Bell, Steelers fail to reach deal for contract
Rams’ Joyner to play under tag
PITTSBURGH — Le’Veon Bell’s next season with the Pittsburgh Steelers will almost certainly be his last.
The Pro Bowl running back and the defending AFC North champions failed to reach an agreement on a new contract by Monday’s deadline, meaning he will play under the franchise tag for a second straight year and hit the open market next spring.
Bell tweeted that “both sides worked extremely hard” to try and find common ground but ultimately could not.
“The NFL is a hard business at times … to the fans that had hope, I’m sorry we let you down but trust me, 2018 will be my best season to date,” Bell posted.
The 26-year-old Bell is one of the league’s most versatile players and he has long maintained he wants to be paid accordingly. In addition to serving as a workhorse in the backfield — his 321 rushing attempts last season led the NFL — he also caught 85 passes, good enough for 10th in the league.
Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said the team will make another attempt to re-sign Bell in the 2019 offseason, but another Pro Bowl-type season by Bell would likely make him too expensive. Bell will make $14.5 million whenever he signs his franchise tender, which likely won’t be until the end of training camp. It’s the path Bell followed last summer after the Steelers placed the franchise tag on him for the first time.
RAMS: Los Angeles and safety Lamarcus Joyner did not come to terms on a contract extension, so the fifth-year pro will play the 2018 season for about $11.3 million under the franchise tag.
Joyner, 27, received the nonexclusive franchise tag in March. NFL teams and franchise-tagged players had until 4 p.m. EDT on Monday to come to terms on long-term contracts.
Joyner, a second-round draft pick in 2014, earned $1.6 million last season in the final year of his rookie contract.
PACKERS: The Green Bay Packers’ profit fell by nearly 50 percent in the last fiscal year as the team missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
President and CEO Mark Murphy said the outlook for the Packers remains strong as the NFL’s only publicly owned team released its 2018 financial statement on Monday. The Packers announced a profit from operations of $34.1 million, a steep decline from $65.4 million a year earlier. Expenses soared 11.9 percent, from $376.1 million to $420.9 million, a byproduct of player salaries, coaching changes and travel costs. Revenue increased just 3.1 percent from $441.4 million to $454.9 million. BOOMER: Boomer Esiason is dropping his national radio duties on NFL Monday night games.
Esiason was the analyst on Westwood One’s broadcast for 18 years, sharing the booth with Kevin Harlan and, before that, Marv Albert and Howard David. The 1988 NFL MVP called the Super Bowl for each of those seasons. Citing his daily drive-time radio show in New York and his work on CBS and Showtime studio shows, Esiason said Monday “the timing was right for me to step away.”