Le’Veon Bell

Latest On Steelers, Le’Veon Bell

September 4th, 2018 at 9:33pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell did not report to the team’s facility on Monday, leading to a number of statements from Pittsburgh’s decision makers.

“We are disappointed Le’Veon Bell has not signed his franchise tender and rejoined his teammates,” general manger Kevin Colbert said in a prepared statement. “Coach [Mike] Tomlin and the coaching staff will continue to focus on preparing the players on our roster for our regular season opener on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.”

Bell is the last remaining franchise-tagged player yet to sign his tender, which will pay him $14.544MM for the 2018 campaign. The Steelers attempted to sign Bell to a long-term extension during the offseason, but those talks never led to an agreement. Recent reports indicated Bell would report to Pittsburgh on Monday, but Bell later tweeted that those reports were “fake news.”

“I hadn’t thought about it,” Tomlin said when asked if Bell would report on Wednesday (Twitter thread via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic). “We’ll see. Much like I’ve told you guys throughout this process when he gets here is when we will start quantifying all Le’Veon Bell-type things. His overall readiness, the amount of time that we have between our arrival and our next competition, etc, etc.

We will weigh all of those things at the appropriate time. Right now, we are singularly focused on the guys who are here working and have been here working and building a plan around variables that we know. That’s the appropriate thing.”

The Steelers open the season on Sunday against the division-rival Browns, and Bell would forfeit a game check if he’s not in attendance. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, will likely give second-year pro James Conner the “start” at running back against Cleveland even if Bell does report this week, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That certainly doesn’t mean Bell wouldn’t play, but it signals a confidence in Conner following a strong training camp and preseason, and possibly sends a thinly-veiled shot at Bell after an offseason of relative animosity between player and team.

Bell To Report To Steelers On Labor Day?

August 28th, 2018 at 3:52pm CST by Zachary Links

Le’Veon Bell has told some of his teammates that he will report to the Steelers on Labor Day, Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette hears. If Bell is in the building on Sept. 3, he’ll be able to participate in the team’s first day of practice before the season opener.

Bell has abstained from training camp after receiving a second consecutive franchise tag which is worth $14.5MM this time around. Last year, Bell also held out from camp, but officially reported on Sept. 4.

It remains to be seen how the Steelers will use Bell in the season opener. Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner could give Bell his typical workload, or he could start the year by splitting the carries between Bell and backup James Conner.

“That’s a hard question because it’s Le’Veon,” Fichtner said recently. “You’d like to think that he’ll be in good shape. But we’ll have to evaluate where he’s at — conditioning, health, things like that. Using him in the best way to help us win early will be the most important thing. There will be some things he can do that quite frankly most people who play his position can’t do. But that’s not anything against the running backs that have gone through training camp with us because they’ve done a heck of a job, including James.”

Despite his dissatisfaction with the team and his contract, it sounds like Bell will show up for work as scheduled. However, this may be his final season in black and yellow.

Latest On Le’Veon Bell, Steelers

July 28th, 2018 at 4:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

It doesn’t sound like the Steelers are expecting Le’Veon Bell to show for training camp. The franchise-tagged running back, like last year, may well report to his team after the preseason concludes.

The Steelers and Bell could not come to terms on an extension, again, but Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports Pittsburgh did offer more than the $10MM guaranteed that was reported last week. Bell did not believe the guaranteed money was sufficient, but La Canfora notes Pittsburgh’s proposal featured “exponentially greater” guarantee figures than $10MM.

This offer was part of a five-year, $70MM proposal, and JLC confirms the $45MM over three years — which would have topped Todd Gurley‘s since-agreed-to deal that will pay him $40MM through 2020 — component of the Steelers’ final offer.

However, a sense among Steelers brass was Bell would turn down any deal proposed, per La Canfora, because of the allure of free agency come March. This is a bold move on Bell’s part, due to his throwback workload (406 touches last season — in 15 games — the most a running back’s accumulated since Chris Johnson in 2009) and injury risk that comes with the Steelers’ brand of usage. But Gurley’s extension provides a clearer road map for a team looking to sign Bell.

La Canfora doesn’t believe the Steelers are expecting Bell to be back in 2019, though the 26-year-old back is expected to communicate with Mike Tomlin and likely new OC Randy Fichtner while he’s away from the team.

Last year, GM Kevin Colbert called for Bell to end his holdout and report in order to make necessary preparations for the season. This year, the longtime Steelers decision-maker isn’t as direct but remains insistent Bell showing up for camp will help him early in the season. Bell struggled out of the starting blocks in 2017, failing to exceed 100 yards from scrimmage in all three of the Steelers’ September games.

