Bell, Steelers down to final week
Bell’s extended vacation
Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell has limited options if he and the Steelers cannot come to terms on a long-term contract by the July 16 deadline. Under the rules of the CBA, he must play under the terms of his one-year tender which is valued at $14.5 million.
The Steelers placed the franchise tag on Bell March 7, but for the second consecutive year he has delayed signing it. By not signing, Bell is under no obligation to report for any team activities. He hasn’t been around the team since the playoff loss to Jacksonville in January.
Bell correctly points out that he does it so as not put himself at risk for an injury that would curtail his bargaining power after the season. But staying away from the Steelers also makes coach Mike Tomlin and the front office a tad uncomfortable for a couple of reasons. For one, Bell’s absence can have an adverse affect on the team’s performance because he’s not in sync with teammates in the early stages of the season. This was on display in the first three games of 2017 when Bell admittedly struggled to get into a groove.
Also, Bell could choose not to sign his franchise tender until November and still be credited with an accrued season of service and thus be granted free agency when the season ends. Bell would forfeit roughly $10 million of his $14.5 million salary if he did this, but it is an option — albeit a prohibitive one — that also could wreak havoc on the Steelers and their quest for a seventh Lombardi Trophy.
Bell, for the record, has hinted he will report shortly before the regular season begins just as he did a year ago if he can’t come to terms with the Steelers on a longterm contract by the deadline.
The Steelers and Bell have been trying to hammer out a long-term contract with little success since the end of the 2016 season. That’s more than 500 days. Now the two sides are down to a week to work out a deal.
The main reason for the standoff is Bell’s uncommon circumstance. He wants to reset the market for running backs. He wants to be paid like the top running back in the NFL and a No. 2 receiver. In short, he wants a boatload of money the Steelers cannot, or will not, deliver in a long-term contract.
That, in a nutshell, is why Bell is likely to play the 2018 season on the franchise tag again. The ongoing contract negotiation with the Steelers front office ranks among the most difficult in club history. In July 2017, the Steelers offered Bell a five-year contract, including $30 million to be earned over the first two seasons of the deal. Bell would have earned twice as much as the next highest-paid running back in the league, but he nixed that offer at the last minute and played the 2017 season for $12.1 million on the franchise tag.
It’s almost a year later and not much has changed. The Steelers tried to sign him after last season ended, but those negotiations stalled and they were forced to place the tag on him again. The talks were restarted in recent weeks and Bell expressed confidence he would sign a long-term deal, but it hasn’t happened yet.
In the end, this negotiation will be remembered not so much for its contentiousness but for an almost impossible impasse. The running back market is a mess, and the Steelers have been caught up in the first tricky negotiation since all-purpose backs came back into vogue.
It’s easy to see why Bell wants to be paid handsomely. When compared to other running backs of his generation he has earned less money through no fault of his own. He simply entered the NFL at the wrong time when teams were deemphasizing running backs in the draft. No running backs were selected in the first round of the 2013 draft. Bell was taken by the Steelers in the second round. As a result, he made fewer than $4 million in the first four years of his contract.
Bell’s career earnings to date are slightly more than $16 million with the majority of that total coming in 2017 when he earned $12.1 million on the franchise tag. Assuming Bell and the Steelers cannot come to terms on a long-term deal by the deadline his career earnings will jump to $30.6 million because he’ll earn $14.5 million on this year’s franchise tag. Over six years that’s an average of slightly more than $5 million per season.
Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott entered the NFL at a better time and had the fortune of being selected among the top five picks in his draft. He was drafted three years after Bell with the No. 4 overall pick in 2016. By virtue of being a high first-round pick, Elliott already has earned more money than Bell. He has earned nearly $18 million over the first two years of his career and will earn $24.3 million over the first four years of his rookie contract.
The Los Angeles Rams selected Todd Gurley one year earlier in 2015. He was the No. 10 overall pick in that draft. He’ll complete his rookie contract this year and earn $23.5 million over his first four years.
That’s a tough pill to swallow for a player who has earned first-team All-Pro honors in two of his five NFL seasons and is widely regarded as the NFL’s best running back.
Bell’s stance is a bold one and could backfire if he suffers another major injury before he can hit free agency. But if he stays injury-free he could strike it rich next year with a team with lots of salary-cap space.
Running back market
Devonta Freeman of the Atlanta Falcons is second only to Bell on the list of the NFL’s highest-paid running backs. He signed a five-year deal last year worth $41.25 million with $18.3 million guaranteed.
This is where it becomes easy to see the Steelers’ side of the negotiations. Their offer to Bell last summer was a lot better. Almost twice as good.
Bell has indicated he wants as much as $17 million a year. The gap might be too much to bridge.
In the end, it’s hard to fault the player or the team for their negotiating stance. Bell feels underpaid based on his status and his production since entering the league.
On the other side, the Steelers can’t begin to reward players for past performance. They have to look forward and pay Bell a salary they believe will value his services as he enters his mid and late 20s.
Bell isn’t old by any means. He just turned 26 in February and potentially would play the final year of a five-year contract at 30. The Steelers had no problem paying receiver Antonio Brown $17 million a year when he’ll be 32 in the final year of his deal.
The big difference between Brown and Bell is the position they play. Receivers tend to be more productive for longer periods than running backs. The wear and tear of the running back position takes a toll on their ability to maintain peak performance.
Despite his relative young age, Bell has a lot of tread on his tires. He had more touches than any other player in the league last season with 406. He has had almost 750 touches over the past two seasons.
Similar usage in 2018 could drive down his price in free agency. He’ll be 27 and trying to find a team willing to pay a running back entering his seventh NFL season an unprecedented salary for the position.
It’s a gamble Bell might be willing to take. Teams spend silly amounts of money every year in free agency and there are plenty of teams that will have the financial flexibility to sign Bell to a big deal. The New York Jets are projected to have a whopping $109 million in cap space in 2019. For comparison’s sake the Steelers are projected to have around$8 million.
Bell won’t be lacking for suitors. Other teams such as the Seattle Seahawks (with a projected $54 million in 2019 cap space), Indianapolis Colts ($50 million), Houston Texans ($45 million) and Oakland Raiders ($33 million) have the money and a potential need at running back.
The clock is ticking on the Steelers to sign Bell. If they don’t, it’s almost a given he will be playing elsewhere in 2019.