Le’Veon Bell Doesn’t Report To Steelers Before Deadline, Ineligible To Play In 2018

Update:

Adam Schefter reports that Steelers franchise RB Le’Veon Bell did not report to the team before Tuesday’s deadline, which means he’s now ineligible to play in 2018.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that despite Le’Veon Bell being in Pittsburgh the past week or so, nothing has changed and the Steelers do not expect him to show by today’s 4 pm deadline to play this season.

This has been the expectation for some time now and shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

It’s clear that Bell is focused on ensuring he’s 100 percent healthy heading in free agency next year and even though he could still make around $5 million this season, he probably doesn’t think it’s worth the risk.

There has been a lot of buzz about the Steelers using the transition tag on Bell next year, which could lead to a potential arbitration battle between the NFL and NFLPA over his status 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 had him rated as the No. 9 running back out of 58 qualifying players.

We have him featured in our Top 25 – 2019 NFL Free Agents list.