Steelers Still Expected To Use Transition Tag On Le’Veon Bell Next Year

According to Jason La Canfora, the Steelers are still unsure of whether RB Le’Veon Bell will report to the team before next Tuesday’s deadline.

As of now, La Canfora says that there has been no communication between the two sides this weekend and some in the organization believe he’ll sit out the entire season at this point to avoid any injury risk and protect himself for a potential arbitration battle between the NFL and NFLPA over Bell’s status in 2019.

La Canfora’s sources have said that the Steelers are focused on using the transition tag on Bell next season and the NFL believes they have a strong case for tag coming in as low as $9.5 million and no higher than the $14.5 million he was set to make under the franchise tag this season. While a lot of the reporting from the past week or so has been on the franchise tag, La Canfora mentions that the NFL is actually preparing for transition tag scenario, which is considered more likely of the two.

In fact, both team and league sources have told La Canfora that they would “very surprised” if the Steelers don’t use the transition tag on Bell next year.

The transition tag gives the Steelers the right to match any offer Bell receives from another team in free agency, but they wouldn’t get any compensation for him if the decline to match an offer.

In free agency next year, La Canfora says that a team willing to make Bell an offer that is heavily front-loaded a contract, or guaranteed money beyond the first two years of a contract will have a good shot at landing the running back. Although, the lack of interest at the trade deadline and how teams perceive his holdout could impact his market and the kind of offers he gets next year.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Saturday that Bell is unlikely to report before Tuesday’s deadline, which will make him ineligible to play at all this season.

Bell, 26, is a former second-round pick of the Steelers back in 2013. He played out the final year of his four-year, $4,120,600 rookie contract that included a $1,376,800 signing bonus and was in position to be one of the best players in the free agent market when he was franchised.

The Steelers used the franchise tag on Bell again this offseason, which means he stands to make $14.5 million fully guaranteed for the 2018 season before testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent next year.

In 2017, Bell has appeared in 15 games for the Steelers and rushed for 1, 291yards on 321 carries (4 YPC) to go along with 85 receptions for 655 yards receiving and 11 total touchdowns. Pro Football Focus had him rated as the No. 9 running back out of 58 qualifying players.

We have him featured in our Top 25 – 2019 NFL Free Agents list.