Overall, he reached three Pro Bowls and had two All-Pro seasons during his five-year run with the team from 2013-2017.
That successful partnership gave way to issues over his worth as his rookie contract ended. The Steelers franchise-tagged him in 2017. Bell played under that tag and had his finest year as a professional with the hopes of being taken care of long-term, but a deal both sides felt fair never came to pass.
Bell told the podcast that Pittsburgh only wanted to guarantee his first year of a potential extension, and that he wanted more security, which led the Pro Bowler to sit out all of 2018 after being hit with a second franchise tag.
“We kept going back and forth,” he said. “It literally was the guarantee. They weren’t budging off of it and I wasn’t budging off of it. I didn’t want to leave Pittsburgh. At the end of the day, that’s where I was at. That’s where I got drafted at. Especially after going to different teams and seeing how it is, when a team has their guy, you’re their guy. I was Pittsburgh’s guy.”
In 2019, he was free to go elsewhere. He landed with the Jets and was never the same.
He rushed for 789 yards and three TDs in his first year with Gang Green, at the time his worst output in any season with over six games played, and then lasted only two contests and a stint on injured reserve the following year before getting released.
He split the remainder of 2020 and the 2021 season between the Chiefs, Ravens and Buccaneers, rarely amounting to even second fiddle in the RB room. In his three years away from the Steelers, he made just 19 starts (34 games played) with 1,218 rushing yards and seven scores. He failed to catch on with a team in 2022.
Now, with the passage of time and the negative experiences failing to turn up green grass elsewhere, Bell has no vitriol left for the team that drafted him.