Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell loses $855k game check for Week 1

Sep 08, 2018

The Steelers buses are on the road to Cleveland and RB Le’Veon Bell is not on them, I’m told. Bell will leave a $855K game check on the table and the wait is on. James Conner is their starter until Bell is back.

Fantasy Impact:

Only two things seem plausible in this standoff because of league rules involved with franchise tagged players. Either Bell reports and signs the franchise tag, or he continues to be AWOL. Because of the franchise tag, the Steelers and Bell canonot negotiate a long-term deal until after the season, even if he signs the franchise tag tender. It's also unlikely the Steelers would trade Bell if he signs the tender, because another team couldn't give him a long-term deal either (like the Bears did with Khalil Mack), because Bell would still be on the franchise tag. Why would another team trade for Bell unsure if he'll be there past this year? The team could pull the franchise tag, but that would instantly make Bell a free agent, which would essentially reward Bell for his holdout, giving him the freedom to negotiate a long-term deal with any team and potentially put him on the roster of one of the Steelers' AFC rivals this season. Ultimately, it appears Bell must decide whether he wants to play on the franchise tag again for a portion of this season or risk sitting out a full year, believing the open market will still pay him handsomely in the offseason.

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Christian McCaffrey questionable to return with what team is calling knee injury

San Francisco 49ers

11 minutes ago

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey went to the locker room with what the team is calling a knee injury.

Fantasy Impact:

McCaffrey is questionable to return. McCaffrey took a toss early in the second quarter and went down on his own accord. The team initially said a knee injury but there is concern, though nothing official, that the injury could be his calf or even his Achilles again. Jordan Mason is now handling most of the backfield work while CMC is out.

Edit: McCaffrey may have injured his knee on the previous play before the toss. Him going down on the toss may have been more of him not feeling right when he started running. Either way, it’s an unfortunate setback after he waited quite a long time to finally play this season.

Brock Purdy active, Keon Coleman inactive for Sunday Night Football

Ian Rapoport

2 hours ago

49ers QB Brock Purdy is active, Bills WR Keon Coleman is inactive for Sunday Night Football.

Fantasy Impact:

Purdy was questionable but trended towards playing with a shoulder injury that caused him to miss last week. It will be interesting to see how the 49ers handle him, given the injury and the weather conditions.

Coleman was limited in practice all week with a wrist injury, so it seems the Bills are being cautious with their rookie.

Taysom Hill carted off with knee injury

Field Yates

2 hours ago

Saints TE Taysom Hill was carted off the field with a knee injury, later declared doubtful to return.

Fantasy Impact:

The injury occurred in the fourth quarter on a fourth down attempt in which Hill took the snap himself and ran for a first down. Hill had 47 totals yards before the injury, which hopefully isn’t too serious.