It may seem like a procedural move but for Pittsburgh, has important ramifications. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted out the league is pushing back the due date for players to sign franchise tagged players two days. That date is now July 17th instead of the 15th.
From Schefter’s Twitter.
NFL has pushed back deadline to sign franchise players to Mon. July 17 from Sat. July 15, per league memo. pic.twitter.com/BcLbaXmQa1
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 19, 2017
As Andrew Brandt coined the term, deadlines spur action, so these extra two days will matter. Generally, agreements don’t happen until time runs out, each side jockeying for their position up until the last minute.
Dave Bryan and others have talked about the trickiness of getting a long-term deal done given the high price of this year’s franchise tag for running backs. Mixed opinions exist over whether it’ll get hammered out. Ed Bouchette, for example, hasn’t shown much confidence throughout the process. But breakthroughs can happen in an instant so we’ll have to see how it all plays out.
Should a deal fall through, Bell will play the 2017 season under the one year, $12.12 million tag. He’ll be set to become an unrestricted free agent following the season. A long-term deal will make him the highest paid back in the league. Of non-tagged players, Lesean McCoy has the highest annual salary at $8.875 million.
