Jul 18, 2017 4 min read

Notice: Undefined offset: 0 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/includes/single/strategically_placed_photos_article.php on line 412

Notice: Trying to get property 'term_id' of non-object in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/includes/single/strategically_placed_photos_article.php on line 412

As the numbers – at least the supposed numbers – of what the Steelers were offering Le’Veon Bell in a contract extension trickle out, fans have shown their typical outrage.

According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the Steelers were offering Bell a deal that averaged $12 million per season that included $30 million in the first two seasons and $42 million over three years.

If the deal averaged $12 million and Bell was getting $42 million over the first three years, that means the final two years of the contract – we can assume it was a five-year deal – would have paid him $18 million.

And since the Steelers don’t typically put big guarantees into their contracts, what Bell was being offered was a deal that was heavily front loaded.

If that was the case, it’s no surprise he bet on himself and chose to play this season for the franchise tag value of $12.12 million.

As I have previously written, if Bell is franchised again by the Steelers next season, he will get at least $14 million guaranteed. That’s $26 million in guranteed money.

And if the Steelers choose not to place the franchise tag on him again next season, some other team will most certainly want to pay a 26-year-old star running back big money.

The next question is whether Bell will report to training camp when it opens next week at Saint Vincent College.

He’s under no obligation at this point since he’s not under contract and told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that he’s unsure whether he will report with everyone else.

“The way I train, all it’s going to take for me is a few practices and some game action,” Bell said. “I haven’t thought about it that far. I’m game-planning today.”

Bell would be well served to get into camp sooner rather than later. While no new contract negotiations can now take place, he also isn’t guaranteed any money until he signs his tender offer.

The longer he stays away, the more angst he’ll create with fans – who have already cut him a fair amount of slack for his past indiscretions.

The fans will forget all about a holdout by Bell when he starts piling up 100-yard games. But if he holds out, gets a couple of practices and some game action under his belt and then gets hurt, the fallout from fans will be severe.

And we’ve seen exactly that happen to holdouts across the league over the years.

* My best guess based on his comments is that Bell skips the first two weeks of training camp and comes in after the team’s first preseason game.

That will give him a couple of weeks to get ready to play in the third preseason game – which is when he would have gotten any serious work anyway – and then shut things down until the regular season begins.

* The Post-Gazette ran a story today saying that left tackle Alejandro Villanueva could be a holdout rather than report and sign his one-year exclusive rights free agent offer.

Villanueva, 28, attended all of the team’s offseason workouts and it would be somewhat surprising if he decided to hold out now.

But it’s also his only leverage at this point.

As an exclusive rights free agent, he has no bargaining power other than his services.

If Villanueva does hold out, however, it opens the door for Jerald Hawkins to start working at left tackle with the first-team unit. And that doesn’t do Villanueva any good, either.

That is the difficult part of these negotiations for the Steelers.

They like Villanueva. He’s a great story and an improving player. But he’s also 28.

And they like Hawkins, a young, promising natural left tackle.

But if they give Villanueva a contract extension, it means they don’t have a spot open anytime soon for Hawkins, who has three years left on his rookie deal.

Marcus Gilbert is signed through 2019, which lines up with Hawkins’ final seaso, and will be 32 at that point, so there is that. If Hawkins is what they think he is, however, they might want to get him playing time before 2019.

Which brings us back to Villanueva.

The Steelers can make him an offer as a restricted free agent after this season, meaning he’ll get a nice raise. But it won’t be the $10 million or more that 13 other starting left tackles in the league are currently making.

And the Steelers can’t afford to pay Villanueva more than guard David DeCastro or center Maurkice Pouncey, a pair of Pro Bowl players, currently earn.