Antonio Brown is an Oakland Raider. Le’Veon Bell is a New York Jet Jace Sternberger Jersey , and Ben Roethlisberger will be part of a roster that will be considerably younger in 2019 thanks to an influx of draft picks.The Steelers began free agency by completing a deal that sent Brown, a four-time All-Pro wide receiver, to Oakland in exchange for a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick in next month’s draft, a quiet end to more than two months of drama in which Brown made it publicly know he’d rather continue his career elsewhere than return to Pittsburgh in 2019.The Raiders sent the 66th and 141st overall selections to the Steelers for Brown.“We believe the compensation, which now gives us four picks in the first 83 selections and 10 overall in the upcoming draft, can benefit our efforts to improve our team in 2019 and beyond,” Pittsburgh general manager Kevin Colbert said in a statement. “Antonio remains one of the best players in the National Football League, but as we believe, this move was in the best interest of the Pittsburgh Steelers. We wish Antonio all the best in the rest of his career.”Brown’s departure leaves the Steelers thin at wide receiver. JuJu Smith-Schuster emerged as a full-blown star in 2018 — hauling in 111 passes for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns while earning a spot in the Pro Bowl — but James Washington was only sporadically effective as a rookie.Bell, who sat out last season after declining to sign his $14.5 franchise tender Dexter Williams Jersey , agreed to a four-year deal with the New York Jets. James Conner made the Pro Bowl in Bell’s absence and Jaylen Samuels showed promise as a rookie. The Steelers will receive a compensatory selection for Bell in 2020.By then the mild rebuild the team is planning following the departure of their two stars should be well underway. The process began on the opening day of free agency when they shored up their uneven secondary by signing former Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Steven Nelson to a three-year deal worth $25.5 million.The Steelers entered the offseason prioritizing defensive players who could create takeaways after they produced just 15 turnovers in 2018. The 26-year-old Nelson had four interceptions with the Chiefs last season, matching the entire total of Pittsburgh’s secondary.Nelson will line up across from veteran Joe Haden, pushing former first-round pick Artie Burns into a reserve role and putting his long-term future with the team in doubt. Burns, Pittsburgh’s top selection in the 2016 draft, struggled to stay in the lineup last season.Kansas City selected the 5-foot-11, 194-pound Nelson in the third round of the 2015 draft. He played in 52 games, including 38 starts, across four seasons with the Chiefs.“I’m all smiles right now can’t be happier they got a straight worker,” Nelson tweeted shortly after agreeing to terms.Pittsburgh re-signed linebacker Anthony Chickillo to a two-year deal worth $8 million. Chickillo, a sixth-round pick in the 2015 draft, has seven career sacks and has carved a niche as a valuable contributor on special teams. The Steelers also re-signed punter Jordan Berry to a two-year deal. Berry averaged 43.7 yards per kick in 2018 Rock Ya-Sin Jersey , right in line with his career average of 43.8.While Pittsburgh signed center Maurkice Pouncey and guard Ramon Foster to new deals last week, the Steelers sent right tackle Marcus Gilbert to Arizona in exchange for a sixth-round pick. Gilbert, a second-round choice in 2011, started 87 games for the Steelers, most of them at right tackle. He ran into injury trouble in each of the last two seasons and also missed four weeks for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancers.Gilbert played just five games in 2018 due to a lingering knee injury that sent him to injured reserve in December.The Steelers have some in-house options to replace Gilbert, including second-year lineman Chukwuma Okorafor, veteran Matt Feiler, and Jerald Hawkins, a fourth-round pick in 2016 who has played in just five games, mostly because of injuries.
WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals will try again Saturday to cool off Philadelphia’s Odubel Herrera.

That is something nobody has been able to in more than a week.

Herrera homered for the fifth straight game and finished with four hits Friday night, helping the Phillies rout the Washington Nationals 12-2 in the opener of a three-game series.

He is hitting .472 (17 for 36) with six homers http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/anthony-zettel-jersey , 11 runs and 10 RBIs in his last eight games and raised his season average to .308.

“I don’t think there’s any words for it. I mean it’s simply incredible what he can do,” Friday’s starter and winner Zac Eflin said.

“The thing with Odubel is that he can shake off anything at any given time. … It can look like he’s struggling and then next pitch he hits it 440 feet.”

Herrera hit a tiebreaking two-run shot in the third inning for his 13th homer of the season, matching the club record for consecutive games with a long ball. He has connected in six of his last seven overall.

The Phillies (40-33) pounded out 15 hits and jumped ahead of the Nationals (40-34) for second place in the National League East behind the Atlanta Braves.

“To me, today was the first game where we really got blown out. That was a blowout right there,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said after Washington lost for the eighth time in 11 games, including the completion of a suspended game.

“We’ve just got to keep our heads up, guys go home and rest, come back tomorrow and do it again.”

Washington’s Michael A. Taylor extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI double and Bryce Harper went 1-for-3 with a walk in the leadoff spot.

The Phillies got a homer and four RBIs from Carlos Santana, who also singled and walked twice.

Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (8-2, 2.55) opposes rookie RHP Erick Fedde (0-2, 5.63) in a matchup of 2014 first-round draft picks on Saturday. Nola was the seventh overall pick in the first-year player draft and Fedde was the 18th.

Nola hasn’t taken a loss since May 20 but scuffled in his last start http://www.detroitlionsteamonline.com/jahlani-tavai-jersey , allowing four runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings of a no-decision at Milwaukee. The Phillies prevailed 10-9.

“My command really wasn’t where it usually is,” Nola told mlb.com. “My fastball was cutting a little bit and missing off the plate a little bit. They had a good approach against me.”

Against the Nationals, Nola is 1-4 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 starts. Harper is 8-for-17 with two home runs versus Nola, Daniel Murphy is 8-for-20 and Anthony Rendon is 4-for-17.

Fedde makes his fourth start of the season for Washington and third since replacing injured Stephen Strasburg in the rotation. He’s coming off a loss to the Yankees on Monday, when he allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

“He pitched well except when he made one mistake,” Martinez told the Washington Post, referring to Aaron Hicks’ two-run homer in the fifth. “We were very, very excited to see this.”

Fedde will be making his first career start against the Phillies.