Le'Veon Bell might not play football until next season but it appears he has already made up his mind on a potential destination.
The Pittsburgh Steelers running back got NFL fans talking after commenting on an Instragram picture posted by the league's official account, which praised Andrew Luck.
The post highlighted Luck's offensive production, to which Bell replied with an enigmatic: "Just imagine" followed by the eyes emoji, which is normally used to indicate someone is considering a particularl possibility or looking to do something.
Leveon Bell as a colt🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/SjWyKzCJiu
— Grant Wilson🇺🇸 (@g_rant_wilson) November 27, 2018
Earlier this month, Bell put an end to one of the NFL's longest running sagas after he opted not to report to the Steelers by the November 13 deadline, preferring instead to extend his self-imposed absence.
As a result, he will not be eligible to play this year, becoming the first player to hold out for an entire season because of the franchise tag since Kansas Chiefs defensive tackle Dan Williams took the same route in 1998.
The standoff between the running back and the Steelers has been documented ad nauseam throughout the season. In March, Pittsburgh opted to franchise-tag Bell for the second consecutive year before the two parties failed to agree a long-term deal in the summer and Bell went AWOL.
While the Steelers could opt to franchise-tag Bell for a third consecutive year, they are unlikely to do so as it would cost them the average of the NFL's top-five salaries for 2019—somewhere in the region of $25 million.
Pittsburgh could cut Bell loose and let him walk as a free agent or they could transition-tag him at $14.5 million, the exact same amount the franchise would have had to pay to franchise tag the running back this season.
It would also allow the Steelers to retain his rights before trading him, while simultaneously giving Bell the chance to talk to other teams.
While it is premature to suggest that the Colts have even spoken to Bell, let alone that he agreed anything with the franchise, pairing him with a resurgent Luck would certainly be intriguing.
After missing the whole of last season as he recovered from shoulder surgery, the former Stanford quarterback went about his business quietly in the opening weeks of the current campaign but his recent performances have forced the rest of the league to sit up and take notice.
The 29-year-old has thrown at least three touchdown passes in the last eight games and has amassed 32 for the season so far, second only to Patrick Mahomes. Luck ranks ninth in the league in terms of passing yards with 3,112 and 10th in terms of completion rate.
On Sunday, he completed 30 of his 37 attempted passes for a combined 343 passing yards and three touchdowns as the Colts beat the Miami Dolphins 27-24 on home turf. The result gave Indianapolis a fifth consecutive win and strengthened their grip on second place in the AFC South, behind the Houston Texans.
