In the wake of no new deal for Le'Veon Bell in Pittsburgh, two questions arise for the Steelers and their running back. One, is Le'Veon Bell entering his final season with the Steelers? (A: Very likely yes.) And two, will Bell ultimately decide to skip any games in the hopes of salvaging his body for free agency?
That's very much TBD, although former Steelers cornerback and current CBS Sports analyst Bryant McFadden doesn't believe Bell will miss any games.
McFadden joined me on the Pick Six Podcast -- CBS Sports daily NFL podcast, subscribe here: via iTunes | via Stitcher | via TuneIn | via Google Play -- Tuesday to break down the Bell situation, and pointed out that the running back loves football too much to skip any games, knowing how much it would impact his team and teammates.
"I don't think so and here's why. We're talking about a guy who loves football. He LOVES football," McFadden said. "Granted, he does not like the way his contract negotiations have gone so far. Year Two, we had the same storyline. Will he be in training camp, will he be in uniform Week 1. We had the same issues a year ago, leading up to 2017, and guess what -- Week 1, he was there. He loves football, he loves participating with his teammates, and that's something you cannot duplicate. You cannot find a substitute for that. I understand being cautious with your body, being as careful as possible for a potential free agency opportunity in 2019. It's huge for him and his agents. But this is a guy who loves the game of football, loves his teammates, has a lot of love for the Steeler organization and he will participate.
"I don't see a guy who loves the game of football as much as Le'Veon sitting out half the season. I don't see that happening."
There's also the helpful issue of money, with Bell set to make more than $800,000 per game next year. Walking away from that kind of cheese is tough, even for a guy who will be paid exorbitantly in free agency next year when he hits it.
And he will hit it -- the Steelers can talk about signing him after the season all they want, but it's not happening.
We also cover the following topics:
1. Why Richard Sherman is fine to keep talking about the Seahawks
2. Le'Veon + playing under a franchise tag as a player
3. Ben McAdoo's comments on lessons he learned
4. Would you rather have .... Aaron Rodgers OR Carson Wentz until the end of their respective careers?
5. Would you rather have .... Andrew Luck or Case Keenum in 2018?
6. Would you rather have ... Jalen Ramsey or Joey Bosa?
Listen to the full show below or just subscribe on your favorite podcast app: via iTunes | via Stitcher | via TuneIn | via Google Play