One of the biggest roadblocks separating Le’Veon Bell from becoming a free agent has officially has now been removed. As the Steelers GM Kevin Colbert remarked to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that the team will opt not to use any tag on Bell.
Steelers are not tagging Le'Veon Bell, according to GM Kevin Colbert: "Le’Veon is still a great player. We can’t afford to use any other type of tags. Le’Veon will be an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year."
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 20, 2019
The biggest hurdle now for Bell is if running back needy team’s, like the Buccaneers, can stomach a yearly salary north of $15M. Some question if he can secure a salary in the $15-18M range, and come at the start of free agency, Bell might find that to be true.
Bell recently has been tied to Tampa Bay after Albert Breer said last month on the Colin Cowherd show that he expects the Bucs to land Bell. Now the limited cap space situation Tampa Bay finds itself in is concerning, and will likely have to cut key pieces across the team in order to have flexibility in free agency and the draft. It’s more than likely that Bell’s demands may prove too great even if the interest was mutual to have him become the featured back for the Bucs.
.@ColinCowherd: The Green Bay Packers next coach will be….@AlbertBreer: Josh McDaniels@ColinCowherd: Le'Veon Bell next year is the starting running back for…@AlbertBreer: Tampa Bay Buccaneers pic.twitter.com/b1H80L3lWn
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 2, 2019
At this point it seems that Tampa Bay landing Bell would be stretch, as it could also be for many other teams in similar situations as well.
That said there is something significant that comes out of this latest move from Pittsburgh. And its that tagging process as it stands today is another example that it is broken, and is failing both teams & players. When the league and the NFLPA continue talks on a new CBA, revamping the tagging process needs to be made a priority.
