The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst another sticky situation with their star running back Le'Veon Bell involving his contract situation after failing to agree to a long-term deal for the second straight year.
It has pushed forward the scenario that Bell could sit out games to stay healthy in order to cash in next offseason in free agency. This is something that former longtime Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison discussed on a recent appearance on FS1's “Speak For Yourself.” (h/t Bryan Deardo of 247 Sports)
"Everybody's assuming that Le'Veon is coming back week 1. He has a whole mess of money to lose vs what he's going to lose per week."
James Harrison explains why Le'Veon Bell may not return to the Steelers by week 1. @jharrison9292 pic.twitter.com/qKM8EQrPAZ
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) August 28, 2018
“Everyone is saying, ‘When he comes back in Week 1.’ Everybody is assuming he’s going to come back in Week 1. He has a whole mess of money to lose vs. what he’s gonna lose per week. If I’m in Le’Veon’s situation, I come back with enough time to get my credit for the season, and then I move on. Unless he has a huge insurance policy that guarantees him if he blows out or tears up a knee and can't come back $40-$50 million there's no way I go into that knowing what I would lose.”
Bell has been put in a spot where he has a clear state of mind that the Steelers will not offer him the type of money that he is looking to get on his next lucrative deal. He has performed like arguably the best running back in the league over the last couple of years, but that hasn't changed the front office's willingness to offer him a new lucrative deal in each of the last two offseasons.
Things have now shifted for him into a touchy spot with him wanting to be a part of the Steelers' long-term future but the organization not truly offering him a contract that shows that the feeling is mutual. Instead, Bell is heading into the 2018 campaign where he could very likely be in the final year with the franchise that could put the focus for him to be cautious with his health.
What this points to is that this situation could become quite complicated depending on how Bell chooses to approaches the entire matter.
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