Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell remains absent from training camp after he and the team failed to agree on a long-term deal and no one, including head coach Mike Tomlin, has any idea when he’ll return.
When Bell does ultimately decide to return, he’ll have to sign his one-year, $12.12 million franchise tender first. And although he reportedly expects to return in time for Week 1 of the regular season, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert says each day he misses is a detriment to only himself.
“My feeling is there’s nothing to be gained by a holdout,” Colbert told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “The situation won’t change, it can’t really change from our part on a long-term deal.
“So it hurts him not to be here. It hurts him because he’s not working with his teammates, he’s not getting the conditioning work that he’s going to need to have a great 2017 season. And he’s not working with his teammates to get acclimated to the offense — every year it’s different.”
Given the situation, Bell faces no financial loss for skipping camp. He won’t be docked pay until begins missing regular season games ($713,000 each week), but both sides appear optimistic it will never come to that.
