Bell skips Day 1 of Steelers practice

Either way he is done here. He has lost the team, lost the guys doing all the work. I wouldn't be surprised if someone "accidentally" missed a block to let Bell take a hard hit.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Honestly having had a lot of time to sit and think about this entire Bell situation here's my opinion on why not having Bell isn't going to hurt this team that much.

1. Bell is slow. James Conner looks to be more explosive. Bell is not a home run threat, and last year was one of the worst years that I can remember for Bell as far as 10+ yard and 20+ yard runs.

2. Bell isn't really great at running the ball, nor is he particularly great at receiving it. I would say he's good at both maybe great at receiving if you're just talking about his receiving ability as a runningback. Bell wants to be paid like a WR though, and if he was a WR he would be a average to good one, not a a great one. All in all he's a very versatile back but he's not a homerun threat when running the ball due to a lack of speed. He may be great receiving the ball as a running back but I hardly think that makes him worth WR money.

3. Bell acts like he's a superstar, and conveniently forgets the fact that his offensive line does a ton of work to make him look like a superstar. Bell's running style is always described as "patient" or "hesitant". For his running style to work you have to have exceptional offensive line play where the o-lineman can follow through and hold their blocks long enough for Bell to find an opening. Bell has never been a one-cut North-South kind of guy. I think if you put Bell on a team with subpar offensive line play that it would really expose him. He's not particularly great and only seems to manage a hair over 4 YPC over the course of a season. Backs like Todd Gurley are far more explosive, put up better YPC and are more of a threat to find the endzone on any given play than Bell is.

All in all Bell is a versatile back, that's his calling card. We have Conner who looks to have improved his game immensely from his rookie season who is faster and just looks more explosive than Bell. If Conner has really improved his pass catching as much as sites like Steelers Depot would have us believe than he could easily be just as productive, or more productive than Bell if he can stay healthy. We also have Ridley who's a decent hard-nosed runner, and isn't too bad at catching the ball either. To round things out we have Samuel a swiss army knife that looks pretty explosive as a runner, and has the ability to catch the ball and line up in the slot or even at TE. Those three guys can easily make up for Bell's production and seem to have a better team mentality overall.

All in all, I don't think we need Bell as much as he thinks this team does. The fact that guys like Pouncey (widely known to be Bell's best friend on the team), Decastro, and Foster are openly ripping Bell to the media doesn't speak well to Bell. Ben said it best, one guy doesn't make the team, football is the ultimate team sport. Bell is salty because he wanted the Steelers to break character and overpay him, he thought he could pressure them into it, and now he's holding out actual games because he didn't get what he wanted. Good riddance. Let him sit on a couch and write crappy rap songs all season, trade him, or let him go and let some other team with an idiot running their front office overpay for his services.

I couldn't agree more with what you wrote here. The patient-hesitating running style seemed to work a year or 2 but it seemed to just let the defenders zero in and tackle him last year. Even though Bell was near the top in rushing yards last year it just didn't seem like a dominant Steelers running game and it never seemed good when they had a 3rd and 1 or 2. The line does have a lot to do with his success and I'm glad guys like Pouncey publicly reminded him. They've brought guys like Melwlde Moore and DeAngelo Williams in as back ups in the past and they don't miss a beat running behind the Steelers lines.


With the way players on the team have come out against him it's going to be a tough situation if/when he would come back. Does he just sign when he has to then fake an injury? I wonder too if Bell was already trying to preserve himself for his new team last season with as uninspired as he looked sometimes. He will be 28 a couple months after his 1st season with his new team next year which is getting into old age for a lot of RBs. Somebody will be stupid and give him a contract into his 30's but glad it's not the Steelers


I agree Conner seems more explosive and I'm ready to move forward with him and Ridley-Samuels. I think if anything Bell may have inspired the OL guys this weekend to show who is responsible for a dominant running game

So we all agree that we (by we I mean management) should do whatever it takes to make his life a living hell. All the while saying all the right things like how much we really want him back.

is anyone else still pissed that Colbert didn't use the non exclusive tag ?
not saying that it would have made a difference because i really don't believe anyone would have given up two first round picks , but it might have made a difference with negotiating with Bell after he tested the market.
who knows , maybe Bell himself could have worked out a trade with another team. anything would have been better than him showing up for a partial season and causing this huge distraction.
personally i think Colbert should not have gone on record with firm stances about bell playing for the steelers this year. now he is on record saying he will not rescind the tag. why would you want a player in the locker room who doesn't want to be there ?

