Pittsburgh Steelers: Le’Veon Bell protecting his future

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell has still not joined the team ahead of Week 1, but is he just protecting himself.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are almost surely about to experience their final season with running back Le’Veon Bell on the roster. After failing to reach a long-term contract and placing the franchise tag on him again, all signs point to him seeking a massive payday in 2019 free agency. Of course, the Steelers would probably like for Bell to actually be on the field for his final season with the team.

As of right now, however, that looks as if it might not be the case for Week 1 of the 2018 regular season. On Monday, general manager Kevin Colbert released a statement, per NFL.com, that stated that Bell had not signed his franchise tender and joined the team. With the regular season kicking off in six days, that doesn’t make his prospects of playing against the Cleveland Browns in Week 1 seem all that promising.

For the Steelers, they’re more than likely preparing for James Conner to be the starter in Week 1. With him coming off an impressive preseason and showing flashes in limited work to this point in his young career, they could be worse off. However, he’s not a superstar of Bell’s caliber, which is undoubtedly causing fans to be a bit frustrated about the absent running back.

However, if you look at this matter from Bell’s perspective, it’s hard to blame him. While he would be forfeiting game checks if he misses regular season contests, he could ultimately be trying to save his long-term future in this league and his next contract.

When the business side of the NFL leaks on the field, sometimes the waters get a bit murky. Yes, it would on one hand make sense for Bell to play all 16 games and be a beast in the interest of earning a massive contract next offseason. At the same time, though, the Steelers know that he’s a lame duck in Pittsburgh. Subsequently, they could be looking to milk every ounce of gas has left in the tank.

We’ve seen this type of thing before, a team not wanting to pay a player beyond a given season, and thus using him relentlessly on the field. That’s similar to what the Dallas Cowboys did with DeMarco Murray in 2014. With his rookie contract coming up, they gave him a ridiculous 392 carries and 57 receptions on the season. He was phenomenal, but it also put a ton of miles on the tires. And after three more seasons, Murray is now retired.

Knowing that the Steelers could potentially look to give him the same workload — especially given how much of the load he was already carrying for the offense — Bell could simply be looking to avoid a similar fate here. It’s plausible for him to be willing to forfeit game checks if it means not being run into the ground and having more of a future in this league.

From a fan’s perspective, it’s fine to be frustrated about the situation. Whether the frustration stems from Pittsburgh not signing Bell or Bell not being willing to show up yet on the franchise tag, both schools of thought have merit. Having said that, both parties potentially have sound reasoning behind their course of action.