The Pittsburgh Steelers sit in uncharted waters with Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell

The Pittsburgh Steelers may be the first team to move on from this type of talent all in one offseason.

Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell – say these names to any Steeler’s fan two-years ago and undoubtedly the conversations would be about being the best at their position, their dominance, how they change the game, their talent.

Say these names to any Steeler’s fan now and you will get hot takes on where they will be traded and what the Steelers should get for them.

This offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in uncharted waters. Not only because of the aforementioned players more than likely moving on or because of how quickly the opinions have changed of those players, but because there has never been a team in history that faced this type dilemma of having to get rid of their top two offensive players at the same time.

Sure, teams have had to move on from players at the top of their position for one thing or another, but for a team to have to move on from two players that are at or near the top of their position, in the peak of their careers, concurrently? That’s never happened. Ever.

It’s even hard to think of when a given team had the top three running back at the same time they had a top three wide receiver. Honestly, who comes to mind?

Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin from the ’90’s Cowboys were the first ones that came to my mind. Those two were historically good as evidenced by them both being in the Hall of Fame. Dallas was never forced to even think about shipping either one of those players out, especially not in their prime. They were too busy winning Super Bowls.

Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison in any given year during those late ’90’s and early 2000’s Colts teams could be considered. During those years, James and Harrison both went to at least four Pro Bowls while dominating with Peyton Manning. James ended up leaving in free agency after the 2005 season and Harrison retired after the 2009 season. Most would agree that neither were still in their primes when they left.

Marshall Faulk and either Isaac Bruce or Tory Holt on the greatest show on turf Rams team in 1999 might qualify. However, Bruce or Holt wouldn’t have been considered top wide receivers at that time with Randy Moss, Chris Carter, Marvin Harrison, Keyshawn Johnson and Jimmy Smith having better years then. Even so, Faulk and Bruce/Holt were not shipped out of town during their prime years. They won a Super Bowl and went to another.

I then looked back at the past decade to see if there were any recent RB/WR combos that both were top 3-5 stat wise in any given year and there are a lot of recent examples. In 2017, Melvin Gordon was third in rushing and Keenan Allen was fourth in receiving. In 2016, Larry Fitzgerald was first in receiving and David Johnson was third in rushing. I could keep doing this through the 2011 season with different examples, however, only one player, Demarco Murray after the 2014 season, was on a different team the following year.

And yes, I know Bell wasn’t in the top five for stats last year, given he didn’t play, but when he did last play he was first in rushing attempts, third in yards, and third in touchdowns.

What the Steelers decide to do with these two will shape the next five to ten years for this franchise. Will they be contending in Ben’s final years or is this the beginning of the end for this team’s championship window? The Pittsburgh Steelers are in uncharted waters. What will they do?