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For those who were wondering if/when there might be some news on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Le’Veon Bell contract stalemate, it won’t be anytime soon. The Steelers are sticking to their guns when it comes to any type of contract negotiations with Bell, something which has been reported since the NFL Owners Meetings a few weeks ago.
This from Mark Kaboly of The Athletic:
Colbert said on Le'Veon Bell's contract situation: "The draft has our full attention and we don't normally address these types of situations until after the draft (when) we re-evaluate our salary cap situation ..."
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) April 23, 2018
This report came from the pre-draft press conference when Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert both addressed the media before the draft on Thursday.
What is unique about this situation, compared to what was said at the owner’s meetings, is how Colbert directly points to the team’s salary cap situation when referring to why the two sides will wait to resume their talks.
Why is this unique? For starters the team already knows roughly how much they will need available to sign their 7 draft picks, and unless the team plans on still making moves in free agency the salary cap situation should be pretty clear at this point.
Either way, the organization has made up their mind to wait until after the draft to resume contract negotiations. Read into this all you want, but it still seems like an uphill battle for the two parties to agree on terms which will keep Bell in Pittsburgh while getting paid the way he wants.
Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes from the black-and-gold this offseason.