Le’Veon Bell will not play for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season.

At this point, it’s more likely that he will never suit up for the black and yellow ever again.

While the football world watched and waited in anticipation of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline for the All-Pro running back to sign his franchise tender, Bell remained comfortable with the decision he had made in the days and months leading up to Nov. 13.

The truth is that by the time the final hours of the deadline approached, the decision wasn’t nearly as difficult for Bell as it was made out to be.

The only reason it seemed that way is because the majority of those reporters covering the NFL weren’t aware of the potential loophole in the league’s collective bargaining agreement that actually strengthened Bell’s negotiation position.

Bell’s decision to sit out for the entire season essentially forces the Steelers hand.

Pittsburgh is left with three options in accordance with the CBA.

The first option is to give Bell the transition tag and allow him to negotiate a new deal with another team.

The second option is the two sides negotiate a long-term extension. However, the Steelers have already refused to budge on contract talks with Bell despite the threat of him sitting out for an entire season, so it’s hard to imagine their position changes. Remember, Bell was already offered a $70-million extension that he turned down this past off-season.

The third and final option for Pittsburgh is to offer Bell another franchise tender. This is where things get interesting. According to the CBA, the fact that Bell sat out an entire season would push him in to a category that defines him as a “Franchise Player for the League Year following the League Year in which he does not play.”

This designation means that rather than playing under a franchise tag that pays him $14.5 million like the one the Steelers offered him this season, Bell would be eligible for a franchise tag that pays him the “average of the five largest Prior Year salaries for players at the position with the highest such average.”

Essentially, in order to offer Bell another franchise tender, Pittsburgh would have to pay him under the same rules applied to franchise tags for the quarterback position, which is the “position with the highest such average.” That franchise tender would be more than $25 million.

In summary, the Steelers could negotiate with Bell under his terms and sign him to a long-term extension, let him walk and sign with another team, or pay him more than $25 million to play in Pittsburgh next season.

Pittsburgh can’t afford to offer Bell the franchise tag he’s now eligible to receive. They also can’t afford to pay him the money he wants on a long-term deal.

That leaves the Steelers with one viable option: Let him walk.

As for Bell, the decision must have been an easy one from a financial perspective once the loophole in the CBA was discovered.

The three-time Pro Bowl running back passed on $14.5 million to play this season in exchange for guaranteeing his health and the opportunity to negotiate the long-term contract he wanted from the Steelers with another team.

How much money can Bell expect to be offered when he hits the open market?

A lot more than the $14.5 million he turned down.