On Tuesday, Antonio Brown's imminent separation from the Pittsburgh Steelers became official. Just one day later, it seems the team is increasingly likely to move on from another disgruntled superstar playmaker.
Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert confirmed on Wednesday that the team will not use the franchise tag on Le'Veon Bell, making the former All-Pro running back an unrestricted free agent come March 11th:
“Le’Veon is still a great player,” Colbert said, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. “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.”
Le'Veon Bell sat out the entirety of the 2018 season after Pittsburgh designated him with the franchise tag for the second consecutive year.
Though both player and team initially hoped to work out a long-term contract that would keep him with the Steelers for the foreseeable future, those talks deteriorated leading up to the regular season, further frustrating Bell.
Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013 last year, but Bell's absence was hardly the reason why. Second-year James Conner filled in more than admirably, rushing for 973 yards and 12 touchdowns on 4.5 yards per carry while catching 55 passes for 497 yards. Pittsburgh scored 26.8 points per game, too, sixth-most in the league.
The likelihood that Bell will play elsewhere comes on the heels of the same realization regarding Brown.
The six-time Pro Bowler met with team owner Art Rooney on Tuesday, with both sides leaving the meeting having agreed that parting ways would be best.
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