Just when you though the Le'Veon Bell situation with the Pittsburgh Steelers couldn't get any weirder, it has. All season long, Bell has been adamant about his displeasure with the Steelers over the contract talks that the two sides had during the offseason. He has held out of the first five games of the season and could conceivably hold out for 10 weeks before his franchise tag situation will likely force him back to the field.

According to a new report from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Bell does not want to be traded by the Steelers and wants to come back strong and put up numbers for the Steelers rather than any other team.

“My understanding is that Le'Veon Bell is expected to come back in a few weeks, and his focus right now is coming back for the Steelers and putting up numbers for them rather than another team. The Steelers have openly been trying to trade him. They've been receiving some phone calls, they've also been making some phone calls. No firm offers yet, but they have had some conversations.”

Rapoport went on to talk about why Bell wants to return to the Steelers rather than be traded to another team.

“For Le'Veon Bell there would be some negatives there. He'd have to come in, learn the new offense, he may not exactly look like himself. My understanding is he would have to be convinced that being traded would be beneficial to him, and that is something he is not inclined to do. In other words, Le'Veon wants to be play for the Steelers this year.”

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Bell may not be wanting to come back to earn money from the Steelers, but he may view a trade as detrimental to his ability to get a bigger contract in the offseason. Having to learn a new offense on the fly is not an easy thing to do.

Pittsburgh has seen their offense struggle a bit with Bell on the sideline. James Conner has stepped in and performed admirably, but he has not been able to replace Bell's production.

Last season with the Steelers, Bell rushed for 1,291 yards and nine touchdowns on 321 carries. He also caught 85 passes for 655 yards and two touchdowns.

Expect to see the Steelers continue listening to trade offers, but it appears that Bell might be back on the field in Pittsburgh later on this season.