NFL
2018 Season Likely To Be Last For Le’Veon Bell As A Steeler
Monday at 4pm marked the deadline for franchise-tagged players to receive an extension on their NFL contract. Among these players was 3-time Pro Bowl star RB Le’Veon Bell. There was much speculation this offseason concerning whether or not Bell’s franchise tag would carry into the 2018 season.
The main question was whether or not Pittsburgh would reach a long-term deal ahead of the 2018 season. We learned today that this would not be the case. Bell’s agent, Adisa Bakari, stated that this year would most probably be his last in a Steelers jersey proceeding Monday’s deadline.
“His intention was to retire a Steeler,” said Bakari this afternoon. “But now that there’s no deal, the practical reality is, this now likely will be Le’Veon’s last season as a Steeler.”
Le’Veon also issued this statement on Twitter for his followers and fans:
to all my Steeler fans, my desire always has been to retire a Steeler…both sides worked extremely hard today to make that happen, but the NFL is a hard business at times…to the fans that had hope, I’m sorry we let youu down but trust me, 2018 will be my best season to date…
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 16, 2018
Contract Negotiations
Bell was reportedly offered a five-year, $70 million contract this offseason to lift the franchise tag permanently, with a guarantee of $30 million over the next two seasons. This deal was offered after Bell initially turned down a five-year, $60 million contract before the beginning of the 2017 season. However, there is still hope for the stud RB to continue his career with the Steelers at season’s end.
His agent has also stated that “after the 2018 season is completed, we again will attempt to work out a long-term contract with Le’Veon in the hope that he will continue his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Bell has so far amassed an impressive 7,996 all-purpose yards, and 42 TD’s in his already illustrious five-year career. He is recognized by his peers as the #1 RB in the league this past season, coming in at #5 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018. Surely, a player of this caliber should get basically whatever he asks for when contract negotiations come up.
However, this was not the case. “It became clear that the Steelers want to pay the position, not the player,” Bell’s agent told NFL Insider Ian Rappaport. With all that has gone on, this might set a precedent for future negotiations with other star players.
The Upcoming Season
Hopefully, Bell emerges from this quick and ready to go. After last year’s pre-season negotiation drama, Bell started off not quite like himself. He averaged 3.46 Y/PC in his first three games, also garnering just one TD in that period. However, Bell put together a 2,000 all-purpose yard and 11 TD campaign by season’s end.
Steelers will look to put on another impressive campaign in 2018. But Bell’s time is winding down in Pittsburgh, and it will come closer with each game passed. I know this will be in the minds of the coaching staff and fans alike, so will this effect Bell’s performance? I don’t think so, but we’ll see. Nevertheless, the Le’Veon Bell contract negotiations saga is destined to be continued in the future.
