Le'Veon Bell won't be playing in the Super Bowl, as he and his fellow Steelers planned this season. But the running back is among a large contingent of Steelers players and coaches at the Pro Bowl this week.
Wednesday, after the first AFC practice for the game in Orlando, Bell told reporters that he and the Steelers have already begun talking about a new contract and they are much further along than they were a year ago at this time.
"We are a lot closer than we were last year," Bell said to ESPN. "I want to make sure everything is good. I don't want to have the same thing happen as last year. Time for something new ... so we have no distractions."
The Steelers and Bell were unable to come to terms on a long-term agreement last season, and the team placed the franchise tag on their All-Pro running back. Bell declined a deal worth a reported $60 million over five years and played in 2017 for the franchise tag salary of $12.1 million.
“There were a lot of other things that were in the contract that didn’t get released,” Bell said of that offer. “Obviously, I can’t really get into it. But I think we’re a lot further along at this point in the year than we were at this time last year. We should come to an agreement and hopefully everything will get done.”
But he also did not sign his franchise offer until reporting to the team in the week leading up to its regular season opener Sept. 10 at Cleveland, skipping the entire offseason and preseason. And now, he is an impending free agent once again.
"I don't think it will drag on," Bell said. "I think we'll get something done and it will be exciting for both sides, for fans and for everybody."
If the Steelers don't work out a long-term deal for Bell, they can place the franchise tag on him again this season at a cost of $14.5 million.
Bell also told reporters he was indeed slightly late for the Steelers' final 30-minute walk-through in preparation for the team's playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. But, he also said he had permission from the coaching staff to be late because of "personal reasons."
"It is what it is," Bell said.
Conflicting reports came out in the aftermath of the Steelers' season-ending 45-42 loss to Jacksonville Jan. 14. The Post-Gazette reported Bell had missed all but five minutes of the walkthrough. ESPN later reported Bell hadn't missed nearly that much time.
Despite a slow start after the holdout last season, Bell finished third in the NFL in rushing and led all running backs in receptions with 85. He has averaged 129 yards from scrimmage per game in his first five seasons, the most in NFL history for a player over a five-year span.
But his career also has been marred by two suspensions, the first coming to start the 2015 season after he was involved in a traffic stop with then-teammate LeGarrette Blount and was found to be under the influence of marijuana in the 2014 preseason. The second came a year later when he missed multiple mandatory drug tests.
Bell, however, appeared in all but one of the Steelers' 17 games in 2017 and led the NFL with 407 total touches.
