Leveon Bell is having a bad year for someone who thought it was a good idea to hold for a new contract. He did not get a new deal before coming back to the team, and he is not playing well at all. He could turn out to have a great year and help the Steelers win the Super Bowl, or he could shoot down his Case for being one of the highest paid people in the league.
How long can this go on?
Ths Steelers will play Bell this year and see what he does. They do not have to do anything for him, and they might even get to keep him for a reduced rate. He could easily make the case that he is not worth the money he wanted, and that would be to their benefit.
The Steelers are not going to give him all the money in the world, and he should have known that before he held out. If he thinks that he made a statement, he did not.
The Steelers do not necessarily need him
The Steelers have played just fine even though Bell has not been very good. They might have outgrown him, and there could be an internal discussion in this franchise about how they will make it without him if he leaves. That means that they could go on to another running back in much the same way that the Patriots have done. It would work just fine for the Steelers, and Big Ben could sling the ball all over the field to extend his career. He has been much smarter about throwing the ball, and that is reason enough for the Steelers to not worry about Bell.
Other running backs might be better
Other Running Backs in the NFL are looking a lot better than Bell. In fact, he looks pretty bad in comparison to Kareem Hunt, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, and Devonta Freeman. These guys are young, and they are not going through the same problems that Bell is going through. Bell simply has not distinguished himself in a way that will make the Steelers feel compelled to pay him more money.
The league does not honor holdouts
Both Aaron Donald and LeVeon Bell were holding out to start the season, and they did not even get what they wanted when they did that. That shows that there is almost no reason to hold out anymore. If someone wants to get more money, they need to talk it out with their team. The team does not have to pay them, but it would look a lot better if they could all just talk about it.
Perhaps the age of the holdout has ended, and we might move one step closer to offering more guaranteed money.
LeVeon Bell might have done a very bad job betting on himself unless a desperate team wants to pay him.
