To quote Yogi Berra, it's déjà vu all over again.
For the second consecutive year, the Steelers and Le'Veon Bell were unable to come to terms on a long-term contract, meaning the All-Pro running back is likely to skip the team's training camp, which begins next week at Saint Vincent College, as he did in 2017. This despite negotiations that pushed right up to Monday's NFL-mandated 4 p.m. deadline.
Bell turned down a 5-year, $60 million contract extension last year that would have paid him a reported $30 million in the first two seasons last year and earlier this year turned down a deal that would have averaged $13.3 million per season.
to all my Steeler fans, my desire always has been to retire a Steeler...both sides worked extremely hard today to make that happen, but the NFL is a hard business at times...to the fans that had hope, I’m sorry we let youu down but trust me, 2018 will be my best season to date...
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 16, 2018
Per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Steelers' final offer was five years at $70 million, or an average of $14 million per season.
The sides differed not only on terms but also the potential fallout.
At dispute in the terms was the amount of guaranteed money involved. Bell will instead play the 2018 season for the franchise tag value of $14.5 million after making $12.1 million in 2017 under the franchise tag. After that, he can become an unrestricted free agent.
"His intention was to retire as a Steeler," Bell's agent, Adisa Bakari, told ESPN's Adam Schefter. "But now that there's no deal, the practical reality is, this now likely will be Le'Veon's last season as a Steeler."
"It became clear," Bakari added, "the Steelers wanted to pay the position, not the player."
The Steelers, however, hope to revisit the situation after the season.
"Even though we could not reach a long-term contract agreement with Le'Veon Bell, we are excited he will be with the team in 2018," Kevin Colbert said in a statement. "We worked very hard to find common ground but were unable to accomplish that prior to today's deadline. Le'Veon will play this season under the exclusive franchise tag designation. After the 2018 season is completed, we will again attempt to work out a long-term contact with Le'Veon in the hope that we will continue his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers."
The Steelers could choose to tag Bell again in 2019, but his salary under the franchise tag would jump to over $20 million for the season, something that would likely preclude the team from doing so. The Steelers also could place a transition tag on him at a cost of around $17.4 million. But that would include only the right to match any offer he might receive on the free agent market without compensation if they choose not to match.
Bell has earned a total of $14.5 million in his career, with the bulk of that money coming last year. He said last year that he wanted to be paid like a top running back and a No. 2 receiver. Atlanta's Devonta Freeman is the highest-paid running back in the NFL on a long-term contract after signing a deal that averages $8.5 million per season last year.
After failing to reach a deal last year, Bell skipped training camp, reporting just a few days before the team's regular season opener at Cleveland. He got just 10 carries in that game, gaining 32 yards and catching three passes for another 15 yards in a 21-18 win. He ramped things up in Week 2, carrying the ball 27 times for 87 yards in a win over Minnesota.
By season's end, Bell had gained 1,291 yards on 321 carries and caught 85 passes -- breaking his own team record for running backs -- for 655 yards. His 406 total touches led the NFL and he was named a first-team All-Pro for the second time in his five-year career. He is expected to do the same this year, though.
The failure to reach a long-term deal was not lost on his teammates, though they did have a sense of humor about it. Guard Ramon Foster tweeted this:
CURRENT MOOD. ???. Gotta smile folks pic.twitter.com/cDcGivc8Sq
— Ramon Foster (@RamonFoster) July 16, 2018
A second-round draft pick in 2013, Bell has gained 5,336 yards rushing while also catching 312 passes for another 2,660 yards. He has scored 42 touchdowns in 62 career games, while his career average of 129 yards from scrimmage per game is the most in NFL history.
But there also have been some off-field issues that have muddied the water.
In 2014, he and then-teammate LeGarrette Blount were pulled over on their way to a team preseason charter and found to be in possession of marijuana, which Bell said belonged to him. That drew the running back a four-game suspension to start the 2015 season.
Then, he suffered a knee injury after appearing in just six games that season. Bell claimed that the knee injury was instrumental in him missing at least one mandatory drug test after he was placed in the NFL's substance abuse program following his 2014 incident. He was again suspended by the league, this time for the first three games of the 2016 season.
Despite the suspension, Bell had a monster 2016, gaining 1,884 yards from scrimmage in just 12 games -- he sat out a meaningless regular season finale -- for an average of 157 yards per game.
That continued into the playoffs, where Bell set team postseason rushing records in back-to-back wins over Miami and Kansas City, gaining 167 and then 170 yards on the ground.
But Bell suffered a groin injury and left in the first quarter of the following week's AFC Championship loss at New England when he was limited to 20 yards on six carries.
Bell was one of four players who had the franchise tag placed on them who failed to come to terms with their respective teams.
The Steelers have selected running backs in each of the past two drafts, adding James Conner in the third round in 2017 and Jaylen Samuels in the fifth round of this year's draft. They also re-signed veteran Stevan Ridley -- initially signed late last season when Conner was injured -- to provide depth at the position.