While Le'Veon Bell has opined about returning to the Steelers at midseason, team sources said neither the running back nor his agent have informed the Steelers of any plans and the franchise continues to operate as if Bell may not be a part of the 2018 season.

The Steelers remain very open to the prospect of dealing the All Pro running back "at the right price," according to league sources, and Bell's comments about wanting to remain in Pittsburgh beyond this season have not changed that. The trade deadline comes up right after Week 8 – the general time Bell has told reporters he plans to report – and it remains a very distinct possibility that Bell has already played his last game in Pittsburgh, the sources said.

The Steelers could place Bell on an exempt list for up to two weeks upon his arrival, and are strongly leaning towards applying that device. The team and Bell's agent would have to negotiate the terms of that exempt-list stint – as previously reported – and sources said Pittsburgh would not be willing to pay Bell during the bye week (Week 7) if he were to report then, which ESPN originally reported. With the trade deadline looming after Week 8, some in the organization would prefer not to play Bell in that game, to avoid injury after he has missed so much time, though no decision on how to handle that hypothetical return has been made, I'm told.

Regardless, the team continues to monitor the market for Bell and is hopeful that more teams step up this month ahead of the deadline. There are concerns about how Bell's teammates might respond to him – he has been non-communicative with them, sources said – and how prepared Bell would be, physically, to assume his usual role with the offense. The staff has rarely utilized young running back James Conner in Bell's absence, with Pittsburgh running the ball just 29 percent of the time (3rd fewest in the NFL) under first-time pro coordinator Randy Fichtner, and also ranking 21st in time of possession (which is troublesome given the woeful state of the Steelers' defense).

Team brass is also confused about several of Bell's recent public statements. While Bell contends he would have received $17M in guarantees under Pittsburgh's last contract offer, and some erroneous reports stated it was just $10M, the Steelers actually offered slightly more than $20M in guarantees, all payable within the first year of the contract. Bell would have made $33.5M over the first two years of the deal and $45M over the first three years, sources said.

Bell contends the Steelers informed him they would place the transition tag on him in 2019, but sources said the team in fact only mentioned that as a possible tactic, never said anything definitive about it, and never even fully discussed it much internally given how much was unknown about the 2018 season at the time, much less 2019.