Steelers, Bell fail to reach long-term deal

Le’Veon Bell’s next season with the 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 he “both sides worked extremely hard” to try and find common ground but could not.

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, 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.

Cowboys: Defensive end Randy Gregory, who was suspended all of last season over multiple violations of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, was reinstated. Gregory can join the Cowboys at training camp in California next week and will be eligible for games as long as he continues to meet the terms of his reinstatement, the league said. The 25-year-old Gregory last played in the 2016 regular-season finale.

Rams: Agreed to a fiveyear extension with wide receiver Brandin Cooks. The Rams traded their first- and sixth-round picks in the 2018 draft to the Patriots for Cooks and a fourth-round pick earlier this year. Meantime, safety Lamarcus Joyner did not come to terms on a contract extension, so the fifthyear pro will play the 2018 season for about $11.3 million under the franchise tag.

Media: Boomer Esiason is dropping his 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.

ODDS AND ENDS

Cycling: Facing the climbing prowess of Chris Froome’s Team Sky, Greg Van Avermaet expected to lose his lead of the Tour de France on the first day in the mountains. Instead, the Olympic champion managed to strengthen his hold on the yellow jersey when an anticipated attack never came in Tuesday’s Stage 10. Van Avermaet boosted his 43-second lead over Froome’s teammate, Geraint Thomas, to an advantage of 2 minutes, 22 seconds. Defending champion Froome was left sixth overall at 3:21 behind.

College football: Gabe Rivera, the College Football Hall of Famer who was paralyzed in a car accident while an NFL rookie with the Steelers, has died. He was 57. Texas Tech, where Rivera was an All-America defensive lineman, confirmed Rivera’s death Tuesday. He was selected 21st overall by Pittsburgh in the 1983 draft and had two sacks in his first six games, but in October of that year he was in an accident that left him a paraplegic.

■ Mike Kudla, a star defensive end who played on Ohio State’s 2002 national title team, has died. He was 34. The Ohio district where he played in high school posted on Twitter on Monday that he died Sunday. The cause was not disclosed.

NHL: Center Adam Henrique signed a $29.1 million, five-year extension with the Ducks. Henrique had a combined 24 goals and 26 assists in 81 games with Anaheim and New Jersey last season.

■ The Rangers agreed to a two-year contract to retain restricted free-agent forward Jimmy Vesey.