I used my last fantasy draft pick 2 weeks ago on Conner for this exact reason and I hope I come out smelling like a rose. Bell is finished in Pittsburgh, it's time for JC!!

Mach1 wrote:

Either way he is done here. He has lost the team, lost the guys doing all the work. I wouldn't be surprised if someone "accidentally" missed a block to let Bell take a hard hit.

AB... I love the guy but he did come out and support Bell. Guess it doesn't surprise me one of the biggest divas on the team is standing up for the other diva.

Master_Of_Puppets wrote:

is anyone else still pissed that Colbert didn't use the non exclusive tag ?
not saying that it would have made a difference because i really don't believe anyone would have given up two first round picks , but it might have made a difference with negotiating with Bell after he tested the market.
who knows , maybe Bell himself could have worked out a trade with another team. anything would have been better than him showing up for a partial season and causing this huge distraction.
personally i think Colbert should not have gone on record with firm stances about bell playing for the steelers this year. now he is on record saying he will not rescind the tag. why would you want a player in the locker room who doesn't want to be there ?

I agree it was a mistake not to use the non exclusive tag. At the very least Bell would have found out that no one is stupid enough to pay him what he wants. In the event someone is we get 2 #1s. Where's the downside to this? Instead we have this huge distraction and drama playing out.

Ugh! I'm not going to suggest that AB has to bash Bell like some of his other teammates have, but how about giving a shoutout to the running back who has been there since Day 1 and is busting his ass to help this team win a Super Bowl.l? Or at the very least, don't say anything publicly.

We all we got, we all we need. Ready to roll whenever you get back with us, family @LeVeonBell pic.twitter.com/ukPRUdoqe4

— Antonio Brown (@AB84) September 7, 2018

Wallace108 wrote:

Ugh! I'm not going to suggest that AB has to bash Bell like some of his other teammates have, but how about giving a shoutout to the running back who has been there since Day 1 and is busting his ass to help this team win a Super Bowl.l? Or at the very least, don't say anything publicly.

We all we got, we all we need. Ready to roll whenever you get back with us, family @LeVeonBell pic.twitter.com/ukPRUdoqe4

— Antonio Brown (@AB84) September 7, 2018

AB doesn't always make the best decisions on social media. I'm with you in that he could have said this privately and maybe focused his public opinion towards Conner

Every professional athlete would be best served steering clear of social media. They just get themselves in trouble with it. This is why they used to have spokesmen. to keep them from saying stupid things that hurt their career. (its not just athletes, either. Celebrities of all sorts, politicians...)

Really now I am a fan of Conner and makes me even a huge fan. As he is a humble man that has been through a lot. Bell should learn a thing or two about humility there.

to tell the truth I'd rather see the Steelers have 2 good quality RBs then one great RB, the money Bell wants the Steelers could have 2 very good NFL quality RBs at the same money.

I really like Conner, I don't think he's the work horse type of RB, I think he's a great part of a RB tandem.

A faster more explosive back, hopefully Conner, might actually serve the team better.

Like it’s been mentioned before,Bell never had good speed, he’s always dragged down from behind. I can’t recall him ever breaking a long run for a TD. Plus it seems last year that defenses were catching on to Bell’s running style by holding they’re gap positions and waiting for him to commit. No wonder his ypc was down below 4 last year.

I think his value might be a bit overrated.

That being said, If Conner has a big game this Sunday, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bell reports the following week

Mean Joe just took a veiled shot at Bell saying "selfish players who think only of themselves ... in my day they’d be gone. They can take away your championship dreams".

Pretty bad when probably the greatest player in Steelers franchise history is throwing shade at you in addition to your own offensive line.

