Art Rooney II would not predict how things might turn out but the Steelers president says he wants to sign Le’Veon Bell to a long-term contract.
“That’s what we hope happens this offseason,’’ Rooney said Wednesday.
Bell will become an unrestricted free agent in March if he does not sign a new deal, unless the Steelers place the franchise tag on him for the second consecutive year. He would earn $14.7 million under that tag in 2018 but had threatened to hold out the entire season if it comes to that.
“We prefer not to negotiate in the newspaper,’’ Rooney said. “It doesn’t serve me any purpose to react to that. We’ll do our best to see if we can get something done.”
Bell nixed a long-term deal last summer that his agent had preliminary agreed to. He has said he wants a deal that averages $15 million. The next highest-paid back in the league averages $8.5 million.
“I can’t get into kind of where he fits into the running back market,’’ Rooney said. “It is what it is. You guys can go look and see what the market is.”
Bell also told the Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo during the week of the Pro Bowl that he believes a long-term deal can be worked out before Feb. 20, the first day franchise tags can be used on players.
“I don’t think it will drag on,” he said. “I think we’ll get something done, and it will be exciting for both sides — for the fans and everybody.”
Responding to that, Rooney said, “It’s hard for me to predict these things. Normally they come down to the last minute. I’ve learned not to predict because I’ve been surprised that some things get done that I didn’t think would get done and vice versa.
“We’ll go through the process and do our best. I think the good news is both sides want to get something done here and hopefully that will lead to us getting it done.”
Rooney would not say if the team would franchise Bell again.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it in terms of the franchise tag. It does have cap ramifications you have to be prepared to deal with if we get to that point.”
First Published: February 7, 2018, 9:26 p.m.
