Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell did not report to the team’s facility on Monday, leading to a number of statements from Pittsburgh’s decision makers.
“We are disappointed Le’Veon Bell has not signed his franchise tender and rejoined his teammates,” general manger Kevin Colbert said in a prepared statement. “Coach [Mike] Tomlin and the coaching staff will continue to focus on preparing the players on our roster for our regular season opener on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.”
Bell is the last remaining franchise-tagged player yet to sign his tender, which will pay him $14.544MM for the 2018 campaign. The Steelers attempted to sign Bell to a long-term extension during the offseason, but those talks never led to an agreement. Recent reports indicated Bell would report to Pittsburgh on Monday, but Bell later tweeted that those reports were “fake news.”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” Tomlin said when asked if Bell would report on Wednesday (Twitter thread via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic). “We’ll see. Much like I’ve told you guys throughout this process when he gets here is when we will start quantifying all Le’Veon Bell-type things. His overall readiness, the amount of time that we have between our arrival and our next competition, etc, etc.
We will weigh all of those things at the appropriate time. Right now, we are singularly focused on the guys who are here working and have been here working and building a plan around variables that we know. That’s the appropriate thing.”
The Steelers open the season on Sunday against the division-rival Browns, and Bell would forfeit a game check if he’s not in attendance. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, will likely give second-year pro James Conner the “start” at running back against Cleveland even if Bell does report this week, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That certainly doesn’t mean Bell wouldn’t play, but it signals a confidence in Conner following a strong training camp and preseason, and possibly sends a thinly-veiled shot at Bell after an offseason of relative animosity between player and team.
Steelers are better off without selfish Bell. Poor Bell, what is he gonna do making only 14M+ this season? How will he manage on such a tiny salary? Hope Connor dominates on Sunday.
Conner*
F*ck him! Pull the tag, ride with what you’ve got in the backfield & spend the money on defense. It’s where Bell’s money will be spent next year anyway. If he signs the tag & gets hurt this year, they won’t have him — or the depth on the defense they could have had with this money.
Yes please pull the tag, cause guess where he’s probably gonna go, New England. We’ve seen this story way too many times it’s happened 2 times with the Steelers alone in recent years.
What players available can help the defense anyways. It’s not like you have an all pro middle linebacker or a shutdown corner on the market right now so why let go of a top three running back right before the season.
So do a sign & trade for one of the positions you mentioned above. Have draft picks come back in the deal if only getting a good, but not All-Pro caliber player.
Other than Navarro Bowman, who is literally an all-pro linebacker, and is only 30
It’s about getting paid man. He plays arguably the roughest (on the body) position in professional sports. Health isn’t guaranteed, and he wants a long term deal while he is healthy. One year deal means nothing if he blows his ACL halfway through the season. Running back lifespans are short. Gotta get paid while you can.
There’s other things this jackazz can go do. He doesn’t have to play football and make 14 million. I’m sure he is prepared for his next stage in life. He is selfish and thinks he is Gods gift to football. I wish they would pull the tag as well. Let his azz sit. What an ignorant SOB
pot/kettle
They aren’t going to the playoffs without him.
They aren’t going to the playoffs with him at this rate
They won’t go with him either
They did it before when he tore his MCL.
Steelers have had Bell for 5 seasons. He earned his payday.
Agreed. As selfish as some of you think he’s acting because of $$$, he’s by far earned his payday with the way he’s played in his career to date.
*upcoming payday
Then the Bears can sign him next offseason and see how well he does.
I’ll taken Howard over Bell just based on character
Have any of you guys actually seen what the Steelers have offered him? It’s beyond market value. And don’t even mention Gurley, who is three years younger with 627 fewer touches.
Not really when you count the suspensions for substance abuse.
