Steelers owner Art Rooney II expects running back Le’Veon Bell to report by next Tuesday’s deadline for doing so, as he explained on SiriusXM Radio earlier today (link via Austin Knoblauch of NFL.com).
“I don’t know what his plans are, but I would say at this point we expect him to come back next week,” Rooney said. “We know he’s back in Pittsburgh and so we’re hoping to have some communications with him over the weekend and we’re kind of expecting he will be back next week.”
Bell must report by Tuesday in order to play in the NFL this season, but whether he reports or not won’t necessarily affect his financial future. If the Steelers use the franchise tag on Bell in 2019, regardless of whether he shows up this year, it will be considered his third tag and therefore be worth more than $25MM, an untenable amount for any running back. Pittsburgh could still deploy the transition tag at a cheaper cost, but Bell would be free to negotiate with other clubs and the Steelers wouldn’t receive any compensation if he left.
Hypothetically, it’s fair to wonder if Pittsburgh even wants Bell back in the building, given that some Steelers have voiced frustration with the star running back. That’s not the case, however, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says (via Twitter) that Pittsburgh does indeed want Bell to return, regardless of how his situation has played out thus far. Nevertheless, at least one anonymous Steeler did express a bit of discontent to NFL.com’s Aditi Kinkhabwala (Twitter link).
“This Le’Veon thing is just a cloud over us at this point,” said the unnamed player. “Just make a decision, sign or not, be in or out, and let’s all move forward.”
While the Steelers think Bell will report by Tuesday, PFR readers do not agree. In a poll earlier today, more than three-quarters of voters said they don’t believe Bell will show up by next week.
How many times have they “expected” Bell to show up now?
As much as I’ve supported Bell I have to agree with the unnamed player, he could’ve handled this better by not leaving the team and fans in the dark and I can’t wait for this to be over.
Also I’m guessing Rooney has no access to Twitter? Bell’s upside down tweets did not sound like he was coming back
He has removed all references to Steelers from social media accounts.
He is not going to report
I wouldn’t read too much into that…Julio Jones removed all his Atlanta Falcons references during his ‘mini holdout’ but still ended up reporting
He’s been expected to report since April.. I don’t care what that self-entitled asshat is doing anymore.. James Conner is the running back for the Steelers now, and I think they’ve got a really, really good one. Hopefully, he doesn’t destroy my Panthers.
Whoever signs Bell now knows what to expect off field as well as on the field, and that’s gonna come back to bite him in the ass.
Nah… they can expect 400 touches like last year. Should fans still expect Ben to be a rapist off the field?? Asking for a friend
Those were allegations against Ben. Bell will no doubt get paid by somebody and, yes, have around 400 touches. Tell your friend that there is more to being a teammate than performance and in that apsect Bell is worthless.
They’re better off without him, this team has gotten hot and bringing a distraction like him in will disrupt it.
Not really a Steelers fan, but have caught their last few games and agree with this. They’re on a roll, one of those times you don’t want to change anything until it stops working. It also seems the whole team is meshing well with James Conner. They should keep a good thing going.
Kind of need to mention that under the transition tag that Bell can negotiate with any team but the Steelers would have the right to match it. I don’t see them using either designations and just taking a 3rd rd pics for him, unless they can pull a sign and trade under the transition
made a lil scratch, accrued a year of service, and has pay-day coming. well played
And going to disappoint the next team that signs him. Dilly dilly.
At this point, I’m not sure how many teams are willing to roll the dice and ‘give’ him what he’s going to look for…years and guaranteed dollars. A year ago I’d say there would be several – cap allowing, but after this display I have to wonder.
I know someone may, but it’s more of a risk now then ever before.
The 25% of voters that think Bell will report are also expecting the bugs to be gone from the mobile app by Tuesday.
Hahaha, excellent comment.