“Unfortunately, we have to go through it again,” Colbert said, via La Canfora. “The fortunate part is at the end we will have Le’Veon Bell on our team. Ideally, the earlier he gets here the better it will be for him and obviously for us, because I don’t think he got off to the kind of start (last season) he would have gotten off to had he worked for his team for a week or two, whatever that would have been.

“You just need that timing; you need that football conditioning. He’ll show up and be in great physical condition, but that can never equate to great football conditioning until they go through this.”

AFC Notes: Steelers, Bell, Jets

July 18th, 2018 at 12:21pm CST by Zachary Links

Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell is essentially betting that a team will to pay him at least $58MM on a four-year deal in free agency next year. However, he can’t necessarily bank on that, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com explains, citing DeMarco Murray as an example.

After being named 2014’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Murray didn’t find the riches he thought he would thanks to the devaluation of running backs and his mileage. If Bell plays a full season he’ll also crank up the odometer significantly, and that could negatively affect his value next March.

When Bell hits the open market, Corry suggests that the Colts, Jets, Texans, Browns, and Raiders will be among the teams with serious interest in signing him.

Here’s more from the AFC:

The Jets have nearly $20MM in cap room to work with, but they’re unlikely to land Seahawks safety Earl Thomas, NJ.com’s Ryan Dunleavy writes. For all of the Jets question marks, safety is actually one of their bright spots thanks to the presence of Jamal Adams and Marcus Maye. Thomas would make any team better, but the Jets would be better served by putting their resources in another direction. Dunleavy also explains why New Jersey’s other favorite teams – the Giants and Eagles – aren’t likely to deal for the multiple-time Pro Bowler.
Colts defensive end Chris McCain was arraigned this week on two misdemeanor battery charges stemming from a January incident in L.A., Stephen Holder of the Indy Star tweets. McCain pleaded not guilty and was ordered by the court to stay minimum of 100 yards away from the alleged victim. The next hearing for McCain, who was held out of Colts minicamp in June, is scheduled for Aug. 21.
Former Jets and Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis retired from the NFL on Wednesday.

Latest On Le’Veon Bell, Steelers

July 17th, 2018 at 8:50pm CST by Ben Levine

We learned yesterday that the Steelers final offer to running back Le’Veon Bell was worth $70MM over five years. While that deal is plenty lucrative, it may not have been as good as it sounded. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the deal only contained $10MM in guaranteed money. Similar to last season’s offer, Bell would have made $33MM over the first two years “in a rolling guaranteed structure.” This number would have been increased to $45MM over three years.

As Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com points out (via Twitter), the deal would have been “virtually identical to the cash flows of the last contract.” The boosts in value would have been based on the increase in value of the running back franchise tag.

There’s been plenty of news pertaining to Bell and the Steelers over the past few days, which naturally led to a number of reactions and observations. We compiled all of the relevant notes below:

While reports indicated that the Steelers had offered Bell the $70MM contract, Bell’s agent, Adisa Bakari, seemed to imply that that wasn’t actually the case. In fact, he seemingly backed the above report that the deal didn’t include much guaranteed money. “I am certainly not saying that what has been reported is accurate because it’s not quite frankly,” Bakari said (via SiriusXM NFL Radio on Twitter). “The most important element is the guarantee.”
Yesterday, Bakari said this will likely be his client’s final season in Pittsburgh. If Bell does end up going elsewhere, he’ll be the eighth player since 2013 to leave his team after being tagged (via Rapoport on Twitter). The list of players includes quarterback Kirk Cousins, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, linebacker Brian Orakpo, defensive end Greg Hardy, offensive guard Branden Albert, defensive end Michael Johnson, and defensive tackle Henry Melton. Rapoport did not include cornerback Josh Norman nor tight end Jimmy Graham, who both had unique defections after inking the franchise tag.
Mark Kaboly of The Athletic writes that neither the Steelers nor Bell’s camp are to blame for the lack of a long-term deal. The writer understands that the organization isn’t in a hurry to pay a running back more than $14.5MM per season. On the flip side, Kaboly believes Bell has established himself as one of the best players at his position, and he deserves to have a contract that matches his standing.
Could the Steelers end up rescinding Bell’s one-year, $14.5MM franchise tender? While it’s unlikely, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com explains that it’s a possibility. The writer opines that the organization may not want to pay that kind of money to a player who will only be with the organization for one more season, especially if Bell decides to sit out regular season games. Plus, the Steelers seem to have a solid backup plan in James Conner, and they could also choose to pursue any of the available running backs still sitting on the market (a grouping that includes Adrian Peterson, Alfred Morris, or the recently-retired DeMarco Murray).
Fitzgerald took a look at the current “plight of the running back,” noting that Bell and his peers can’t expect to earn the same kind of money that running backs earned five or six years ago. Ultimately, even if Bell does somehow manage to snag a record-breaking contract, Fitzgerald doesn’t believe it will have a lasting impact on the running back market.

