Le'Veon Bell Trade Rumors: Pittsburgh Steelers Shopping Running Back For Draft Pick, Good Player

The Pittsburgh Steelers have quickly changed the way they are handling Le’Veon Bell’s holdout. Initially having no interest in dealing the running back when he failed to report for the season opener, the Steelers have gone from listening to trade offers to now actively shopping the All-Pro.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Pittsburgh is speaking with teams to see what kind of return they would be able to get for the 26-year-old. The Steelers reportedly want a second-round pick and a good NFL player in exchange for Bell.

With four weeks of the 2018 season already in the books, no team seems willing to match that asking price at the moment. Bell will become a free agent in 2019, and he won’t be eligible to sign a new contract until the season is over. Without an extension, Bell could wait until Week 11 before returning, no matter what team he is on. If Bell reports by Week 11, he’ll make about $850,000 per week and still be eligible to hit free agency next year.

Pittsburgh has arguably been the season’s most disappointing team without Bell. They have just one win in four games and rank 27th among all teams with 3.6 yards per carry. Since leading the league with 135 rushing yards as Bell’s replacement in the season opener, James Conner has carried the ball 32 times for 97 yards. Conner is 11th in total rushing yards.

Bell watched Seattle Seahawks’ safety Earl Thomas suffer a broken leg Sunday that ended his season. Thomas held out for a contract extension in training camp but returned to play in Week 1 for his final season before becoming a free agent.

“Smh, exactly…” Bell commented under ESPN’s Instagram Post regarding Thomas' injury. “Get right bro bro [Earl Thomas]! I'll continue to be the ‘bad guy’ for ALL of us.”

There seems to be a good chance that Bell will remain at home for the first 10 weeks. He would lose more than $8.5 million by doing so.

After missing all of training camp last year, Bell totaled 1,291 rushing yards, 655 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns in 15 games. He was a First-team All-Pro selection.