The Pittsburgh Steelers cut LeGarrette Blount on Tuesday, just hours after the team rallied for a 27-24 Monday Night Football win over the Tennessee Titans. Blount did not get a single carry in the MNF game, while Le’Veon Bell rushed for a career-high 204 yards.
Without Blount in the backfield, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has one less option at his disposal through the end of the season. Big Ben has had some Big Games this season, in large part because he has the NFL’s leading receiver, Antonio Brown, on his side.
However, though Bell and Blount both had two touchdowns this season, Blount hadn’t played a significant role in the Steelers offense. Though Blount was suited up for each game this year, he had 65 carries for 266 yards compared to Bell’s 195 carries for 951 yards.
The team did not specify why the Pittsburgh Steelers cut LeGarrette Blount. In a statement by head coach Mike Tomlin, the team said simply “We believe the decision to release LeGarrette is in the best interest of the organization and wish him the best of luck.”
Part of the reason may have been Blount’s attitude and a potentially bad influence on the younger Bell. This past offseason, Blount and Bell were pulled over by police and cited with misdemeanor marijuana violations, and Bell with driving under the influence of marijuana. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the troubles continued. The paper said “Blount has been an internal problem for at least a month for the Steelers and sources told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he is dragging down star halfback Le’Veon Bell….”
The Post-Gazette also reported that Blount, perhaps bitter at not getting a carry on Monday Night Football last night, left the field before the end of the game and was dressed and headed for the team bus as other players were just making their way to the locker room. The paper even said “At least one player thought they should leave him in Nashville.”