Steelers’ Bell Unlikely To Miss Games

July 17th, 2018 at 12:11pm CST by Zachary Links

Rob Gronkowski will report to the Patriots for training camp, but don’t expect the same from Steelers star Le’Veon Bell. The running back’s tentative plan is to miss Steelers training camp but be ready for the regular season, a source tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). While Bell is displeased over the team’s decision to not give him a suitable extension before the deadline, it would be a “shock” if he were to miss games and the Steelers expect him to play a full season, Fowler hears.

Of course, Bell still has time to consider all of his options. In theory, Bell could protect himself from injury by waiting to sign his tender until after the season has begun. But, by doing that, he would miss out on more than $900K for every game he doesn’t play and would risk the possibility – however slim – of the Steelers rescinding the tag. Bell would reach free agency in that scenario, but at a time when most of the league’s free agent dollars have dried up.

There’s also the possibility that Bell changes his mind, signs the tag quickly, and reports in time for training camp this month. But, right now, that seems about as unlikely as a regular season holdout. Last year, Bell took his time before signing the tag and still managed an incredibly productive season.

In 2017, Bell posted 1,946 yards from scrimmage in 15 games. His 4.0 yards per carry represented a drop from the 4.9 he’d averaged in 2015 and ’16, but that might have something to do with overuse. Last year, Bell led the league with 321 carries and had 406 touches overall.

Tag Fallout: Bell, Lawrence, Johnson

July 16th, 2018 at 8:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Monday’s deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign extensions came and went without a deal. For the Steelers, this could well mean the beginning of an era’s end. For the Cowboys, Lions and Rams, prices for their tagged performers went up for future purposes. Here’s the latest fallout from the tag deadline.

Despite reports the Cowboys and DeMarcus Lawrence were going to engage in discussions about an extension prior to Monday, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports no substantive talks had occurred in months. The parties last participated in a real debate about Lawrence’s value in March, per Archer. That doesn’t make these talks much different from the Lions and Ziggy Ansah, with Bob Quinn effectively admitting they were planning to use the tag to evaluate their injury-prone defensive end this season. Lawrence has struggled with multiple maladies as well, and it seems the Cowboys are willing to have a $17.1MM cap hit on the books to see if he can deliver another strong season.
Lawrence did not express concern about playing this season for that amount, but he does not want to play on what’s essentially a rental agreement in 2019. The defensive end, though, would make $20.5MM if the Cowboys tagged him again. And Archer expects that’s exactly what will end up happening (Twitter link). A $20.5MM hit may be not be as damaging as it once was, but it will likely represent a slightly greater percentage of Dallas’ 2019 cap than Lawrence’s 2018 hit does for this year’s $177MM ceiling. If the cap goes up by its usual $10MM or close approximation, a $20.5MM hit would take up nearly 11 percent of the Cowboys’ ’19 cap. This season, the 26-year-old defender will occupy 9.66 percent of the Cowboys’ cap.
Le’Veon Bell also appears to concede 2018 will be his Steelers finale. In a tweet, the sixth-year running back apologizes to fans for he and the Steelers’ inability to finalize a deal that satisfied both parties. “My desire always has been to retire a Steeler,” Bell said. “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 (sic) down but trust me, 2018 will be my best season to date.” The Steelers are believed to have offered Bell a five-year deal worth $70MM, but it’s unknown what the guarantees came out to in that proposal.
Bell is betting that a better offer will be there in March, but Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network points out (video link) the Steelers no longer have a reason to preserve their starting back for the future. This is a unique wrinkle to the two-tag process that didn’t affect Kirk Cousins or Trumaine Johnson. The team already uses Bell like an old-school workhorse, albeit with a modern spin thanks to Bell’s abilities through the air, and Kinkhabwala expects the 26-year-old’s workload to meet and possibly eclipse his 406-touch 2017 regular season. That would put him well over 1,500 carries, which would be unique for a free agent running back seeking a major contract.
One player who had a vested outside interest in Bell reaching an agreement with the Steelers is now on his own. But Joel Corry of CBS Sports tweets David Johnson‘s agent should now use the Steelers’ leaked five-year, $70MM offer as the new running back ceiling rather than Devonta Freeman‘s five-year, $41.25MM contract when negotiating with the Cardinals. Considering how big of a gap there is between these numbers (nearly $6MM AAV) and the lack of known guarantees, that might be a tough sell for the Cardinals. Corry adds that a Johnson 2019 tag would come out to approximately $11.3MM. That figure is now more relevant now that Bell is set to play on his $14.5MM tag rather than a market-resetting long-term deal.

