The Steelers signed tight end Jaheim Bell to a one-year contract, the team announced on Monday. Financial terms of the contract were undisclosed.
The Eagles waived Bell last week.
The Patriots selected Bell in the seventh round in 2024 out of Florida State. He appeared in 15 games for New England as a rookie, catching two passes for 20 yards.
New England cut him out of the 2025 preseason, and he signed with the Eagles’ practice squad in October. The Eagles waived him a week later, and he spent a few weeks on the Steelers’ practice squad before signing a futures contract with Philadelphia after the season.
Bell, 24, did play a game in 2025.
Like last year, the Steelers are waiting for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Unlike last year, there’s been no visit to Pittsburgh or reports of any other sit-down(s) between Rodgers and members of the team’s new coaching staff.
Also, the 2026 tap dance has included a contractual chess move at a time when no one realized the two sides were playing chess.
So where do things stand? No one knows, but Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests that the team’s “patience could be starting to wear thin.”
There’s no way of knowing whether Dulac is simply speculating, or whether he’s been told something tangible with the understanding that he’ll characterize the situation as his own thoughts, and not as anything coming from the team.
Regardless, the fact that the Steelers applied the unrestricted free agency tender to Rodgers shows that they don’t know what he’s planning to do. If they did, there would have been no reason to position themselves for a compensatory draft pick, if Rodgers surprises everyone and signs with another team.
The UFA tender also blocks Rodgers’s ability to do nothing, to wait for a potential Super Bowl contender to lose a quarterback during the season, and to swoop in and finish the job. As of July 22, the Steelers will acquire exclusive negotiating rights to Rodgers, with November 17 looming as the deadline for playing anywhere in 2026.
So what’s really going on? It’s possible that the Steelers don’t really want Rodgers, but that they want him to break up with them. It’s also possible that Rodgers is waiting for the Steelers to close the door.
It’s also possible that the two sides aren’t on the same page regarding his contract for 2026. Last year, he gave them a break by taking only $13.65 million in salary. This year, what if he wants more? If former Packers quarterback Malik Willis is worth $25 million per year to the Dolphins despite having only six career starts, what is Rodgers worth to the Steelers?
The problem is that, by giving the Steelers a sweetheart deal a year ago, they may be expecting him to do it again.
The UFA tender puts more than $15 million on the table. Rodgers may want more than that. Depending on how much more he wants, the two sides could reach an impasse.
Regardless, Dulac writes that the Steelers will continue to wait for Rodgers. Even if they’re wondering, at this point, “What are we waiting for?”
After drafting quarterback Drew Allar last month, the Steelers moved on from quarterback/receiver John Rhys Plumlee. In lieu of looking for another landing spot on a 90-man offseason roster, Plumlee has made the leap to the UFL.
The spring league announced on Saturday that the Houston Gamblers have signed Plumlee. He was listed in the announcement only as a quarterback.
The Gamblers have had injury issues at the quarterback position. On Friday, the Gamblers lost to the Columbus Aviators, falling to 2-4.
Rhys Plumlee, who played college football at Ole Miss and UCF, entered the NFL in 2024 as an undrafted free agent. He has spent time with the Steelers, Jaguars, and Seahawks.
Late in the 2024 season, Plumlee was signed to Seattle’s active roster as a receiver. He has appeared in no regular-season games.
He was the eleventh overall pick in the draft. As of Friday, however, Cowboys safety Caleb Downs had the top-selling jersey among all rookies.
Fanatics has announced, via Fox Sports, the ten best-selling rookie jerseys in the wake of the 2026 draft. Downs leads the way.
Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick, lands at No. 5. That’s one spot behind Steelers rookie quarterback Drew Allar, a third-round pick, who sits at No. 4.
Here’s the full top ten: (1) Downs; (2) Dolphins linebacker Jacob Rodriguez; (3) Cowboys linebacker Malachi Lawrence; (4) Allar; (5) Mendoza; (6) Dolphins cornerback Chris Johnson; (7) Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love; (8) Patriots offensive lineman Caleb Lomu; (9) Bears safety Dillon Thieneman; (10) Jets linebacker David Bailey.
The presence of two Cowboys defensive players in the top three and two Dolphins defensive players in the top six could be a reflection of the overall optimism the fans of those teams are currently feeling. For Dallas, the offense is among the best in the league; it won’t take much defensive improvement to make the team a contender. As to the Dolphins, it’s a new era with the hiring of G.M. Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley.
It’s somewhat surprising that none of the four receivers taken in the first round made the list. And the absence of Rams quarterback Ty Simpson reflects the reality that he’ll be spending a year (or two, or maybe three) behind Matthew Stafford.
The numbers will surely change once the depth charts are determined for 2026 and, after that, the games are played. The rookies who play and play well will see a spike in jersey sales.
One of the most unusual stories that emerged from the 2026 draft in Pittsburgh originated in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers called receiver Makai Lemon before the Steelers were on the clock. The Eagles traded up to take Lemon, one spot before the Steelers at No. 21.
Mike Sando of The Athletic reports the move may not have been unprecedented.
Multiple unnamed sources “suggested” that the Steelers have done it before.
“They think they are tying up the phone lines so the other team moves on because they can’t get in touch with the player,” one unnamed executive told Sando. “All it takes is you to call the player, and if another team calls the agent and they’re like, ‘Oh, he’s on the phone with so-and-so,’ now they know who you’re picking.”
Either way, there’s a belief that it’s not something that should be done.
“You don’t make the call until you’re on the clock,” another unnamed executive said. “It’s crazy.”
Former Eagles executive Jake Rosenberg tweeted the day after the draft that the move violates the rules. The NFL, responding to a question regarding the practice, said this: “The league reviews all aspects of the Draft the week after its conclusion.”
