People close to the situation have reported that Le'Veon Bell was not at Pittsburgh Steelers facilities this afternoon in time to sign his tender and resume team activities. He will therefore forfeit another $853,000, bringing his total lost wages to just over $1.7 million. The NFL insider who broke the story, Adam Schefter is the same ESPN field reporter who's been monitoring the situation from the get-go. It hasn't been too difficult a task: send a lackey to the front gates, and wait for Le'Veon to enter. If he doesn't (before the requisite time) there goes another bundle of cash into the wrong hands.
Although it's easy to sympathize with Le'Veon Bell from a fan's perspective, the issue of holdout has created quite the fissure in the locker room. So much so that even the coaching staff decided to cast aside any visual cues reminding them of Bell. They even took him off the team depth chart, which only makes sense since he's not under contract. The holdout really reminds of a vague and overdrawn breakup, you know will end poorly but you can't let go.
Bell was at the heart of the Steelers' ground attack last season, carrying the ball on 321 occasions for 1,291 yards and nine touchdowns in 15 games.