Le’Veon Bell appears likely to again remain away from the Steelers all summer. Similarly to last year, he’s expected to show up right before the regular season as he angles for a longterm extension that will make him the highest paid running back in league history.
Until he shows up, Bell won’t be signing his franchise tender. That’s in contrast to the other players who’ve been tagged such as Lamarcus Joyner, Demarcus Lawrence, and Ezekiel Ansah, who have all signed their tenders. If there’s no progress on a longterm deal and the relationship between the two sides sour, the Steelers could even rescind Bell’s tender before he signs it and play the 2018 season without him, says Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. While Florio says that option “remains unlikely”, he thinks it’s a possibility and notes it would put Bell in a “tough spot” as most teams’ salary caps and rosters would be set by then.
It’s a long-shot, but the Steelers seem to think they need Bell less than everyone else. Crazier things have happened.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Giants stars Landon Collins and Odell Beckham Jr. will get $12MM and $18MM per year on their next contracts, writes cap expert Jason Fitzgerald of Overthecap.com (Twitter link), but they won’t both be with New York, he opines. Fitzgerald thinks at least one will be signing with a team other than the Giants. At this point, Collins seems the likelier of the two to be allowed to walk, considering it was reported recently the team had concerns about his fit with their new scheme.
- The Dolphins did a lot of revamping this offseason, and one of the moves they made was trading for defensive end Robert Quinn. With fellow pass-rusher Cameron Wake now 36, the Dolphins are hoping Quinn can “anchor the defensive line for the foreseeable future” according to Mike Rodak of ESPN. The Dolphins gave up a fourth round pick to get him, and it sounds like he’ll be playing a big role in 2018.
- In case you missed it, our Ben Levine took a look back at Kerry Collins’ decision to retire on this day seven years ago.