Pittsburgh Steelers: What’s next for Le’Veon Bell under franchise tag?

After tough negotiations that went down to the wire, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon both walk away without a new deal in place before training camp.

Perhaps one of the most anticipated stories through the 2017 offseason involved the Pittsburgh Steelers and their star running back Le’Veon Bell. Bell, who was placed under the team’s franchise tag shortly after the season ended, had until July 17 at 4:00 p.m. ET to reach a long-term deal with the Steelers. With hopes of a new contract on both sides of the bargain, the Steelers ultimately failed to lock their star running back up for the long-term.

So what does this mean for both sides? With Bell now officially playing under the tag for the 2017 season, he’s looking at a nice payday. The tag is worth $12.1 million for the upcoming season, far more than the second-highest earning back in the league at a mere $8 million average per year.

Bell has also not yet signed his franchise tender, meaning he is not required to report to training camp. There’s a strong possibility that Bell could hold out, or not even show at camp at all. The situation for both sides is a hard one to read at best, considering neither side has shown their cards when it comes to the possibility of the running back missing training camp.

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For the Steelers, the 2018 offseason has significantly more importance than before. After making Antonio Brown the highest paid wide receiver in the league, Pittsburgh was banking on securing Bell for the long haul of his career. Alongside Bell, the Steelers now must find answers to the contracts of key pieces such as Alejandro Villanueva and Stephon Tuitt, among others.

There was some doubt a long-term deal could be accomplished before the deadline was reached. With Bell more focused on rehabbing from surgery than a new deal, the Steelers were without him for all of the team’s OTAs and minicamps.

With all the pandemonium following the failure to secure Bell and experts exploring all possibilities, it’s important to remember that Bell will be there for Week 1 of the regular season. Additionally, Bell will still be able to negotiate for a new contract following his 2017 campaign. Should the Steelers fail to reach a new contract then, they are still able to again place the tag on Bell, which is estimated to be around $14 million for the 2018 season.

Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Pre-training camp

Both Pittsburgh and Bell have done a phenomenal job of not letting anything leak between contract negotiations. The Steelers are looking at another potential Super Bowl run, and Bell is as important as anybody else on the roster. After the deadline passed, Le’Veon Bell became the highest paid running back in the league. To the dismay of the Steelers, however, it wasn’t the way they planned to do it.