If the plan still is for Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell to report during the teams bye week to sign his franchise tag, he’s yet to let the organization officially know that’s his intentions and when exactly he’ll be arriving.
“Pittsburgh team officials and players have not heard anything from the star running back himself, sources tell ESPN, Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning ahead of the Steelers Week 6 road game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
A little less than two weeks ago a source reportedly told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com that Bell is expected to report during the Week 7-8 time frame so that he’ll be ready to play in the team’s post bye game against the Cleveland Browns.
It would make a lot of sense for Bell to return during the bye week and especially if he can convince the Steelers to pay him his full weekly salary of over $850,000 while on the team’s roster exemption list for the next few weeks. Bell’s exemption list status pay is just one of a few things that will still need to be negotiated when and if the running back shows up to sign his franchise tag tender.
As Schefter points out Sunday morning, Bell could return any time between this coming Monday and next Monday, but this upcoming bye week for the Steelers includes the team being off Thursday and Friday because of the mandate in the collective bargaining agreement that says players must have four consecutive days off during that annual off week.
Will Bell be back in the Steelers facility on Monday? If he does return, will the team trade him by the end-of-the-month deadline? We’ll know the answer to both of those questions very soon.
