First Call: National pundit unsure about Steelers starting Broderick Jones; more Antonio Brown drama in Albany
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In Monday’s “First Call,” there are some doubts about Broderick Jones starting as a rookie for the Pittsburgh Steelers. No doubts about more drama surrounding Antonio Brown.
The NHL’s salary cap is only bumping up a little bit.
And Pitt product Damar Hamlin is looking to pay it forward after his life was saved on the football field last winter.
Bench time for Broderick?
Most Steelers fans seem to be wondering if rookie offensive tackle Broderick Jones is going to be capable of starting Week 1. But at least one national analyst is wondering if he will start in his rookie year at all.
NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell joined the podcast of former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker on the Draft Kings Network. He was dubious of Jones starting in 2023.
“Based on tape study, I did not think Broderick Jones would be ready to start Year 1 but I guess we’ll find that one out,” Cosell said. “They certainly have him penciled in, but I didn’t think Dan Moore had played poorly at left tackle for them. But they felt they needed an upgrade or they would not have drafted Broderick Jones in the first round.”
In theory, I agree that Moore was at least more capable than what I expected last year. But I believe Jones’ pedigree as a first-round talent from Georgia allows us to raise our eye level and our standard of expectation at the position.
If the Steelers weren’t expecting Jones to start over Moore, then they shouldn’t have bothered trading up to get him in Round 1 last April.
No surprise
The headlines won’t stop surrounding Antonio Brown’s National Arena League team.
Via WNYT’s Roger Wyland, Terrence Foster is not accepting the Albany Empire head coaching position as expected. He is currently the Iowa Barnstormers defensive coordinator. Moe Leggett is the new interim head coach instead. He’s a recently retired former Empire player.
Also, via CBS6 in Albany, Brown was removed from the hotel where Empire players are lodged.
First reported by the Times Union, Friday night “Brown was reportedly asked to leave the Holiday Inn on Broadway due to loud music and accusations of marijuana use.
Albany Police confirm they responded at the request of the hotel at around 9:15 p.m., they say no charges or citations were issued.”
Brown tells CBS6 that he is working to secure new team housing but would not elaborate.
More sports
• Tim Benz: As the Oakland A’s visit the Pirates, are they really as bad as we think? No. They are worse.
• Steelers 7th-round pick Spencer Anderson already showing versatility, willingness to work
• ‘What we’ve been waiting for:’ Recalling Andrew McCutchen’s Pirates debut 14 years ago today
Hamlin’s hope
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is stopping in multiple cities to promote awareness and education for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The technique and the device were used to save Hamlin’s life on the field in January during a “Monday Night Football” game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Hamlin kicked off the event Saturday in Buffalo at Highmark Stadium. Via ESPN.com, 50 Buffalo-area youth football teams that came out to receive an AED, which were distributed by Hamlin.
“This program is very important, because it gives lifesaving care to kids in their own communities and on their fields,” Hamlin said.
The former Pitt Panther and Pittsburgh Central Catholic alum will be stopping in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati among other cities. Each stop will include CPR training and the distribution of AEDs to support youth sports/community groups.
Meanwhile in Milwaukee
The Pirates just got done beating up on the last-place team in the National League Central Division. Manager Derek Shelton’s team swept the St. Louis Cardinals in three games over the weekend.
Now the Bucs are getting a crack at the worst team in Major League Baseball as the Oakland A’s come to town for three games.
Meanwhile, the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers are taking care of business themselves, winning the first three games of a wrap-around series with the struggling Cincinnati Reds.
The two teams close out the four-game set tonight. Milwaukee won the first three games 5-4, 10-8 and 5-1. They lead the Pirates by half a game in the division standings.
Julio Teheran (1-1, 0.82 ERA) pitches for Milwaukee. He’ll be opposed by the Reds’ Andrew Abbott, making his MLB debut. The Pirates are pitching Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.50) vs Oakland’s J.P. Sears (0-3, 4.37).
Holmes is hot
Former Pirate Clayton Holmes is really pitching well for the New York Yankees. He got a win Sunday for the Pinstripes in Los Angeles as the Yanks beat the Dodgers 4-1.
The right-handed reliever pitched one scoreless inning after entering the game with the score tied 1-1. Holmes was able to strike out two batters while walking one. Since May 3, Holmes has pitched 15 times for the Yankees and allowed only one earned run.
New York is now in third place of the American League East at 36-25. The Dodgers are 35-25, tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL West lead.
NHL’s (almost) flat cap
Over the weekend, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the league’s 2023-24 salary cap would rise by just $1 million. The NHL salary cap is expected to be $83.5 million next season.
That’s despite Bettman’s claim that league revenue should be near $6 billion in 2023-24. Bettman says the cap could jump to $86 million next season.
That’s not much of a bump. Many in NHL circles were expecting more of a rise. However, via the Daily Faceoff, “the commissioner was confident the 2024 salary cap would take a more substantial leap.”
According to Cap Friendly, the Penguins have 30 contracts with $63.2 million allocated.