Steelers should move on from Le’Veon Bell

Le’Veon Bell is a great player. Le’Veon Bell is also a headache that might no longer be worth the trouble.

On Tuesday, the NFL’s deadline for teams applying the franchise tag will come into effect, and in all likelihood, the Pittsburgh Steelers will once again use it on their All-Pro running back. After playing on the tag last year, Bell will earn more than $14 million for the 2018 season before hitting unrestricted free agency a year from now.

Bell, 26, is one of the game’s best players. Last year, the Michigan State product racked up 1,291 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. As well as that, he contributed 85 receptions and 655 yards and two scores. In short, Bell is the most well-rounded running back on earth, and he’s the prime of his career.

He’s also been a problem throughout his five-year tenure in the Steel City, being suspended multiple times along with skipping a walkthrough the day before last season’s AFC Divisional Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

All that said, the Steelers should save their time and money, moving on to more pressing matters.

With the NFL salary cap being set at $177.2 million on Monday night, the Steelers have plenty of work ahead of them. Each team needs to be cap compliant come the new league year on March 14 at 4 p.m. ET, and Pittsburgh will sit more than $9 million above the cap with Bell’s tag number.

It has to be noted that whether Bell signs the tag or not, the cap hold applies. This could come into play with Bell threatening to retire should he not get the money he feels is owed to him, per NFL.com:

“We’re not coming to a number we both agree on — they are too low, or I guess they feel I’m too high,” Bell said. “I’m playing for strictly my value to the team. That’s what I’m asking. I don’t think I should settle for anything less than what I’m valued at.”

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In reality, Le’Veon Bell is not going to retire, because nobody is walking away from such a lucrative career. Still, he would very likely hold out for most of training camp and potentially into the regular season. If Bell and the Steelers don’t come to terms on an extension by the July deadline, he’s gone.

With all that in mind, why go through the motions now? The running back position has never been so devalued, and the rookie class is strong. Additionally, not paying Bell would allow Pittsburgh to shore up the defense, something that must be done to contend for a Super Bowl ring.

If the Steelers decide to tag Bell, they will almost certainly be hamstrung with their current defense. Pittsburgh could release Ryan Shazier and Mike Mitchell. Although that only nets it $13.7 million, which pays for the draft class and little else. After that, the only easy cuts are Vance McDonald and Landry Jones, opening up $6.2 million. In essence, Pittsburgh would be going into the 2018 season with the same team,  sans Shazier.