When the Steelers play at Baltimore on Sunday, just as in their first seven games this season, Le’Veon Bell will not be uniform.
Does that really matter?
At this point, not so much.
Bell, the star Steelers running back who created such a stir earlier this season with his contract holdout, forgoing the $14.5 million he was going to be paid as under the franchise tag rule with hopes of landing a long-term contract, remains AWOL.
And that seems to be just fine with the Steelers, based on the remarkable performance of his replacement, James Conner, who’s been a revelation.
Conner has rushed for 599 yards and nine touchdowns in seven games this season. That projects, for 16 games, to 1,369 yards and 20 rushing TDs. Both figures would exceed Bell’s career bests.
Conner’s 922 yards from scrimmage are the second-most in franchise history through the first seven games of a season, trailing Bell’s 938 in 2014. Conner is coming off a game last week against the Browns when he had 212 yards from scrimmage, and he has at least 100 rushing yards and two TDs in three consecutive games.
It all adds up to a bad business decision on the part of Bell, who’s already lost more than $6.84 million in salary this season and, unless he reports to the team soon, will lose a lot more than that.
By Nov. 13, Bell must report to the Steelers and sign his franchise-tag contract to remain eligible to play and be credited with earning an accrued season, so he can reach free agency in March. The latest Bell can report and be credited with an accrued season is Week 12.
It’s been assumed that, because Bell doesn’t want to be traded, he might have been waiting to report to the team and sign the franchise tender after Tuesday’s trade deadline.
But Tuesday came and went and there still is no sign of Bell in Pittsburgh, making his poor decision making even more curious. He’s just 26 years old and am amazing talent — talent that’s been wasted by sitting out this season.
Meanwhile, Conner has become a fan favorite in Pittsburgh, not to mention a favorite inside his own locker room.
“Awesome — proud of him,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger told reporters last week. “It was so much fun to watch him go to work and be successful and hear the crowd love on him.”
Conner has quietly kept his head down, stayed out of the Bell controversy and produced.
“I’m just running hard,” Conner said.
“He wants to be that guy,” guard Ramon Foster said. “He plays with a passion that’s out of this world.”
Coach Mike Tomlin said, “I had a front-row seat for his college exploits [at University of Pittsburgh], so not that we are surprised by his talents, play demeanor or his displays of will. Pretty impressive.”
Impressive enough to help the Steelers forget about Bell.
“I don’t want to talk about Le’Veon,” Roethlisberger politely told reporters after the Steelers’ win over the Browns last week. “I want to talk about this win and the guys that are here. Sorry.”
Credit: NY Post</>
via USAHint.com
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