After two years of dancing around contract issues with Le'Veon Bell, the Steelers are done.
General manager Kevin Colbert said Wednesday the team will not use any kind of restrictive tag on the star running back, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent March 13 when the new league year begins.
"We will not use any tag on Le'Veon Bell," Colbert said. "The production from that position was pretty good. We can't afford to use the tags with the other needs we have. And yes, I said needs."
Bell sat out the entire 2018 season after having the franchise tag placed on him for the second consecutive year by the team, skipping out on $14.5 million in salary. He earned $12.1 million in 2017 as the team's designated franchise player.
But in Bell's absence last year, second-year running back James Conner emerged as a Pro Bowl player, while rookie Jaylen Samuels also proved to be valuable.
Colbert noted that duo, along with veteran Stevan Ridley, provided nearly the same production from the running back position as the Steelers had gotten in 2017 with a backfield that included Bell.
The Steelers attempted to sign Bell, who turned 27 earlier this week, to long-term contracts in each of the previous two offseasons to no avail. Colbert said, however, even though the team isn't using a tag on the running back, it is not closing the door on him completely in terms of returning.
"Le'Veon is still a significant player but James Conner stepped up and filled the void. Good for him, good for us," Colbert said. "Le'Veon will be in high demand because he's been a significant player, although a year removed."
Bell is not the only pending contract situation that requires the Steelers attention.
Colbert said the team still has faith in placekicker Chris Boswell, who struggled through a 2018 season after earning a Pro Bowl berth in 2017, though that won't keep them from providing him with competition next season.
"The dropoff of Chris Boswell was surprising, disappointing," Colbert said. "This was something Chris shared with us and we shared with him. We believe Chris Boswell has the ability to be better that he was. We've seen it. He set a standard for himself in 2017. He was a Pro Bowl player. Last season, he was statistically one of the worst kickers in the league. That's a huge dropoff. As a young player, we believe he can find his way out of that and we will support him in that attempt. Does that mean he won't have competition? Absolutely not."
Boswell, who signed a 4-year, $16.8-million contract extension in training camp last year, made just 13 of 20 field goal attempts last season before being placed on injured reserve with a groin injury prior to the team's regular season finale.
I also asked Colbert about the team's plans with former first-round draft picks Bud Dupree and Artie Burns.
Dupree is scheduled to earn $9.2 million in 2019, after the team picked up his fifth-year option in 2018. That money becomes fully guaranteed if Dupree is on the roster March 13.
"We'll watch this thing as we go into free agency, the draft. The number is there. We know what it is," Colbert said. "Look, Bud Dupree had his best year last year. Collectively between he and TJ (Watt), they were pretty good. I like the change coach (Mike Tomlin) made putting TJ on the left and putting Bud on the right. Does Bud still have more? Absolutely. But Bud was a starter on a winning team. Was it a playoff team? No. It's not a lack of effort. It's just turning that into more production. Can he? Will he? That's what we'll see."
The team must make a similar decision regarding Burns, their 2016 first-round draft pick. Burns opened the 2018 season as a starter at cornerback but lost his job early in the year to veteran Coty Sensabaugh and rarely played on defense after that.
Burns is slated to make $1.75 million in 2019 and count just over $3 million against the team's salary cap. A fifth-year option for Burns would cost upwards of $10 million. The Steelers need to make the decision whether to pick that up before the new league year begins, something that seems highly unlikely at this point.
"Artie took a step backward last year. It's not something we haven't talked about with him. Artie's gotta find his confidence. It's something we have talked to him about. Does he have the talent. Have we seen him be productive? We have. But we saw last year that he took a step back. We'll find out if he can find it. Is that going to stop us from challenging his position with other players? Absolutely not, because he proved he could do it."
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