Latest On Steelers’ Final Le’Veon Bell Offer

July 16th, 2018 at 5:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

With Le’Veon Bell attached to the franchise tag for another season, the fallout’s begun — from the running back’s agent saying this will likely be his client’s final year in Pittsburgh, to the Steelers expressing hope they can sign Bell after this season.

More clarity’s emerging on the Steelers’ final offer. Pittsburgh offered Bell a five-year, $70MM deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter), doing so a year after proposing a five-year, $60MM contract to the All-Pro running back. During an appearance on NFL Total Access, Rapoport said the Steelers and Bell did not come as close to a deal as they did last July.

Rapoport notes this proposal, like last summer’s, included more than $30MM in its first two years. The average salary of this deal is $14MM — $500K shy of the amount of Bell’s current franchise tag and the figure that Bell said was his price floor.

It’s not certain what guarantees the Steelers were willing to include, and that element could be why Bell looks bound for 2019 free agency.

The Steelers’ 2017 offer was worth $13.3MM over five years. ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler reported the team increased the proposal in the spring, with Bell’s rejection stalling talks for months. It’s unclear if this final offer was more than the one the Steelers made to Bell in the spring.

This five-year, $70MM pact, interestingly, is the same amount both Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas signed for at the 2015 tag deadline. This illustrates the obvious gap between the present values of the wide receiver and running back positions, with Antonio Brown now earning a wideout-high $17MM per year, but it also shows how much Bell stuck to his guns. This offer was $6MM north of any other running back’s AAV.

The 26-year-old running back sought more from the Steelers in the spring because of the 406-touch season — his second first-team All-Pro slate — he put together last year and his status as arguably the NFL’s best running back. Bell’s gambling this kind of money will be there for him in free agency after what would probably be another high-volume workload this season. This worked for Kirk Cousins. The two-tag process netted him free agency and a fully guaranteed deal, but he plays a much less violent position. And Bell has some injuries in his past.

It’s a bold move on Bell’s part given what’s happened to the running back market during his career and how the Steelers use him.

He enters 2018 with 1,229 career carries. Should Bell stay healthy, he’ll almost certainly surpass 1,500 this season. The only active players ahead of Bell currently: Frank Gore, Marshawn Lynch, LeSean McCoy, Jonathan Stewart and LeGarrette Blount. All of whom have at least three more years’ experience than the Steelers’ versatile workhorse. And Bell has 312 career receptions as well, adding to the risk of turning down a long-term pact for a second straight year.

Steelers Hope To Keep Bell Beyond ’18

July 16th, 2018 at 3:38pm CST by Zachary Links

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.

“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.

Bell’s Agent: “Likely” Last Year With Steelers

July 16th, 2018 at 3:08pm CST by Zachary Links

As expected, the Steelers and Le’Veon Bell did not agree to an extension before Monday’s deadline. With that, Bell’s agent Adisa Bakari says the running back is not long for Pittsburgh.

“His intention was to retire as a Steeler. But now that there’s no deal, the practical reality is, this now likely will Le’Veon’s last season as a Steeler,” Bakari said (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). “It became clear the Steelers wanted to pay the position, not the player.”

The latter part of Bakari’s quote pretty much sums it up. The Steelers have shown a willingness to make Bell the highest-paid running back in the NFL in terms of yearly average, but Bell has been pushing for a deal to compensate him as a world-class rusher who is also a high-end receiver. Meanwhile, he wanted a long-term deal to have more weight than the average NFL contract, which means high guarantees and heavy cash flow in the early years.

At last check, the Steelers were offering Bell roughly $13.3MM per season on a multi-year extension. Bell’s camp, meanwhile, asked for $17MM per year. The two sides were talking right up until the deadline, but the gap was too large to bridge.

In 2018, Bell’s $14.5MM salary will make him the top breadwinner at the running back position. However, the highest paid RB on a long-term deal is still Falcons star Devonta Freeman ($8.25MM/year). Cardinals running back David Johnson may top him with a new extension this summer, but he has less juice to work with after Bell did not reach an accord.

If Bell continues to play at a high level, he’ll be in line to revolutionize the running back market next year in free agency.

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