According to Bleacher Report, he’s expected to report tomorrow
defensive lineman got paid large
I can understand why Le’Veon wants to get paid. Especially being that he wasn’t a first rounder, his career earnings have been limited thus far. But can you really blame the Steelers for not wanting to guarantee a contract for a position where career length is infamously short? I can already see the comments here for the Steelers being dumb if he’s done 2 years from now and still making bank.
some of you guys talk like the Steelers didn’t offer him anything. They offered him 70 million over 5 years. That is an annual average of 14 million per year. he wasn’t happy with the guaranteed money which was ONLY 10 million. but in my opinion he’s the type of guy that if they had offered him a contract that he would have accepted, he would have wanted to renegotiate in 2 years because he wasn’t happy with it any longer. Just my opinion.
All these bozos from around the NFL saying pay Bell know nothing. You can all outbid each other giving him a huge contract for next season. And you’ll regret it.
No one is begging them to tie up big cap in a RB. But dont fault the guy for holding out
Why do we just accept holding out? Sign a contract. Live with the terms of said contract.
It’s called integrity. And don’t flash the money card…30 million is not a pittance.
He’s NOT under contract, dude. They elected to placed a franchise tag on him and he is electing to sign it when he gets ready. You people seem to have no understanding of what’s going on
They offered him a deal with $10 million in guaranteed money(his signing bonus), Gurley got $45 million guaranteed. It’s a business, and the Steelers offer in the wake of the Gurley deal, just looks insulting.
EXACTLY… someone who actually pays attention to what’s really going on.
Hahahaha people are so funny! Dude is the best back in the league and got people acting like he’s trash because he wants to be paid what he’s deserved which is more than RB money. 9ers need to trade for this guy after losing McKinnon. Sign him to an extension and release McKinnon next off season.
Don’t always agree with you but you got it right here. What kind of message does it send to players on the roster and around the league when you refuse to reward a guy who is a top performer? The Patriots have been winners because they reward performance and keep team morale high. The Raiders and Steelers owners seem determined to destroy team morale.
Actually they’ve been winners because their players do not sign huge contracts. TB may be the best qb ever, but has never been the highest paid.
The man deserves some financial security. Clearly it isn’t just about the money, and I respect that. He’s arguably the best RB in the entire league, and if they run him out there and he suffers a major injury, he has no financial security. At his position, he has done more than enough to have earned a multi-year deal with guaranteed money. The franchise tag is the WORST thing in sports. I’ve hated it for years. I think this proves that it isn’t about having the biggest paycheck necessarily, and I respect him for it.
How is it not about money? It’s all about money. Not enough guaranteed money specifically.
And when you’ve earned $30 million, you should have some financial security.
This is about biggest paycheck. They offered a pretty big one to him. That wasn’t enough.
Your assertions painting him some sort of football Jesus is laughable and gullible.
There was no assertion of a football Jesus and I’m pretty sure any one fitting that description would insist on playing for the Saints.
They offered him 10million guaranteed and incentive based contract. What part don’t you understand?
didn’t he tell his teammates weeks ago he was going to report?
He’s reported via Twitter than he won’t report so technically I guess that counts.
Call his bluff. He is only tied to the Steelers for this year anyway, then he walks for the payday he feels he deserves. Let him hold out all year long. There are employment options at “trader Joes” for professionals not able to find opportunities in their primary occupation.
The cut off your nose to spite your face strategy huh? Guess we don’t have to ask if you have him on your fantasy roster.
Sure I’m all about getting paid while you can in this league where you’re one bad hit away from losing your job, but the franchise tag is apart of the CBA and it’s not like he is playing for peanuts this year. Tell the PA to negotiate a better CBA next time where the 5th year option for first rounders and multiple franchise tags are off the table. I can see something like what baseball did with the qualifying offer, where a player can only be hit with it one time, in order for both sides to be happy.
Holding out til the 10th week of the season to still accrue a full season of service is also apart of the CBA.
And that is his right. But his teammates not respecting him is their right.
NFL are modern day slave owners don’t give the players guaranteed contracts even though this sport has the most violent hits shortest careers & they can be cut at any time for any reason. Bell needs to play the cards he is dealt & milk the fir every penny & every second he can muster. Stay strong Bell!