James Harrison Suggests Le'Veon Bell Should Return to Steelers, Fake Injury

After spending 16 years in the league, James Harrison knows the NFL is a business.

That's why he believes his former teammate Le'Veon Bell should continue to look out for himself as he navigates a contract standoff with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Harrison went on Fox Sports 1's Skip and Shannon: Undisputed on Tuesday and suggested that when Bell finally has to report to the Steelers in order to accrue a season of service time for free agency, he should sign his franchise tender...and sit out with an "injury." (at 7:10 mark)

"If I'm Le'Veon...I'm coming back, what is it, Nov. 13?" Harrison said (h/t ESPN.com). "I'm going to go in there, I'm gonna get my credit this season that I need to get and I'm going to do the best I can to get out of this season healthy.

"For me, I'd give you everything at practice. You'd see—the cameras would see—that I'm fine, I'm healthy. But come Saturday, 'Something ain't right. I can't play on Sunday.' Because if I go out here and I mess something up, I'm losing a lot of money."

Having been slapped with the franchise tag and unable to reach a long-term extension for the second consecutive year, Bell has opted to protect his future earnings by sitting out the start of the 2018 season. As he remains unsigned, he has yet to take the field through the first three weeks of the season.

Last year, Bell did not sign his tender until nine days before opening day. He went on to register 1,291 rushing yards, 655 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns in 2017. 

Despite racking up nearly 2,000 yards, he still was unable to get a new deal that pays him what he feels he's worth, resulting in a standoff that has carried into the regular season.

And it hasn't sat well with some of his teammates.

"If you don't want to be here, it is what it is, hold out 10 games, as a team we're totally fine," Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey said on Sept. 5, per KDKA 2 Pittsburgh. "This is a team sport and we all know that. I really thought he was going to be here, obviously he proved a lot of us wrong."

Steelers guard Ramon Foster was also unhappy with the running back's decision not to show up for the start of the regular season.

"What do you do? Here's a guy who doesn't give a damn, I guess, so we'll treat it as such. I just hate it came to this," Foster said days before the season opener, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette. "He's making seven times what I make twice as much as Al (Villanueva) is making and we're the guys who do it for him."

While Pouncey and Foster were upset with Bell, Harrison is understanding of the situation.

Harrison spent parts of 14 seasons with the Steelers, most recently from 2014-17. The five-time Pro Bowler asked for his release late last season after not seeing the playing time he was expecting, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Needless to say, he supports players getting their money.

At this point, Bell cannot negotiate a multiyear deal with Pittsburgh until the season is over. He will either have to play under the $14.5 million franchise tender or hope the team rescinds the tag. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Sunday, though, that the Steelers are beginning to listen to trade offers for the three-time Pro Bowler. 

Bell has averaged 371 touches over the past two seasons and dealt with a major knee injury in his career. The more he plays this year, the bigger the injury risk, which puts his impending free agency in jeopardy.

Harrison's comments likely don't sit well with the Steelers locker room. However, teams look out for themselves, and Harrison wants his former teammate to do the same.