Le'Veon Bell, Steelers Reportedly Not Close to New Contract Agreement

The Pittsburgh Steelers and superstar running back Le'Veon Bell reportedly aren't close to an agreement on a long-term contract extension ahead of the July 17 deadline.

On Tuesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN noted "both sides have motivations" to get a new deal in place, but the situation "could go either way" when they make a final push in the coming weeks.

Pittsburgh placed the franchise tag on Bell in late February. He's yet to sign the one-year tender in hopes of reaching a more lucrative extension.

In early March, the 25-year-old Michigan State product talked about the situation with TMZ Sports.

"We still going to work towards it," Bell said. "…Me and the Steelers want to work together. We're going to work towards a long-term deal leading up to the deadline. If it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done … but I definitely think something will work and we'll see what happens."

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said later in March he's hoping for the same result but noted it will be a "complicated" process, per Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

"At what point it gets done, I can't say," Colbert said. "It will be a very complicated type of deal. But it always has been our goal."

Bell will earn $12.12 million if he plays next season under the franchise tag. The next-highest salary at the position is DeMarco Murray at $6.25 million, according to Spotrac.

The high-priced tender is part of the reason Bob Labriola of the Steelers' official website wrote he "cannot imagine a realistic scenario" where the rusher holds out into the regular season.

The dynamic dual-threat playmaker racked up 1,884 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns across 12 games last season. His 6,050 yards from scrimmage since the Steelers drafted him in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft ranks fourth in the league.