Jerome Bettis: Steelers, Bell aren't as good without each other

The Pittsburgh Steelers and their star running back, Le'Veon Bell, have less than two weeks left to work out a long-term deal before the July 16 deadline, and former Steelers great Jerome Bettis believes doing so is in the interests of both parties.

"Neither one of you are as good by yourself as you are together," Bettis told TMZ Sports. "You're (Bell) not going to be as good going somewhere else because they're not going to have the offensive line, they're not going to have the quarterback (Ben Roethlisberger), the receivers (led by Antonio Brown) that they have in Pittsburgh."

The Steelers hit Bell with the franchise tag for the second year in a row earlier this offseason. The running back ultimately played the 2017 campaign under the tag after failing to sign a long-term deal, and has skipped all offseason workouts this year in hopes of coming to an agreement.

As far as Bettis is concerned, the team shouldn't have any trepidation about inking a long-term contract with arguably the best all-around back in the league.

"I don't think a four- or five-year contract is anything the Steelers need to worry about in terms of his age because he's going to be able to produce into his early 30s," the Hall of Famer said.

So far, it doesn't appear Bell is slowing down with age, as the 26-year-old rushed for 1,291 yards last season while adding 85 catches for 655 yards through the air. Whether or not he'll stick around with the Steelers for years to come could be decided in the coming days.

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