The Pittsburgh Steelers, like all NFL teams, are seriously preparing for their NFL season opener, but the Steelers are doing so with one very big component of their offense missing.
After missing all of training camp, Le’Veon Bell is continuing his holdout as he hopes for a long-term deal. Missing camp is nothing horrendous, but the situation got serious Monday, when he did not show up for the start of the workweek. Nor was he present for meetings when the team assembled at 9 a.m. Wednesday, and at least one of his teammates doesn’t like his odds of showing up for that day’s practice: An unnamed Steelers player told the NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala that he puts the chances of that happening at just 30 percent. Bell likely would not play Sunday in Cleveland if he doesn’t sign his contract tender and practice Wednesday.
The current impasse between the Steelers and Bell began a year ago, when he played under a one-year franchise tag, and the team sought to resolve it by placing the tag on him again this season. So far, though, neither side is budging as Bell has yet to sign his CBA-delineated contract tender that would pay him a fully guaranteed $14.5 million this season. For Bell, the decision is strictly business, even if he is gambling that James Conner won’t step in and have a great game in his absence. As Ross Tucker, the former player who works for Sirius and the Athletic, points out, he’d be smart to “show up Friday or Saturday so he still gets his $855,000.” That way, he’d miss a game’s worth of hits yet still collect his Week 1 paycheck.
Like in 2017, when he reported to the team just nine days before the season opener, Bell didn’t show up for training camp and didn’t need to because he isn’t under contract with the Steelers. Many people were not happy with that decision but at least understood it and respected where Bell was coming from. He wanted a contract extension and instead got a franchise tag (and the one-year deal that comes with it) for the second year in a row.
Bell apparently went a bridge too far on Monday when he missed the first regular-season practice. The Steelers are preparing for their opener against the Browns.
Many fans took to social media to bash Bell, demand the Steelers trade him or even suspend him (even though that’s not an option for a variety of reasons). The Steelers issued a statement Monday expressing their disappointment with Bell and said they will continue to prepare for the Browns as if he won’t be available. On Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin simply answered “yes” when asked if he’s more comfortable slotting Conner into the starting lineup this year compared with last year, when Conner was a rookie.
On Wednesday, Steelers players tried to play it down the middle, with quarterback calling Bell “one of the best in the business” but adding that “one player doesn’t make or break” the team and that the team’s offensive linemen “are more important than any one skill position, myself included.” Roethlisberger did note that while he’s used to Bell’s absence, it “might be bothering” some of the team’s other players.
In the end, the most likely scenario for Bell hasn’t changed: At some point before November, the latest he can sign yet still accrue a year of NFL service, he will sign his tender, play on his one-year deal this season and then enter free agency. Given how the past few offseason negotiations have gone with Pittsburgh, Bell’s days there will likely end next spring.
At that point, Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman reports, some NFL front office personnel believe Bell will end up playing for the Patriots.