Bell throwing some shade at the Steelers. Says it isn't but let's be real.

https://twitter.com/LeVeonBell/status/1038896385859510274

In case this gets deleted, it says in response to the monocle emoji, "No shade, but I've never seen a tie before".

jak341 wrote:

Bell throwing some shade at the Steelers. Says it isn't but let's be real.

https://twitter.com/LeVeonBell/status/1038896385859510274

In case this gets deleted, it says in response to the monocle emoji, "No shade, but I've never seen a tie before".

The announcers said several times during the game that Bell is happy for Conner playing well. I don't believe that for a second. Bell showed his true colors with those tweets. He's a selfish douche who doesn't give a damn about the team. I can't wait until he's gone.

Wallace108 wrote:

jak341 wrote:

Bell throwing some shade at the Steelers. Says it isn't but let's be real.

https://twitter.com/LeVeonBell/status/1038896385859510274

In case this gets deleted, it says in response to the monocle emoji, "No shade, but I've never seen a tie before".

The announcers said several times during the game that Bell is happy for Conner playing well. I don't believe that for a second. Bell showed his true colors with those tweets. He's a selfish douche who doesn't give a damn about the team. I can't wait until he's gone.

Steelers remove Le’Veon Bell from depth chart

From the moment the Steelers unveiled their online depth chart for 2018, Le'Veon Bell appeared on it as the first-string running back. Now, two days after James Conner generated nearly 200 yards from scrimmage in the Week One game against the Browns, Bell’s name is nowhere to be seen.

The team has removed Bell’s name from the depth chart, as his holdout lingers.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/09/11/steelers-remove-leveon-bell-from-depth-chart/

I hope he holds out the entire season. My question is: If he holds out I know we can tag him again but can we use the non-exclusive on him? If so best case is we get 2 #1s for his sorry ass but worst case for him is it ends his career because I'm betting NO ONE will give up the picks and meet his absurd demands.

I think it's time for the SCREW BELL THREAD!!!!

I'm sick of seeing all of the idiots on social media screaming for us to trade him and them not understanding that he isn't signed and we can't trade him right now. I'm just ready for all of the drama with him to be over with.

We do need to give Conner some extra money so he can get the rest of his hair cut though. :)

Lokki wrote:

We do need to give Conner some extra money so he can get the rest of his hair cut though.  :)  

I blame the haircut for the fumble.

solardave wrote:

I think it's time for the SCREW BELL THREAD!!!!

lol!  sign me up

Speaking of Conner's haircut, here's Cam Heyward's take ...

"That kid has battled so much in his life. I'm so happy for him. But I'm not happy for how his hair looks."

Hey everyone
I don't really post on here but read the site daily. Here is my take (somewhat unconventional) on the Bell situation...I am done with him and have been done with him for a year. However, he is an asset that can help the team on the field or through the draft. I expect him to sit out 10 games this year. The team can also apply for a two week exemption so a total of 12 weeks of game checks can be saved which is roughly $10,000,000. I think the Steelers should tag Bell again next year but with the transition tag or unexclusive tag (whichever one allows him to negotiate with other teams) If he leaves the team then we get two first rounders. If he doesn't then he would almost surely sign the tag because the number would be $20.9 million. This is more than he was wanting however with the 10 mil the team saves this year it really only costs the team 11 mil which is less than he would make this year. Win-win either way. If he sits out again next year giving up more than $1 million per week then that is his own idiocy.
Also, it drives me nuts to hear the talking heads in the media talk about why play on the franchise tag and risk future earnings. They make it sound as though Pittsburgh never tried to work out a long term deal. The true comparison is not $14 million this year versus a $70 million contract. He was offered (supposedly) a long term deal worth $14 million per year. If he wants $17 million per year then it is only a difference of $3 million per year. By the time he ends his hold out and reports back to camp he will have lost almost the entire difference of the 14 to 17 per year of the contract. The hold out doesn't solve any problem financially for him and it almost guarantees that he will be playing in the future for a lesser team. Just not logical to me.

If you read all of this, I owe you, thank you for listening to me ramble.