Feb 27, 2017 3 min read

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The dominoes started to fall into place for the Steelers’ offseason Monday.

First, the team placed the exclusive rights franchise tag on running back Le’Veon Bell, protecting themselves from losing their star running back to another team this offseason.

Then, about an hour after news of the Bell move broke, the team announced the signing of wide receiver Antonio Brown to what amounts to a four-year, $68-million contract extension.

How was your day?

Placing the exclusive rights tag on Bell was a no-brainer. Though it will cost the team upwards of $12 million if the two sides can’t work out a long-term deal, the Steelers have the cap space and Bell is one of the best running backs – if not overall players – in the NFL.

Had the Steelers simply placed the regular franchise tag or a transition tag on Bell, you can bet there would have been some teams that would take a run at signing him.

Two first round picks – the compensation for the regular franchise tag – or simply giving the Steelers the right to match an offer – the transition tag rules – would have meant nothing to a team such as, say, Cleveland, which has multiple first-round picks this year, has plenty of cap space available and is looking to make a splash move.

Don’t think for a second that the Browns wouldn’t have made a run at signing the Ohio native.

As for Brown, his deal is a win-win for the Steelers.

They get to keep one of the NFL’s top receiver talents while also showing their locker room that when the front office makes a promise – as it did with Brown last offseason – it lives up to its words.

Brown’s deal will average $17 million over the final four years, which will make him the league’s highest-paid receiver until the next set of star wideouts reach free agency – Mike Evans, DeAndre Hopkins, Jarvis Landry.

But that’s OK. Brown will be happy and should be for the length of this deal. As he Tweeted with a picture of him signing his deal, “Steeler for life.”

And while some think he’s only concerned about his stats, finishing his career with the Steelers does matter to Brown, as does winning.

This should take care of some of those things.

By the time this contract expires, Brown will have broken all of the team’s receiving records and, at 32 heading to 33, will at least be considering retirement.

As for the championship, keeping Brown and Bell around certainly helps that.

The Steelers will have until July 15 to pound out a new deal with Bell before those negotiations are shut off and he plays out 2017 on a one-year deal.

The Steelers would like to work out a multi-year deal with the 25-year-old running back and that’s something that should get done this offseason.

They now can turn their attention to re-signing some of their own free agents, Lawrence Timmons and James Harrison among them.