’s Adam Berry that Glasnow “pounded the table” for the Rays to sign another former Pirates pitching prospect, Stetson Allie. Cash mentioned that the two pitchers threw together this offseason. Allie is now a non-roster invitee.