Le'Veon Bell didn't show up for work on Monday, like many other people around the country who were celebrating Labor Day.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, the rest of his teammates were here at the Rooney Complex, preparing for their season opener next Sunday in Cleveland. That means it is becoming more likely the Steelers will be without their All-Pro running back for at least the first week.
"We are disappointed Le'Veon Bell has not signed his franchise tender and rejoined his teammates," Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said in a statement. "Coach (Mike) Tomlin and the coaching staff will continue to focus on preparing the players on our roster for our regular season opening on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns."
Bell's teammates were a little more understanding, at least for now.
"I don’t think anyone’s sweating about it," All-Pro guard David DeCastro told me. "He hasn’t been here the past month, so we’ll welcome him back with open arms when he gets back here."
But what if Bell starts missing games?
"Yeah, that would be a little weird," he admitted to me. "It really would at that point."
That was more than some of his other teammates would say about it.
Ramon Foster, the team's NFLPA representative, brushed off any questions about Bell.
"We had 53 guys today plus 10 practice squad," said Foster, who returned to practice in pads for the first time since suffering a sprained MCL July 28 in training camp. "It’s 53 plus 10 in here. We’ll deal with that as a team."
Bell would earn $14.5 million this year on the franchise tag, or just over $850,000 per game. But he gets nothing if he does not sign the deal. He could report at a later date and receive a pro-rated portion of that guaranteed salary, but he needs to play in the final six games to accrue a full season and become a free agent at the end of the season.
This is the second consecutive season the Steelers have placed the franchise tag on Bell, a second-round draft pick in 2013. They did so last year at a cost of $12.1 million.
In each of the past two seasons, the team has made contract offers to the two-time All-Pro that would have made him the game's highest-paid player at his position. Bell has declined those offers and skipped the entire offseason workout program and training camp while not under contract.
But last year, Bell reported to the Steelers the Monday before the opener -- also in Cleveland -- and played in that game, which caused some of the confusion today among his teammates, who have supported him to his point.
"Was he?" DeCastro asked when I mentioned to him Bell had reported on this day last year. "It’s just one day. Hopefully, he’s in shape and we’ll go from there."
"(He) didn't need any (practices) and was best in the league," center Maurkice Pouncey said. "It's fine. He showed up last year at the same time. Totally fine, trust me."
One thing that could be a holdup at this point were the record-setting deals signed over the weekend by two other players who were holding out from their respective teams.
Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald ended his holdout Friday and signed a six-year, $135-million contract, while Khalil Mack forced a trade from Oakland to Chicago, where he then signed a six-year, $141-million deal.
But the Steelers are unable to negotiate a new deal at this point with Bell because NFL rules do not permit it, and he cannot be traded unless he actually signs his franchise contract.
"Those guys reset the market," Foster told me. "They are once-in-a-lifetime types of players. When you’ve got that type of power, which few players in this league have, you can demand stuff like that. My only hope is that those type of guys step up when it’s needed with situations like the CBA and stuff like that. Don’t get fat and happy and forget about the other 52 guys on the team."
That could be deemed as a message to Bell -- if Foster were actually talking about him. But the Steelers also have confidence in backups James Conner, rookie Jaylen Samuels and Stevan Ridley.
Conner, the team's backup to Bell as a rookie in 2017, has gotten all of the work with the first-team offense in the offseason and preseason and has looked better than he did a year ago.
"He’s progressed quite a bit," DeCastro told me. "You expect that for a guy going into his second year. It’s the biggest jump and you can see it. We’ll see how it goes. We have confidence in whoever is back there."
