If Le’Veon Bell wants the Pittsburgh Steelers to sign him to a record-setting contract, he may have to prove he will show more commitment going forward than he did before their final game of the 2017 season.
In a season wrap-up column that he published on Friday, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote about some of the questions Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has faced about his players being disciplined. While Bouchette said Tomlin had his locker room under control and players respected him, he noted that there were instances where players and “a coach or two” ignored Tomlin’s requirement to report to the locker room two hours before kickoff for games. Bell was reportedly one of those players before last weekend’s playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
According to Bouchette, Bell arrived in the locker room “much later” than Tomlin wanted him to last Sunday. The star running back also missed almost all of the team’s Saturday walk-through, showing up with just five minutes remaining.
The Steelers ended their season on a sour note with their 45-42 loss to Jacksonville, but Bell’s finish may concern the team more than anything. While he put up great stats with 155 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, there were indications that focus was an issue for Bell. In addition to reportedly ignoring Tomlin’s rules and showing up late to the walk-through, Bell also sent a tweet that looked really bad after the Steelers were eliminated.
Bell has threatened to sit out the entire 2018 season or retire if the Steelers use the franchise tag on him again. Pittsburgh’s brass could call his bluff, but the tag would cost a whopping $14.57 million. For what it’s worth, Bouchette believes there is a chance Bell won’t be with the Steelers next season.
