Le'Veon Bell Reportedly Wasn't Part of Steelers' Trade Talks Before Deadline

The market for Le'Veon Bell's services was reportedly nonexistent in advance of the NFL's Oct. 30 trade deadline.

According to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, "no teams" called the Pittsburgh Steelers to try to acquire Bell as he continued to hold out amid a lengthy contract dispute.

Bell, 26, has been away from the Steelers since the start of training camp after the club franchise-tagged him for the second straight year ($14.54 million in 2018).

The sides attempted to negotiate a long-term extension to avoid the tag, but those talks didn't materialize. As a result, Bell has been sitting out to avoid injury with free agency potentially on the horizon.

In order to accrue a season toward free agency, however, Bell must sign the franchise tag by Nov. 13. If he doesn't, the Steelers could sign him to the transition tag next year. And according to La Canfora, the Steelers may "strongly" consider doing so if Bell doesn't report by the trigger date.

ESPN's Adam Schefter added the transition tag "would be worth somewhere between $9 and $10 million" and that the Steelers won't franchise Bell for a third straight season because the cost "would be too prohibitive." 

In the meantime, James Conner has assumed Bell's role as the Steelers' feature back to tremendous results. Entering Week 9, he has racked up 922 total yards and nine touchdowns.