The Steelers are going to franchise RB Le’Veon Bell, and rightly so.
You can’t give a multi-year, big-money contract to somebody who got suspended for pot in each of the past two seasons, and is injury-prone on top of that. At 24, workload is well on its way to wearing out Bell.
When the Steelers officially tag Bell before Wednesday’s deadline for doing so, Bell is very likely to be very angry. How will that manifest itself?
Will Bell skip OTAs and/or mini-camp?
Will Bell not show up at Latrobe on time?
Will Bell make a big stink to the media?
Bell won’t be happy. That seems guaranteed.
Here’s what Bell doesn’t get: You don’t get paid based solely on being good. You also get paid based on risk.
Bell is very good. Between marijuana, injuries and general wear and tear, Bell is also a very big risk.