Le’Veon Bell reportedly not planning to skip regular season games
Le’Veon Bell is set to play a second consecutive year under the franchise tag after he and the Pittsburgh Steelers failed to reach an agreement on a long-term extension, and there has been some talk about him potentially sitting out regular season games. As of now, it does not appear the star running back is considering that.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Bell is planning to skip training camp like he did last summer but be ready for Week 1.
I’m told Le’Veon Bell‘s tentative plan is to miss Steelers training camp but be ready for the regular season, and that missing games over the contract would be a shock. The Steelers also expect him to play a full season. Bell still has time to consider all options, though.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) July 17, 2018
Fowler’s colleague Adam Schefter has raised the possibility of Bell sitting out the first eight games of the season to preserve his health, but he’d be forfeiting around $7 million if he went that route. While it makes sense that Bell would want to minimize the risk of a serious injury as he heads toward free agency, no player has ever willingly given up that much cash.
Bell dropped a strong hint about his future plans with a statement he released on Monday, and all signs point to him taking the same approach he did a year ago.
