Even though he’s still not expected to sign his franchise tender and report to the team until September 1, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell is now back in the Steel City.
Bell, who verified he’s now back in Pittsburgh Monday afternoon via his personal SnapChat account, had recently been in his hometown in Ohio this past weekend as part of him being honored by his former high school and attending a ribbon cutting ceremony for the field bearing his name at his alma mater. While there, Bell confirmed that he’d report to the Steelers very soon.
“September 1st, I’ll be back,” Bell said.
Bell has spent most of his time away from the Steelers training at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami, FL. He’s now fully healed from his offseason groin surgery and expected to start the Steelers regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns despite missing all of training camp and all four preseason games.
Once Bell signs his tender, he’ll start earning $12.12 million in 2017. The former second-round draft pick out of Michigan State reportedly turned down a five-year contract offer from the Steelers on July 17 that would have allegedly paid him $30 million in the first two years of the deal and $42 million over the course of the first three. The entire deal was also expected to average a little more than $12 million annually.
When Bell finally shows up for work on September 1 the Steelers will have just three practices prior to playing the Browns.
