There was something different about the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2018 season — no Le’Veon Bell. The running back stayed away from the team since getting the franchise tag for the second year in a row. His absence included all of the team’s offseason workouts, training camp, the preseason, and then the entire 2018 NFL season. As of Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. ET, Bell made his decision official. He did not report and will not play again until 2019.
When he does take the field next, it will be with a new team. The Steelers had the option to use the franchise tag on Bell again, or the transition tag, but instead they will let him walk in free agency.
With such a long saga, it’s easy to get confused as to what happened. So let’s get you up to speed.
So Le’Veon Bell really skipped an entire season?
He did! Bell had until end of the day on Nov. 13 to show up, or he would not be allowed to play again in 2018, which he did not.
Why didn’t Bell play?
Simple, money. For two years in a row, the Steelers used the franchise tag to retain exclusive rights to the offensive weapon. Although the one-year fully guaranteed deal would have paid him as much as $14.5 million in 2018 (he lost more than $800,000 for every week he was absent), it shorted him the chance to negotiate his worth.
Because he got the tag, Bell’s absence wasn’t a holdout. There was nothing to negotiate. He could have either signed the deal or risked not playing this season.
Instead, Bell’s reasoning for skipping the preseason and then the regular season had more to do with his health. He made it clear that he wants to save some wear and tear on his body before he gets another shot at free agency next spring.
Didn’t Bell and the Steelers negotiate a contract?
They did, but Bell wasn’t happy with the offer and how it was structured.
It sounded like a GREAT offer, $70 million over five years. However, only $10 million was fully guaranteed at signing, which is a common practice for the Steelers. As with most NFL contracts, the devil is in the details. The Steelers could have released him after this season, and he would have earned nothing more on the deal. Or, an injury could have taken millions off the table, so Bell wanted more.
He wanted something more akin to what Todd Gurley got from the Rams. Gurley signed a four-year, $60 million deal with $45 million guaranteed.
So why couldn’t they have just negotiated a new deal?
Because it’s the franchise tag. When a team uses the tag on a player, they have until the middle July of that year to negotiate a long-term deal that replaces the tag.
The Steelers and Bell didn’t get a deal done. The only options available to Bell after that were to sign his one-year franchise tag offer or not sign it and skip part (or all) of the season.
Will the Steelers tag him again in 2019?
Nope. General manager Kevin Colbert said the Steelers won’t give him a third consecutive tag. If they franchise-tagged him again, they’d reportedly have to do it at the quarterback salary number, which means he’d get a one-year, $25 million deal that would be fully guaranteed if he signed it. The team is unwilling to do that.
They could’ve still used the transition tag, but they won’t do that either. That would allow teams to make an offer and give the Steelers the right to match any offer. If another team didn’t make an offer, the transition tag would pay Bell 20 percent more than his previous year salary, which would have been $14.5 million under the franchise tag this year.
So many tags!
What did his teammates think about it?
They actually started out in his corner. But when he told them he’d be back in September and didn’t show, he lost some of their support. Truth be told, it was a very complicated situation between teammates, as retired NFL lineman Geoff Schwartz explained.
Do the Steelers even need him anymore?
Maybe not, though they did miss the playoffs without him.
Still, second-year running back James Conner has filled in nicely in his stead.
Despite missing a few games due to injury, Conner had a great year. He rushed for 973 yards on 215 carries, 12 touchdowns, and a nice 4.5yards per carry. The Steelers also threw Conner the ball 571 times, and he caught 55 of those targets for 497 yards and a touchdown.
Plus, Conner’s rookie contract is very team-friendly.
The Steelers like what they have in Conner and another young running back, Jaylen Samuels.
What’s next for Bell?
Free agency, finally — or at least when the new league year starts on March 13. Go get that bag.
4 teams that could make a run at Le’Veon Bell
He finally made it. After getting hit with the franchise tag two seasons in a row, Le’Veon Bell will finally get to test free agency. The Pittsburgh Steelers won’t tag him a third time, giving the running back a chance to sign a deal that will give him the long-term security that he’s been chasing.
He should get it, too. Bell is an elite offensive weapon who we’ve seen have stretches of pure dominance for the Steelers over the years. The last time Bell stepped on the field, he finished third in the league with 1,291 rushing yards and chipped in 655 receiving yards as well.
Read Article >The Steelers are FINALLY letting Le’Veon Bell go
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesLe’Veon Bell has made it clear he no longer wants to play in Pittsburgh. It took some convincing, but the Steelers are finally ready to let him leave.
Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert confirmed that the team won’t franchise or transition tag its former All-Pro tailback, clearing Bell’s final hurdle toward unrestricted free agency. That means he’ll be able to negotiate with any team willing to offer him the long-term, big-money contact he’s sought since 2017 once the NFL’s official free agent period begins on March 13.
Read Article >There’s a way to create even more Steelers vs. Le’Veon Bell drama in 2019
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY SportsLe’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 was obligated to sit the whole season out. With the 2018 season now over, he’ll be able to hit reset on his career after a year-long game of chicken where neither side blinked.
Read Article >The Steelers raided Le’Veon Bell’s locker after he officially no-showed
NFL players get lots and lots of gear over the course of a season. Gloves, cleats, practice jerseys, hoodies, and more all accumulate as the weeks wear on. Most gets thrown into an athlete’s rotation, worn for a bit and then replaced with newer, better items.
But if a player never shows up, that gear builds up into piles. And if he sits out the entire season, like Le’Veon Bell is doing in Pittsburgh, that pile of equipment and clothing becomes fair game.
Read Article >Did Le’Veon Bell change holdouts forever?
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsIt’s official: Le’Veon Bell won’t play for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. He had until 4 p.m. Tuesday to end his months-long holdout, but decided against it, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
That probably won’t derail the Steelers, who are rolling without him, but Bell may have just forever changed the way big-name players play hardball with teams.
Read Article >Where does Le’Veon Bell go from here?
Erik Williams-USA TODAY SportsLe’Veon Bell had until 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 13 to report to Steelers if he was going to play this season. That’s not going to happen. He will not show up to the team’s facility before that deadline. Bell has now become the first player since Chiefs defensive tackle Dan Williams in 1998 to hold out for an entire season because of the franchise tag.
Bell could have earned $14.5 million if he had played all season under the tag for a second straight season. However, he held out to protest his inability to come to terms on a market-resetting, long-term contract with the Steelers, as well as minimize the risk of suffering a major injury that could diminish or even destroy his value as a prospective free agent. Bell held out last year after he was franchise-tagged, but he returned to the Steelers right before the regular season began.
Read Article >The situation between Le’Veon Bell and his Steelers teammates is more complicated than it seems
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesOn Wednesday, Steelers offensive linemen, and more importantly, the veteran leadership of that group, took the highly unusual step of publicly calling out their teammate, running back Le’Veon Bell, for not being at the facility yet. Twitter went into a frenzy and used this to question whether or not players were a unified group, as in bargaining group, and to point out that teammates should not discuss another player’s contract negotiations.
The truth is — it’s complicated.
Read Article >
