Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey doesn’t resent teammate Le'Veon Bell staying home while the rest of the team is sweating through August practices.
In fact, Pouncey says Bell is doing exactly what he should do, and exactly what Pouncey himself would do if in the same situation as Bell, who is facing playing the 2017 season for the one-year, $12.1 million franchise tender.
“People catch feelings about certain things. I think anybody in his situation would do the same exact thing. I would. We’ll see how things turn out. I’m pretty sure he’ll come in here and ball out like normal, things that Le’Veon does in the pass game and the running game,” Pouncey said, via ESPN.
Pouncey said he completely understands why Bell wants a lucrative long-term contract — and why the Steelers don’t want to give him what he wants.
“There’s a business part,” Pouncey said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t look like it on [the team executives’] side because they sit up there in the office every single day. As a player, you try to go out there and get as much as you can. Especially with the things that Le’Veon has been through and the production he’s put on the football field, he deserves a big-time contract. Who in the NFL wouldn’t say that? At the end of the day, it’s a business. That’s why the Steelers are one of the greatest organizations in all of football. They know what they are doing upstairs. No one down here questions it.”
Bell is likely to sign the franchise tender and report to the Steelers within a week.