Pittsburgh Steelers star running back Le'Veon Bell is prepared to miss regular-season games as he continues his holdout, and he can sit out through Week 10 and still be eligible to become a free agent in 2019, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.

And so, as Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell closes in on possibly skipping regular-season games and the $855,000 checks that go along with them, he can do that for 10 total weeks and still become eligible for free agency in 2019. Article 10, Section 15(a) of the Collective Bargaining Agreement articulates the deadline: The window on Bell playing in 2018 closes at 4:00 p.m. ET, on the Tuesday after Week 10.

If he signs his franchise tender before then, he’ll be free in 2019 (unless the Steelers sign him to a long-term deal after the season or apply the franchise tag for a third time, which becomes the quarterback tender by rule). After that, he can’t play at all in 2018, and the Steelers can tag him in 2019 at $14.54 million.

The Steelers slapped a franchise tag on Bell for a second straight season, a deal which would pay him $14.54 million in 2018. The running back was seeking a long-term deal that would pay him more annually than the value of that franchise tag.

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If Bell actually sits out through Week 10, he would lose $8.55 million. It could be a risky play to sit out that long and then return for the tail end of the season, so by then perhaps he would consider sitting out the whole year. However, the Steelers could always place the $14.54 million franchise tag on him again in 2019.

Bell is one of the best running backs in the NFL and coming off another spectacular season, and he wants to be compensated like other stars around the league. He's also concerned about another massive workload before he gets that long-term deal, hence the situation the two sides currently find themselves in.

Some Steelers players are starting to get restless with the holdout, but Bell is going to do what's best for his long-term future. If that means sitting out one game, a few games, through Week 10, or even the entire season, that's what's going to happen.