Le'Veon Bell is optimistic about reaching an agreement on a new contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers that would allow him to report to camp on time.

"Yeah. You know regardless that's what I want to do," Bell said. "I don't want to have the replications of what happened last year. But if that came down to that, obviously I got to do what I got to do. Take my stand and protect myself. I don't want to have to do that. I want to go to camp and play for the Steelers long term."

Both Bell and the Steelers expressed a desire to reach a deal early in the offseason. The running back is set to earn $14.5 million under the franchise tag. He has until the July 16 deadline to finalize a long-term contract.

"Obviously, the people in the organization try to do what's best for them and I'm trying to do what's best for me," Bell added. "We're working on it. We're a lot closer than we were last year at this time. That's what I'm happy about. None of that matters if we don't get it done. Hopefully we'll try to get something done. That's what I'm looking forward to. I got confidence we'll get it done. I want to do it."

Eric Decker remains a free agent and has interest in joining the New England Patriots.

"I think the Patriots would be a good fit and being drafted by Josh McDaniels in Denver. I talked with New England last year during the free-agency process in June. That is always an option that I would definitely love to entertain," Decker said, according to SiriusXM NFL Radio.

Decker spent the 2017 season with the Tennessee Titans.

Ben Roethlisberger is two years away from free agency, but isn't interested in seeking another major deal.

"I care about record-breaking Super Bowl wins and things like that -- that's more important to me," said Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger's five-year contract, signed in 2015, averages about $20 million per year, which was the market for top quarterbacks at the time. 

"I have two years on my contract. I'm not going to be one to sit here and worry about my contract," said Roethlisberger. "That's not my job. My job is to play football. I'll let my representation, the Steelers worry about all that stuff. To me, it's all about going out and playing now. I think there are a lot more, maybe a lot more important people who need to get their deals done now. For me to do it two years out, if it doesn't make sense for the team, I'm not going to sit here and worry about it."

Odell Beckham Jr. has revealed he will attend training camp with the New York Giants as he continues to seek a new contract.

When asked Saturday if the media will see him at training camp, Beckham replied, "Yes, sir. Yes, you will."

"No holdout," added Beckham, who was working at his youth instructional camp Saturday.

Beckham is scheduled to make $8.5 million this season.

The Jacksonville Jaguars declined Dante Fowler's fifth-year option, which has motivated the defensive end.

Fowler, the third-overall pick in 2015, had a career-high eight sacks in 2017.

If the Jaguars had picked up his option, Fowler would have earned a base salary of $14.2 million. Instead, he enters the final year of his rookie contract on a base salary of $3.6 million.

"I know how good of a player I am," he said. "I know I'm one of the best players in this league. When I go out there, I'm going to make the best of my opportunities every time. I'm working hard to have the best season of my career."

The Houston Texans have agreed to a five-year, $50 million contract extension with inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney.

The deal includes $21 million in guarantees.

The Texans drafted McKinney in the second round in 2015.

Matt Ryan anticipates Julio Jones attending his typical July workouts before the start of training camp.

Jones has skipped the Atlanta Falcons' mandatory minicamp as he seeks a new contract.

"There's probably about 12 of us that are going to get together in the month of July, and he'll certainly be a part of that,'' Ryan said of Jones. "We'll have an extended period where we get some work together. You know, that's something that we've done in the past. The past couple of years, we were down in Miami.

"This year is a little bit later due to kind of my offseason, but we'll still have that chance to work together. And I think that will be really productive for us."

Jones is looking for a revised contract with three years and $35 million remaining. He faces a grand total of $84,425 in fines for missing the three-day minicamp.

Ryan and the Falcons agreed upon an extension in May.

The Los Angeles Chargers have reached out to Antonio Gates about a possible reunion.

The Chargers have left open the possibility of re-signing Gates in the wake of Hunter Henry's season-ending ACL injury.

"Obviously, Antonio would be a natural fit," Tom Telesco said on San Diego station 97.3 FM. "He's someone that we have talked to. We've talked to his representatives. Sometimes, it's not just as easy as saying, 'Hey, let's just bring him back. Let's go.'"

Gates made $5 million last season and could look for a similar offer despite turning 38 later this month.

Mark Ingram decided to skip the New Orleans Saints' OTAs and offseason conditioning program, but not because he's unhappy with his contract.

The running back says he wanted to change up his regimen and work out on his own heading into his eighth season.

Ingram, who is facing a four-game suspension to start the season, said he'll be prepared to "jump right in immediately and make an impact" when he returns in Week 5.

"You know, people will make their own narrative. The media makes their own narrative. I'm not angry with my contract. I wasn't holding out," he said.

"Yeah, I'm in the last year of my deal. Of course I'd like an extension. But that's not the reason I wasn't here," Ingram continued. "You have the option to stay home and train on your own. ... The main reason that I was not here was because I was training on my own, working on some things that I felt like I needed to get better at, that I could do best on my own."

The Oakland Raiders have released Christian Hackenberg.

The Raiders acquired Hackenberg three weeks ago for a conditional seventh rounder in 2019.

Jon Gruden said the decision was made to cut Hackenberg because roster spots were needed to sign veteran defensive linemen Frostee Rucker and Ahtyba Rubin.

"I was disappointed in not really giving Christian the opportunity to go to camp," Gruden said after practice Tuesday. "We felt like we needed to add a couple defensive linemen. We ran out of numbers, and that's not good at that position heading into camp."

Gruden was previously known as being high on Hackenberg.