The Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon Bell are in the midst of an ugly standoff that has no signs of ending anytime soon. All eyes are on backup-turned-starter James Connor, and if he is able to produce Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns, then you can pretty much guarantee the franchise will dig its heels even further into the ground in terms of refusing a Bell extension.
As for the potential of a sign and trade, Pittsburgh is reportedly ruling that out as well.
Steelers have "no plan" to trade @LeVeonBell, which implies of course that plans can change https://t.co/5hCV5CSuJD
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 9, 2018
Of course, things can change, but as we stand right now, the Bell-Steelers saga is exactly where it was at the end of February: absolutely zero progress between the two sides in terms of a negotiation.
Bell’s failure to report and sign his tenure yesterday has led to him surrendering 1/17ths of his $14.544 one-year franchise tag totaling to the amount of $855K.
To anyone suggesting the Steelers trade RB Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh is not even considering that option at this time, per source. No interest in dealing him. Steelers will wait for him, and some around the league believe Bell will be back before end of month.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 9, 2018
He will lose that amount each week of his current deal if he does not sign, with Week 10 the deadline before he is ineligible to play for the rest of the 2018 season.
With some teammates speaking out against Le’Veon and relationships seemingly deteriorating by the day, there is no resolution visible at the moment to get the NFL’s best player back on the gridiron.
