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ATLANTA (AP) — tt Bryant on Wednesday Stitched Justin Bethel Jersey , ending the 10-year run of the team's all-time leading scorer.The decision to not renew the team's option on the 43-year-old Bryant comes despite another strong season in 2018, when he made 20 of 21 field goals and 33 of 35 extra points.Bryant's only missed field goal was from 53 yards at Green Bay. He said the miss was "probably like a 60-yarder on a normal field." Health concerns could have played a role in the Falcons' decision. Bryant missed three games with a hamstring injury.Bryant insisted he is healthy."I'm not retiring and I feel fine and plan on feeling even better with some changes to my offseason program," he said on .Bryant also thanked Falcons fans for their support and added : "I take great pride in my body of work on and off the field. I hope I have represented you well while I was here."Bryant recently told The Associated Press he wants to extend his career."Yes, I am 43, and different things come along with that," Bryant said. "As long as I can produce the way I think I can and I do it out there on the field, I'll take the bumps and bruises. … Oh yeah, it's not over. The journey goes on."Falcons owner Arthur Blank took note of Bryant's team-record 1,122 points and his honor of being named the team's Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2013 and 2014. Blank said in a team statement Bryant "will be remembered as one of the greatest Falcons of all time."Blank said Bryant "made countless memorable and game-winning kicks. His reliability and dependability were unmatched and he has been unflappable in pressure-filled moments."Bryant set a team record with 158 points in the Falcons' 2016 Super Bowl season.Giorgio Tavecchio was signed when Bryant was injured and was kept on the active roster for the remainder of the season in a move that could have been a hint of the plan to release Bryant.Tavecchio Youth Justin Bethel Jersey , 28, could be the starter in 2019 after making each of his five field goal attempts, including a 56-yarder, this season.The team's release of Bryant comes one day after it cut another veteran, cornerback Robert Alford. The release of Alford will clear $7.9 million in cap space for the 2019 season. The Bryant move clears $2.8 million in cap space."There is no doubt he is one of the all-time great Falcons as he's been an integral part of our success," general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. "This was a difficult decision but one that was necessary for us to move forward into 2019. We have the utmost respect for the person and the player that Matt is, and we wish (him) and his family the best going forward." Le’Veon Bell doesn’t want to be a Steeler unless he can glean a market-resetting long-term contract. Pittsburgh has made it clear it won’t meet his demands. And saddling him with the franchise tag for a third straight season wouldn’t just be prohibitively expensive — it would also likely trigger another lengthy holdout.Bell failed to report to the team’s practice facility by Nov. 13, which means per the league’s collective bargaining agreement, he’s obligated to sit the whole season out. When the 2018 season comes to a close Stitched Jack Crawford Jersey , he’ll be able to hit reset on his career after a year-long game of chicken where neither side blinked.But that doesn’t mean the Steelers are going to just let him walk away for nothing. The league’s transition tag could help them recoup some assets in an offseason trade, and even help Bell secure a front-loaded big money deal in the process.Wait, what’s the transition tag?The transition tag is a less-expensive version of the franchise tag that allows a player to garner contract offers from other interested teams. It offers a team the right of first refusal when it comes to one of its unrestricted free agents. That gives the free-agent-to-be more leverage than he’d have under the franchise designation — but it benefits his current team as well. The tagging franchise has the opportunity to match the terms of the contract its player would otherwise sign elsewhere.Like the franchise tag, it also comes with a designated one-year contract. In this case, it’s the average salary of the top 10 highest-paid players at the tagged player’s position, or 120 percent of what the player earned the previous year. So, based on what Bell earned in 2017, the transition tag means he would be in line for the same $14.5 million that his franchise tag was supposed to be worth. That is, if he were to sign his transition tender (he wouldn’t). Teams can use the transition tag once per season. Teams cannot use the transition tag and the franchise tag in the same year. And Youth Jack Crawford Jersey , unlike the franchise tag, if a player signs elsewhere, the club gets no compensation for its loss.The transition tag effectively turns an unrestricted free agent into a restricted one, though without the added team security of receiving draft picks should the player leave. By tagging Bell, Pittsburgh could sit back and wait for other teams to make offers on the All-Pro tailback. Once he gets a offer to his liking, he’ll start the clock on the Steelers’ seven-day window to either match the contract or let him walk. That would give Pittsburgh the opportunity to re-sign Bell at a lower figure should his market never materialize, or use its transition tag-given right to sign him to an astronomical deal, then trade him to whichever interested party is offering the biggest return for Bell and his new contract.What are the chances Pittsburgh transition tags Bell?It’s reasonable gambit for the club, but not a great one. James Conner has been a star in his own right filling in for Bell this season. Plus Stitched Duke Riley Jersey , teams rarely use the transition tag because it’s easy to game. A team with oodles of cap space in 2019 — say, the Colts or Jets or Texans or really any of the 28 franchises carrying less salary into next year than Pittsburgh — could offer Bell a front-loaded contract. The Steelers would have to match any deal to its exact terms, putting an incredible strain on their cap space. A deal with big money over the first year or two would make sense, too. Bell isn’t getting any younger, so paying out the nose early in a contract to lessen the cost of a running back’s age 30+ seasons is a smart move. And Bell would happily sign any deal that gets him the guaranteed money for which he’s been searching, but especially so if he knows it puts Pittsburgh in a position where it can’t match.On the other hand, the team doesn’t have many feasible options to recoup more than a supplemental draft pick in exchange for losing a homegrown talent. The Steelers could franchise tag Bell again, but that would be a major drain on the club’s offseason cap space in the lead up to any deal. Since Bell would be entering his third year under the designation, he would cost the team the average salary of the league’s five highest-paid quarterbacks — approximately $25-26 million Youth Duke Riley Jersey , depending on how the rest of the year shakes out.So the transition tag is on the table, but ultimately it might not have much of an effect aside from earning Bell a contract that pays big over his first year or two with a new team. Still, it would at least give Pittsburgh the opportunity to retain Bell and extend the club’s window to work out a trade with a needy franchise. With the dynamic tailback almost certainly out the door come 2019, that’s better than nothing.