Steelers HC Mike Tomlin Says He Hasn’t Spoken To Le’Veon Bell This Week

On Tuesday, Steelers HC Mike Tomlin told reporters that he hasn’t spent much time thinking about whether franchise RB Le’Veon Bell will end his holdout and report to the team in for season opener.

According to Tomlin, who has said in the past that he speaks to Bell often, he has not talked to him this week.

“I hadn’t thought about it. We’ll see,” Tomlin said, per Mark Kaboly. “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.”

Tomlin stressed that he’s comfortable going into the opener with James Conner as their starting running back.

Steelers GM Kevin Colbert issued a statement regarding Bell, saying that he’s “disappointed” by his absence.

“We are disappointed Le’Veon Bell has not signed his franchise tender and rejoined his teammates. Coach 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.”

There’s still a chance Bell could report to the team in time to play in Week 1’s game, but it’s not looking great at this point in time.

Bell skipped the Steelers entire training camp for the second straight year after the two sides were unable to come to an agreement on a long-term deal.

Bell and his agent have made it clear that 2018 is likely to be his final season in Pittsburgh.

“His intention was to retire as a Steeler,” Bakari told Adam Schefter. “But now that there’s no deal, the practical reality is, this now likely will Le’Veon’s last season as a Steeler.

“It became clear the Steelers wanted to pay the position, not the player.”

It’s unlikely the Steelers will be willing to tag Bell for a third straight season, which means he should be one of the marquee free agents to watch in 2019.

Bell, 26, is a former second-round pick of the Steelers back in 2013. He played out the final year of his four-year, $4,120,600 rookie contract that included a $1,376,800 signing bonus and was in position to be one of the best players in the free agent market when he was franchised.

The Steelers used the franchise tag on Bell again this offseason, which means he stands to make $14.5 million fully guaranteed for the 2018 season before testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent next year.

In 2017, Bell has appeared in 15 games for the Steelers and rushed for 1, 291yards on 321 carries (4 YPC) to go along with 85 receptions for 655 yards receiving and 11 total touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 9 running back out of 58 qualifying players.