If Le'Veon Bell were a soccer player, he'd be known worldwide by a single name. There'd be no need for his surname. He'd simply be Le'Veon to every child from Manchester to Madrid to Maracaibo.
We say this not because it is certain that Bell's remarkable athletic skills would translate easily to that other brand of football, but to make a point about what has become his most obvious talent: He never has to leave the field.
This is of immense value in a sport that limits substitutions, as soccer does with only three players allowed to be replaced during a game. In the NFL, however, a coach can practically sub for a guy in the middle of a play. So Bell's claim to greatness, at this point in his career, has a hollow ring to it.
The Steelers offered an extravagant amount of money to Bell for the luxury of never having to sub out their running back. Bell continues to insist he is worth even more, although the offer presented to him was worth 50 percent more than any other back in the league is earning. So Monday he made it known there would be no agreement on a long-term contract in advance of the NFL's deadline to sign or play under the franchise tag. He will play this season for $14.5 million and almost certainly will enter the 2019 offseason as a free agent.
Which means it's now time for Bell to be the great player he says he is, and not just someone versatile enough to play every down.
In a Twitter post announcing his decision to decline the Steelers’ offer, Bell promised exactly that: “Im sorry we let you down but trust me, 2018 will be my best season to date."
That’s not exactly setting the bar where only Sergei Bubka can clear it.
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Bell’s best year as a pro came in 2014, when he rushed for 1,361 yards and a 4.8-yard average, along with 83 pass receptions for a 10.3 average. Since then, he has been suspended twice, missed a significant portion of the 2015 season with an knee injury and had to leave the 2016 season’s AFC championship game early because of groin problem.
A year ago, fully healthy and unsuspended, he skipped all of training camp, showed up just before the season began and then produced 236 combined yards from scrimmage in the first three weeks. He finished with a per-carry average of 4.0, which ranked 24th in the league, and a per-catch average of 7.7 yards. His basic fantasy football stats were good — 1,291 rushing yards, nine touchdowns — but it doesn't take Bill James’ brain to figure beyond that.
Bell, and now his agent, insist that Bell's value supersedes that of a traditional running back because of his contributions as a pass-catcher. Mostly, though, his worth was contained by his willingness to stay in the game.
Bell produced only three runs of 20 yards or longer and five catches of 20 yards or more last season. Although his ability as a receiver is not overstated, his production was unimpressive. Bell led NFL running backs with 85 receptions, more evidence of his ability to stay on the field through every down. But he averaged only 7.7 yards per catch, largely because an enormous chunk of his receptions did little to advance the Steelers toward the goal line. He had 22 catches that covered 3 or fewer yards, including eight for negative yardage.
This demonstrates Bell had become, under previous offensive coordinator Todd Haley, someone whose pass receiving was largely limited to dump-offs after Bell remained in the backfield to deal with any blitzing defenders. This was true even though the Steelers did not overemphasize first-down runs; they passed the ball about as often as they ran it. They could have used him more often split wide or in the slot, but they declined this option.
Perhaps new coordinator Randy Fichtner will see value in having Bell employ the receiving skill he demonstrated in the Jacksonville playoff loss, with his beautiful catch on a third-quarter wheel route over the shoulder of linebacker Telvin Smith.
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However, even without paying Bell like he is something beyond a running back, at least in the eyes of the player and his agent, the Steelers still are investing dramatically more at the position than the teams they are chasing. Bell will play in 2018 with the second-highest salary cap hit on the team. None of the past three Super Bowl champions had a running back who ranked in the top 20. None had a back earn even $2 million. Five Philadelphia backs counted a combined $3.21 million against the cap last season. That’s a quarter of what Pittsburgh paid Bell on the 2017 franchise tag.
And yet the Eagles ranked No. 3 last season in rushing yards. The Steelers were 20th. The Steelers were third in passing, but Bell’s 655 receiving yards represented only 15 percent of the team’s total. No. 3 wideout Martavis Bryant nearly matched that on 20 fewer targets. They ranked only 18th in red-zone touchdown percentage, an astonishing failure given the value they're assigning to Bell's talents.
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By declining a contract offer that reportedly would have guaranteed $30 million in the first two years and averaged $15 million for its five-year term, Bell essentially saved the Steelers from themselves. If Bell believes he is worth more than this, he either will have to produce a monumental season or find a team even more invested in the idea of rarely subbing.
After it was determined the Steelers and Bell could not reach a deal, the player’s agent, Adisa Bakari, declared to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, “It became clear the Steelers wanted to pay the position, not the player.”
As soon as Bell signs his franchise deal, the Steelers will be vastly overpaying both. At least it will continue only one more year.
