After being slapped with the franchise tag for the second year in a row, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell took to Twitter Tuesday wondering what he has to “to be wanted.”
It started with a tweet by NFL research that shows no player in history has averaged more yards from scrimmage per game than Bell has in his first five years.
Le'Veon Bell has averaged more scrimmage yards per game (129.0) than any other player in NFL history in his first 5 seasons (min. 50 games)@LeVeonBell @steelers pic.twitter.com/VgbzikqZYP
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) March 6, 2018
In response, he wrote, “lol what more I gotta do to be wanted?”
A while later, Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL Network chimed in, responding to Bell with, “To be fair, I don’t think the question is about being wanted. It’s about HOW MUCH they want you. Bell couldn’t disagree with that notion.
yes, this is true https://t.co/o9PwFeoNHu
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) March 6, 2018
Clearly, Pittsburgh wants Bell. The cap-strapped Steelers wouldn’t be willing to lay down $14.5 million for one season out of the goodness of their hearts.
However, the two sides are still extremely far about about how much Bell is worth, meaning a long-term deal could be very difficult to come by. And if no long-term deal is reached by the deadline this July, Bell is reportedly going to skip training camp for the second year in a row (if he doesn’t retire, first).
Things are still very tenuous between Bell and the Steelers, and it’s hardly surprising that many fans in Pittsburgh aren’t exactly feeling comfortable about it all.