Le'Veon Bell's future has been the NFL's saga of the summer. Back in March, the Pittsburgh Steelers placed their star running back under the franchise tag - with the hope of negotiating him a new deal.Unfortunately for them, the tag deadline passed at 4 pm on Monday, with no contract being agreed.

THE NEGOTIATIONS

It's reported that both parties were in talks right up until the last few moments, but after months of struggle, realistically, there was never going to be a deal. 

Bell has been holding out for a lot of money - perhaps more than the Steelers can ever really pay him.

In fact, he actually turned down a ludicrous final offer, according to the NFL's Ian Rapoport.

"From what I understand, the #Steelers’ final offer to RB Le’Veon Bell was 5 years, $70M with more than $30M over 2 years," he wrote on Twitter.

"Last year, the offer was 5 years, $60M. Instead, he’ll earn $14.5M on another franchise tag." 

That is frankly ridiculous if true.

BELL'S FUTURE

So ridiculous in fact, that if he's really turned down that offer, he probably doesn't want to be a Steeler for much longer.

With no deal being agreed, 2018 could well be Bell's final year in Pittsburgh - that is, at least, according to his agent. 

"His intention was to retire as a Steeler," Adisa Bakari told ESPN

"But now that there's no deal, the practical reality is this now likely will be Le'Veon's last season as a Steeler."

That doesn't make good reading for fans of the Black and Yellow - because it sounds like they're going to lose their superstar.  

However, the consolation is that Bell himself has tweeted about the situation - and has made a bold prediction about what he'll achieve over the next year.

A DEFINING SEASON

"To all my Steeler fans, my desire always has been to retire a Steeler," he tweeted on Monday, echoing what his agent also explained. 

"Both sides worked extremely hard today to make that happen, but the NFL is a hard business at times.

"To the fans that had hope, I’m sorry we let you down but trust me, 2018 will be my best season to date..."

Although Pittsburgh and their fans didn't get the outcome they were hoping for with Bell, the attitude that the 26-year-old seemingly has will soften the blow.

If 2018 really is going to be his final season with the Steelers, it looks like Bell is aiming to go out on a high.