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Steelers' owner, Art Rooney II, took a deep breath, seemingly considering his answers about everything his team had to deal with in recent months. He chose his words carefully. Was he surprised that the saga of The Veon Bell lasts so long?
"Yes," said Rooney after a pause. "Yes."
Like everyone. The mystery surrounding the Steelers franchise race could end this week, and Bell could eventually return to the team on Monday. Except that Bell did not tell his team that he would definitely return, and until he does, it's the status quo.
One facet, however, is becoming increasingly clear: Bell seems more and more likely to stay on the Steelers until 2019. Rooney said that during a conversation with NFL Network this week before leaving league meetings in New York.
"I'm expecting him to become a member of the team in the future," Rooney said, in response to a question on early business negotiations ahead of the deadline. October 30th. "These are my expectations."
Pittsburgh bought Bell earlier in the season and remains open to this activity. But now, they know the reality is that Bell will almost certainly sign every time he does, join the team, double up with James Conner, and enter the post-season.
Given Bell's current contract and the inability of a new team to negotiate an agreement allowing it to lock in the long run, this option has always been the most likely. And Rooney seems resigned to that.
There are even some who believe – without the last word of Bell or his agent Adisa Bakari – Bell will show up after the deadline of the transactions he's not shipped out of the city. Rooney said that there have been conversations between the team and the Bell agent, that has not been much.
He added that nothing had been considered to add to the label number of the Bell franchise to encourage him to run.
The Steelers, goodbye this week, are 3-2-1 despite all that.
"I think the team has handled the situation well," said Rooney. "The players have adapted, going on without him, that's all you can do, but we're at the beginning of the season, we still have a long way to go, we just have to improve every week. can not take anything for granted. "
In Bell's place, Conner averaged 4.4 yards per run, adding 26 catches for 257 yards in 6 games. He appeared as a star.
"We learned that James was a very good football player," said Rooney. "Happy to have it."
Follow Ian Rapoport on Twitter @RapSheet.
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