Le’Veon Bell’s Holdout Will Keep Him Out Of The Steelers Lineup In Week 1, ‘ESPN’ Reports

Le’Veon Bell has been one of the hottest topics in the NFL news world over the past week or two since beginning his holdout from the Pittsburgh Steelers. After he didn’t receive the kind of contract offer that he wanted from the Steelers, Bell made it clear that he would hold out of team activities. Now, he has taken that holdout to a new level and will miss the Steelers’ first regular season game on Sunday.

According to a report from SportsCenter on Twitter, the Steelers’ running back will not play on Sunday against the Cleveland Brown. It is a report that Steelers fans were fearing would come and could impact the team in a negative way this year.

In addition to missing Week 1, Bell’s agent hinted that the running back could hold out even longer moving forward. The reasoning behind him missing more time would be to protect him from injury or being overused and therefore shortening his career.

“Le’Veon has several years ahead of him in football. We know right now his days in Pittsburgh are precarious at best. We also know how he’s been utilized in the past by the Steelers organization. That’s nothing to say negative about the Steelers. They had one of the best players to have ever played this position and they rely on him heavily for the production he can provide, but in doing so, you take away from his future years.”

Anyone who has watched the way that the Steelers use Bell can understand why his agent feels that way. He is utilized heavily as both a running back and a wide receiver. That is why he wanted such a big pay raise.

Le’Veon Bell will not play week 1 against Browns to protect long-term value, per @JFowlerESPN pic.twitter.com/m8iHsep7Zt

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 5, 2018

Last season with the Steelers, Bell ended up carrying the football 321 times for 1,291 yards and nine touchdowns. He also caught 85 passes for 655 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers show exactly why Bell and his agent are playing this situation the way they are.

Bell will hit open NFL free agency next offseason and is set to receive a major payday. He will be able to discuss contracts with every team in the league, which will help him boost his value.

At this point in time, nearly every team in the NFL has been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Bell in free agency. A few of the teams that have come up in particular are the Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, and even the Green Bay Packers.

Expect to see Bell continue his holdout for at least a few more weeks. His time with the Steelers is coming to an end, which has become obvious. This is a nightmare situation for the Steelers and their fans.