Pittsburgh Steelers, Le’Veon Bell, and the failed contract negotiations

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon Bell were unable to get a deal done by the July 16 deadline. But how does it look for both parties?

For Le’Veon Bell, the  Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans, 4pm Monday was high noon. Time was ticking to get the long term deal all parties wanted to get done.

By 4:01 it was over. No deal. And after 2018, no Bell.

Now comes all the questions. When will Bell report? Will he only play half a season? How far apart were they? Who is to blame?

Who looks worse right now, Le’Veon Bell or the Pittsburgh Steelers?

According to Ian Rappaport of NFL Media, the Steelers offered Bell a five year, $70 million deal.  It would have easily made him the highest paid back in the NFL, roughly four million more  than Devante Freeman, LeSean McCoy and Ezekial Elliott. The deal would have given Bell $30 million over two years.

Somehow, that wasn’t enough to satisfy the best back in football.

So, who gets the blame here?

The Steelers are the ones who ‘leaked’ the details of the deal. Was this an effort to make Bell look selfish and greedy? If so, mission accomplished. To be fair to Bell though, we don’t know exactly the numbers he was seeking. Some have speculated he was seeking between $15-17 million per year. Does he deserve that?

The Case for:

Bell is the best back in football, pure and simple. A dual threat as a runner or receiver, he led all backs in carries with 321 and receptions with 85. He is easily one of the best backs in Steelers history. When not in the lineup due to injury or suspensions, he leaves a huge void the team is usually (save for DeAngelo Williams) unable to fill. Bell made his second straight and third overall Pro Bowl. At twenty-six he still has probably 4-5 more good years left, which would have been the length of the deal.

Case Against:

At twenty-six, he’s on the downward side as far as the shelf life of running backs go. His 4.0 average last year was the lowest of his career. He was suspended in 2015, and only played in a total of six games due suspension and then a knee injury. Got off to a slow start last year due to reporting late to the team (shades of things to come this year?). Has not made clear what exactly he was seeking in terms of guaranteed money. Should the team delegate so much money to the running back position?

Are the Steelers to blame?

Kevin Colbert, for the second year in a row failed in his biggest task. Teams don’t let players like Bell get away. However, the Steelers have a history of not overpaying and simply let big players walk. Sometimes it works against them, sometimes not.

Leaking the details of the deal looked like an effort to smear Bell and that’s not a positive thing for anyone. Many fans have labelled Bell ‘selfish’ for turning down the deal. Others have placed blame on Colbert and the team.

I am not a fan of Kevin Colbert, for reasons of my own. Many fans love and defend him. To each our own. He drafted James Conner last year with the thought he’d serve as Bell’s possible replacement down the road. His 2017 stat line was hardly inspiring, 32 carries, 144 yards no TDs. Behind Bell and Conner is a mishmash of journeymen and rookies. Nothing to see there, folks.

Conner should not be written off, however. Bell will probably replay his 2017 preseason by not showing up until the start of the season. This will give Conner most, if not all the first team reps in camp. With a season under his belt and increased reps, Conner could take a huge leap in 2018.

Back to Colbert. He’s been able to secure deals with other players, but has failed twice now with Bell. To his credit, he did strike gold with the selections of Bell and Antonio Brown. Some of his first round picks haen’t quite worked out. Some view the 2018 selection of Terell Edmunds in the first round as a stretch. He continues to sit out the first wave of free agency and signs second-tier players (Jon Bostic, oft-injured). He did strike quickly and nab Joe Haden, which helped stabilize the secondary. He’s a hot and cold GM basically. But in his biggest moment, he’s been unsuccessful two years in a row.

Final Analysis: who looks worse?

Every story must have its heroes and villains, winner and losers. In every post analysis of free agency, experts decide who looks better and worse. To be honest, there are no villains here. There are no winners either. In this case, everyone loses, the fans, the team and probably Bell. Very few teams have the cap space in 2019 for him (hello Le’Veon Bell, NY Jet).  He may never get paid what he feels he’s worth.

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In truth, both sides in the immediate aftermath look worse, the Steelers for failing to secure Bell long term two years in a row, and Bell for turning the deal down.