Le’Veon Bell’s Season Officially Over
Le’Veon Bell will not play for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, or probably ever again. While Bell is in Pittsburgh, he has chosen theft the deadline to sign and play this season come and go. The holdout will cost him his prorated $14.54 million-dollar salary, $855,000 per weekly paycheck.
When asked about Bell’s holdout early Tuesday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin nonchalant said, “So be it,” per reporters.
Bell’s holdout has been a nonstop story mostly rooted in speculation and confusion. It was reported early in October that Bell would rejoin his team during their Week 7 bye, but as the week came and went Bell was a no-show. The story continued to take twists and turns like Bell deleting the Steelers from his Twitter bio, posting messages on Instagram when Seattle Seahawks All-Pro safety Earl Thomas fractured his leg, to flying to Pittsburgh this week in a move that made it appear as if he was going to sign.
Bell tweeted he was leaving his Miami training center to return to Pittsburgh. He was even spotted at an LA Fitness in McCandless before he took to Twitter to post a series of cryptic upsidedown tweets.
“Just about everybody has an opinion on my life and worried about what I’m doing… don’t judge me off my decisions because maybe this isn’t what you’d do… but most people don’t take the time to just simply read between the lines… and that’s clearly on them… I’m not apologizing for what I believe is right for myself, family, and the rest of my peers, period… also if you’re really finding the time to figure out what I’m saying, you’ve proved by point.”
Last season Bell rushed for 1,291 yards and nine touchdowns while adding 655 receiving yards with two receiving touchdowns. Without Bell this year the Steelers turned to James Conner. This season, Bell’s replacement Conner has 771 yards and ten touchdowns through nine games. Conner’s added 397 receiving yards with a touchdown in the air. Bell doesn’t seem to be bothered by the success of this replacement though even tweeting praise for the young running back this weekend.
James go crazy then!! ✊🏾✊🏾✊🏾
— Le’Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) November 9, 2018
Bell even voted for Conner to make the pro-bowl just today.
Le’Veon Bell just voted for James Conner for the Pro Bowl.
(@LeVeonBell Instagram) pic.twitter.com/PNK4vRoKB5
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) November 13, 2018
The seemingly never-ending saga is actually over, at least the Steelers section. The 26-year-old running back will continue training and will look for a team who will give him a hefty salary with top guaranteed money this March. As soon as there are more comments from Bell or Steelers, we will update.
