Le’Veon Bell‘s agent says the running back is unlikely to be in Pittsburgh after the 2018 season. Steelers GM Kevin Colbert, meanwhile, is still hoping to keep Bell in place for years to come. 
[RELATED: Bell’s Agent Says He’ll Likely Leave In 2019]
“Even though we could not reach a long-term contract agreement with Le’Veon Bell, we are excited he will be with the team in 2018,” Colbert said in a statement. “We worked very hard to find common ground, but we were unable to accomplish that prior to today’s deadline. Le’Veon will play this season under the exclusive franchise tag designation. After the 2018 season is completed, we again will attempt to work out a long-term contract with Le’Veon in the hope that he will continue his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Bell will indeed be with the team for 2018, but until he formally signs his tag, it’s anyone’s guess as to when Bell’s 2018 season will start. The good news for Steelers fans is that Bell vowed on Twitter to make 2018 his “best season to date.” If taken literally, Bell would have to play in all 16 games in order to turn in a career year, so that could be an indication that Bell will be in uniform for Week 1.
Although Bell may be disappointed with today’s outcome, he’s still set to earn $14.5MM for the 2018 season. The running back would miss out on more than $900K for every game that he misses, so it would behoove him to sign his tender in advance of September.
If he wants 2018 to be his best, he needs to show up earlier than 6 days before the season starts. His first 3-4 games last year weren’t that good. It took him awhile to get up to speed.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out bud
They missed their opportunity to trade him last year for a high pick or an even pro bowler swap. Steelers and Bell please don’t waste anymore of our time talking about a deal. Move on and replace him. Bell go and get the money from a team with a big cap. The End
I think that, given the market for running backs these days, another year of Bell would be worth more than they could have gotten in a trade for him anyway. I don’t see anyone making a Champ Bailey for Clinton Portis trade nowadays.
He’s crazy .. doesn’t he know how much weed he can buy with 70 mil