Conner giving Steelers option with only days for Bell to ink up
As the drama of Le’Veon Bell’s contract staredown has played out around them, the outcome of that subplot has become increasingly irrelevant to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season.
The Steelers have James Conner to thank for that.
Conner, the second-year running back who has replaced Bell while the two-time Pro Bowl selection has been absent from the team all season while refusing to sign the franchise-player deal, has become one of the NFL’s best success stories, adding football exploits to his more important real-life success story of being a cancer survivor.
And while the Bell saga continues to play out in advance of next Tuesday’s deadline to join the Steelers if he wants to be eligible to play this season, it will be Conner who will be carrying the ball Thursday night for the Steelers when they host the Carolina Panthers in a compelling game between two playoff contenders.
The Steelers have won four straight to improve to 5-2-1. That upswing has coincided with Conner’s emergence as a standout NFL runner. He’s had four straight 100-yard rushing games, giving him five such performances this season.
And he shows no signs of tiring under what has become a heavy workload.
“I’m built for it,” Conner said after running for 107 yards and catching a touchdown pass in this past Sunday’s triumph at Baltimore.
Conner is on pace to run for 1,412 yards and 18 touchdowns this season. He’s on course to add 76 catches for 758 yards and two touchdowns. Bell has been one of the NFL’s most productive running backs throughout his five-year Steelers tenure. But he’s never had a 1,400-yard rushing season, he’s never had more than nine rushing touchdowns in a season, and he has reached 700 receiving yards in a season only once.
Conner is doing all of that for a salary of $578,000 this season under the terms of his four-year rookie deal.
Bell was to make $14.544 million after being franchise-tagged by the Steelers. He has refused to sign that one-year contract after he and the Steelers were unable to agree to a long-term deal to Bell’s liking.
He must sign his contract and join the team by Tuesday to be eligible to play this season. The NFL’s trade deadline already has passed.
So if Bell shows up, the Steelers would face the task of working him back into the offence while continuing to make certain that Conner gets his carries.