Franchise-tagged Bell won’t get $15 million, not yet anyway
Le鈥橵eon Bell didn鈥檛 get that $15 million he rapped about last summer. At least not yet.
To the surprise of no one, the Steelers placed the franchise tag on their star running back on Monday, easily beating the NFL蘑菇视频 Wednesday deadline to tag players.
Bell will likely make $12.8 million for next season under the tag or the average salary of the top five players at his position. Under the exclusive tag, Bell cannot negotiate with another team.
But he still might get that $15 million if a long-term contract extension can be worked out between now and July 15.
Either way, Bell will remain in Pittsburgh at least through 2017.
Given Bell has yet to start and finish a season in his four-year career due to his injury and suspension history, placing the franchise tag on the 25-year-old was practically a no-brainer for the Steelers.
By keeping Bell off the market, the Steelers bought themselves some time to see if he can get through an off-season without an incident. Bell has served two- and three-game suspensions each of the last two seasons for violations of the league蘑菇视频 substance abuse policy.
All indications are that the Steelers would like to keep Bell beyond next season and that a long-term deal 鈥� with a salary of about $15 million 鈥� could be forthcoming. Certainly, it will be more than the $853,147 Bell earned last season.
Speaking with reporters earlier this month, GM Kevin Colbert said it is his intention to keep Bell in a Steelers uniform for his career. Before that, team president Art Rooney II expressed confidence that Bell蘑菇视频 off-field issues were not a concern.
鈥淲e think he has a bright future,鈥� Rooney said on Jan. 31. 鈥淪o, obviously we don鈥檛 expect that he is going to continue to have suspensions. We hope that is in the past. We feel like it is. I feel like he understands what he needs to do to be a successful player in this league for the long-term. I am confident that he is going to be a player that we can count on in the future.鈥�
When he has played, Bell has shown himself to be one of the NFL蘑菇视频 best, if not its best all-around, running back.
Last season Bell was primarily responsible for the Steelers鈥� nine-game winning streak which ended with a loss at New England in the AFC Championship, a game in which he played just the first quarter after going down with a groin injury.
Bell set a franchise record with five games with 200-plus scrimmage yards and led the NFL in scrimmage yards per game (157.0) in 2016. He became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 3,000 rushing and 1,500 receiving yards in his career (in just 38 games). In just 12 regular-season games, Bell蘑菇视频 336 touches were fourth in the NFL, just 37 off the league lead. Over his final nine games, Bell averaged 28.8 carries and/or receptions. In the two postseason games he finished, Bell set franchise marks with 167 rushing yards vs. Miami and then topped it with 170 at Kansas City.