Pittsburgh Steelers: Le’Veon Bell’s second franchise tag not the end

The Pittsburgh Steelers placed the franchise tag again on Le’Veon Bell, but there’s still plenty more left to play out with the running back’s contract.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will enter the 2018 free agency period with one of the league’s most prized commodities off the shelf for potential shoppers. Le’Veon Bell, seeking a lucrative deal around $15 million a year, will have to settle for a lowly $14.5 million salary for the 2018 season, should he and his camp not reach an agreement for a long-term deal by mid-July.

As reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Steelers will place the franchise tag on Bell for the second-straight year.

The tag comes following a dramatic 2017, where Bell sat out the entirety of the preseason for the very same reason he has reportedly said he will sit out the 2018 season: Franchise tags aren’t his forte.

Bell now finds himself face to face with career defining decisions to come for the following months. Does he stay true to his word and sit out the 2018 season? Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL Network reportedly spoke to an anonymous Steelers player who said, “No way he can walk away from $14.5 million, but…(said player) can see him skipping a game or two”.

Whether Bell finds himself not playing in 2018 or not, the tag now allows both sides to continue working on a deal, a deal both Bell and the Steelers want. Le’Veon has proven himself as one of the top players in the league, and certainly deserves any payday coming his way.

As rumors began to swirl on Monday of the workhorse-back being franchise tagged again, Bell took to his social media pages to let everybody knew exactly how he feels.

The price Bellwill get on a long-term deal still hangs in the balance of the negotiations between his agents and the Steelers organization. However, for at least the foreseeable future, Le’Veon Bell’s patience on the field will have to prove itself off the field as well.