The Pittsburgh Steelers have finally started making moves towards signing Le’Veon Bell.
It’s been two years, but finally, the Pittsburgh Steelers are working towards creating the money to sign Le’Veon Bell. After the running back put himself out there, saying he’d consider retirement if he was franchise tagged again, the Steelers have started creating cap space to sign him.
Bell wants a lot of money. Most say he’ll figure out a deal a little under $15 million a year, which is a new bar for star backs. Not that Bell hasn’t earned it. What he’s done for this team throughout his career cannot be matched, nor found in another player.
Not everyone is a fan of how he handles these situations, but when you consider he’s going to be 27-years-old and arguably the best running back in the NFL, he has ground to force his hand like this.
So, after two years, the Steelers have finally started building room for the deal. This week, the team has restructured Stephon Tuitt and David DeCastro’s contracts, clearing up $13.26 million in cap space. Pittsburgh’s $9.129 million in free cap isn’t enough to make a signing, yet, but it is a clear indication that they’re going to try and sign Bell.
It’s also foreshadowing that this team is going to make roster cuts. $9 million isn’t going to sign Bell. He wants $12-$15 million at least, and Pittsburgh can’t low-ball him again. Therefore, they’ll likely look to add a few cap casualties to the mix to clear up the rest of the space.
Mike Mitchell, Vance McDonald and J.J. Wilcox could be three names that find their way out of Pittsburgh. The three combined would leave Pittsburgh with somewhere near $11.825 million added to their cap space. A number that could work out well for the Steelers.
If the team can find a safety in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, and possibly pick up a new tight end in free agency, making these cuts would be easy. None of the three had a major impact in 2018 and moving forward are just going to be looked at as hit-or-miss additions to the roster.
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So, they could easily be the first three to go when clearing room for Bell and Roethlisberger. And with somewhere near $20 million in cap space, making at least one of these deals work will come with ease.