Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell will be playing on a franchise tag for the second straight year after him and Pittsburgh couldn’t come to a long-term agreement. Bell’s agent Adisa Bakari said that he wanted to retire as a Steeler but since a deal couldn’t fall through, this will most likely be his last year with the team.
Bell will earn $14.5 million under the tag. Originally, the Steelers offered him $13.3 million a year but Bell said he didn’t wanna earn anything less than $14 million, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Rams RB Todd Gurley is also top three at his position and had some thoughts on the Bell contract situation. He stands behind Bell and wished that he earned long-term security on a new deal, per NFL.com’s Kevin Patra.
“As a player I definitely feel where he’s coming from. I don’t know exactly what he wants. But if he did what he did I’m pretty sure in his mind he did the right thing. I definitely stand behind him and definitely support him. I wanted him to get that long-term deal but unfortunately it didn’t work out. He’s playing on the tag for the second time, which is not bad at all, but you know you just want that security. It’s definitely a sad situation for a guy to be a top-three back since he’s came into the league and put in the work and can’t even get the money that he deserves. Definitely a sad situation.”
Many argue that Bell is the Steelers’ most valuable weapon. It’s debatable between WR Antonio Brown. Nonetheless, a team will probably break the bank with him next spring.
Gurley may get the title of best RB in the NFL soon so expect LA to actually make the right choice and pay him fairly. Letting a talent like Gurley play on one year deals is too risky.