Le'Veon Bell may have suddenly reissued his commitment to the Pittsburgh Steelers by telling ESPN this week that he plans to report to the team in Week 7 and play football in 2018.

But there's still lots up in the air regarding Bell's status with the Steelers, not to mention plenty of reason to believe the Pro Bowl running back won't suit up for Pittsburgh at all.

CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora joined Will Brinson on Wednesday's edition of the Pick Six Podcast (a daily, 30-minutes-or-so podcast on the NFL -- subscribe: via iTunes | via Stitcher | via TuneIn | via Google Play) -- to explain why.

Bell, of course, has not been with the Steelers for any of their first four games after failing to reach a long-term contract agreement for the second-straight year. And while his abrupt change of tune suggested to Pittsburgh fans this week that the Steelers will have their All-Pro all-purpose back in uniform for the second half of the season, La Canfora noted that the team still has "serious concerns about how the locker room would respond" to Bell's return, that Pittsburgh views Bell's Week 7 target date as "odd" and that, in the long run, the team remains committed to finding a trade partner for the running back.

"I wouldn't write that in Sharpie," La Canfora said of Bell's suggestion he will back in the coming weeks. "I still don't believe he ever plays a game for the Steelers again."

As Brinson and La Canfora reviewed, the Steelers will likely have something like four different options if/when Bell arrives:

  1. Pay him on the franchise tag and let him play
  2. Rescind the franchise tag and allow him to become a free agent
  3. Trade him
  4. Use a roster exemption on him and continue weighing options

The roster exemption, which would allow the Steelers to deactivate Bell for two weeks without pay, is likely to be put to use, according to La Canfora.

"Because when he reports, who knows what kind of shape he is in?" he said.

After that, La Canfora said the Steelers' mentality will probably be this: "We hope somebody gives us an offer for him."

"I don't think we've heard the last of his clash with the Steelers," he added.

Listen to the entire Pick Six Podcast discussion on Bell and other news and notes around the league, and subscribe for your daily dose of NFL talk via iTunes | via Stitcher | via TuneIn | via Google Play:

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