With the NFL trade deadline now in the rearview mirror, the final days of reckoning are happening when it comes to the Steelers and the Le'Veon Bell situation.
Some had surmised Bell was waiting for the trade deadline to pass to report and sign his franchise offer tag because he didn't want to be dealt elsewhere. But Wednesday morning came and went and Bell had still not reported to the Steelers (4-2-1), who are now in the midst of preparing for their Week 9 game at Baltimore (4-4).
So what happens now?
The final clock on Bell reporting is now ticking. Per NFL rules, Bell would have to report and sign his deal by 4 p.m. Nov. 13 if he wants this season to count as accrued.
What does that mean?
If Bell does not report by Nov. 13, he cannot play this season unless they rescind the franchise tag -- which would make him a free agent capable of signing immediately anywhere. If he doesn't report, the Steelers could then place the franchise tag on him again in 2019 at a cost of upwards of $25 million -- the average salary of the top five players in the league, regardless of position. They also could place the transition tag on him -- at a 120 percent increase from his 2017 salary of $12.1 million -- or just allow him to become a free agent at the end of the season.
It would be like 2018 never happened -- at least in terms of the CBA.
Only for the Steelers and Bell, it has occurred. And that's where things get tricky -- or not.
Bell's decision to stay away also allowed for the emergence of James Conner in his absence. Conner, a third-round draft pick in 2017, leads the AFC with 599 yards rushing and nine rushing touchdowns. He's also caught 31 passes for 323 yards and has put together three consecutive games with at least 100 yards rushing and multiple touchdowns, the first time in team history that has occurred.
Most fans have already moved on from Bell -- chanting Conner's name midway through the third quarter following a catch-and-run in last Sunday's 33-18 win over Cleveland.
"That was really special," said Conner, who was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. "I had to listen to it a couple of times to make sure I was hearing it right, to make sure they were saying my name."
The Steelers, however, have many reasons not to simply rescind the franchise tag offer, as some have suggested.
Doing so would immediately make him a free agent capable of signing anywhere. With a number of teams -- including this week's opponent, the Ravens, in dire need of running backs -- that would be foolish.
Besides, Bell's refusal to report has already saved the Steelers nearly $7.7 million in cap space already this season from Bell's franchise tag salary of $14.54 million. And that's a number that continues to grow each week Bell doesn't show up. Even if the Steelers don't spend that money this season, they can roll any leftover space from 2018 into their 2019 cap -- which will be meaningful given the number of veteran players the team has to re-sign in the offseason.
They would be highly unlikely to want to go through this all again since they've now found a capable replacement and gained cap space in the process.
The Steelers offered Bell a contract in the offseason worth $70 million over five years, an average of $14 million per season as he tried to "re-set" the market for running backs.
Trouble is, once Bell didn't sign his offer, two other high-profile running backs did sign deals. Todd Gurley signed a four-year extension worth $60 million with the Rams that included $45 million in guaranteed money.
Gurley was still playing on his rookie contract, so he doesn't begin to see the full windfall of that deal until 2020, but the guaranteed money involved locks him in with the Rams until at least 2022. After that season, the Rams could release him with one year remaining on his contract at little to no cost. Arizona also signed David Johnson to a three-year, $39-million extension that included $31.9 million in guaranteed money just before the start of the regular season.
When Gurley signed his deal -- just a few days after the Steelers and Bell failed to come to terms by the NFL-mandated drop-dead date in mid-July -- Bell reacted in this fashion:
lol and ppl thought I was trippin?...
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 24, 2018
The guaranteed money was what essentially killed the Steelers' offer to Bell. The largest signing bonus the team has ever handed out was $31 million to Ben Roethlisberger on his most recent contract.
Antonio Brown, for example, got a signing bonus of $19 million on his 4-year, $68-million deal. That pales in comparison to the $41 million Odell Beckham got from the Giants just prior to the start of this season or the $38.2 million in signing bonus Mike Evans got from Tampa Bay in March of this year.
But, as the Steelers often do, they renegotiated Brown's contract after the first year, turning all but $915,000 of his salary this season and a $6 million roster bonus that was due at the start of the league year into signing bonus. That created $9.72 million in cap space for the Steelers while increasing his cap charge by $3.24 million each of the final four years of his contract.
Bell, however, wanted his money now, as opposed to waiting until 2020 or beyond to see more of it.
