The Facts: Bell has said that he and the team had agreed to a deadline of February 20 to finalize a long-term deal. Four days from that artificial deadline, how real are the talks? According to PFT's Mike Florio, there’s talk in league circles that nothing much has been happening between the two sides in recent weeks. Of course, deadlines (real or fake) often lead to action, and if the foundation for a deal was laid in the days after the team’s season ended, it shouldn’t take much to get the deal done.

Diehards Line: Florio went on to suggest that for Bell, it still makes sense to wait until the window for application of the franchise tag closes. If tagged a second straight time, Bell would be entitled to more than $14.5 million for 2018, making that the starting point for a long-term deal. If not tagged, the open market will determine his value. The problem for Bell is that the running back market currently resides well south of $14.5 million per year, with LeSean McCoy and Devonta Freeman currently pushing the envelope in the range of $8 million per year. But Bell is a unique talent, a receiving and rushing threat, and if he’s free to leave it’s safe to say he'll have suitors willing to bid competitively against Pittsburgh. The problem for the Steelers is obvious: Bell realizes the longer this goes on, the better the offers will get. So we'll see how realistic that whole Feb. 20 thing is.