Bell refuses to sign deal with Steelers

Le’Veon Bell won’t play in 2018.

The star running back declined to sign his one-year $14.4-million franchise tender with the Pittsburgh Steelers by Tuesday’s deadline, making him ineligible to suit up for the AFC North-leading Steelers or anyone else this season.

The unusual decision to sit out won’t prevent Bell from becoming a free agent next spring, when the three-time Pro Bowler hopes to cash in with a contract that would make him the highest-paid back in the NFL.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin seemed resigned to Bell’s decision shortly before the 4 p.m. deadline, saying simply “so be it” when asked about the possibility of Bell never returning to the team that drafted him in the second round of the 2013 draft and helped mould him into one of the league’s top players.

“Even when we don’t understand it, we’re sensitive to it, so we’re not shocked when things happen from a business standpoint, no,” Tomlin said.

The Steelers, who have won five straight to sprint to the top of the division heading into a visit to Jacksonville on Sunday, will turn to second-year back James Conner and reserves Stevan Ridley and rookie Jaylen Samuels to help shoulder the load with Bell out of the picture.

All season Tomlin stressed he was focused on the players in the locker room and not the ones outside it and hardly seems bothered by Pittsburgh’s quest for a post-season berth without the talented 26-yearold Bell.