Le’Veon Bell promises “best season yet” for Pittsburgh Steelers after franchise tag deal passes
Le’Veon Bell didn’t get a long-term deal, but that won’t stop him on the field
Monday’s 4 p.m. deadline for players designated with a franchise tag to sign a long-term deal came and went, leaving stars such as Le’Veon Bell and DeMarcus Lawrence.
Bell, who will make $14.544 million this year, will play under the franchise tag for the second-consecutive season in Pittsburgh. Last year he held out until the first week of the season, missing all of training camp.
The running back’s agent says Pittsburgh is trying to pay the position and not the player in their negotiations. Le’Sean McCoy’s $6,075,000 base salary is the highest at the position, and Devonta Freeman will make $22,047,000 in practical guarantees over the course of his contract.
Considering Bell led the league with 321 carries last year and has had over 1,200 yards each of his last two seasons, his expected pay raise would likely surpass all running backs and most players in the NFL.
Bell tweeted himself that his desire is to retire a Steeler and that both sides of the negotiations worked hard to get a deal done today. Regardless of not having a long-term deal, Bell promises to have his “best season yet.”
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
That promise suggests no long-term holdout as ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggested could be a possibility earlier this afternoon. Schefter’s comments on Sirius XM Radio were that “I think there’s a chance, I do think there’s a chance,” Bell holds out for part of the regular season.
Bell’s agent also said this year will likely be Bell’s last with the Steelers before he projects to hit free agency. We’ll see how much of that is true considering the love Bell showed Steelers fans after the deadline passed without a deal.
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Until then, the Steelers can only hope for a long playoff run to help convince Bell that’s is the place to be long-term, regardless of the money.
Whether or not that resonates with Bell is to be seen, and will be one of the biggest storylines in training camp and throughout the NFL season.