Le’Veon Bell again did not report to the Steelers Wednesday, and his teammates were not happy about it.

There were those who supported him in the past who were downright angry.

“What do you do?” wondered veteran guard Ramon Foster. “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. He’s making seven times what I made, twice as much as Al [Villanueva] is making, and we’re the guys who do it for him.”

Foster is in the final year of his contract (at a salary of $2.675 million), as Bell would be if he signed his $14.55 million franchise tag.

“It’s kind of frustrating. Take some of the money [if] he’s not going to show up here and put it on top of mine. We’ll survive.”

Veteran Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey, an offensive captain, also expressed his anger after predicting on Monday that Bell would report by Wednesday.

“I really thought Wednesday, trust me, I really did,’’ Pouncey said. “After a couple of text messages and knowing Le’veon as a competitor who wants to be the best in the league ... but obviously he proved all of us wrong.”

Pouncey and the others said they’ll just move on without Bell.

“We just finally accept things at some point and you’re just like, all right, if you don’t want to be here, it is what it is, hold out for 10 weeks. It’s totally fine with us. As a team, we’re totally fine. It takes 11 guys, not one.”

Foster said Bell may not realize the affect it could have on the Steelers as a team.

“In this day and age with everyone being so selfish, I don’t think it registers. I will say he’s hurt himself, but stuff like that doesn’t register with certain people.

“We’ll get over it. We’re going to roll, you know how it is. We’ll drink the Kool-Aid and roll.”

Foster, the NFL Players Association representative for the Steelers, was asked what happens if Bell stays away for a while. He loses about $856,000 for every week he does not sign his tag and report to the team. The Steelers also have the option of getting a two-week roster exemption for him when and if he does report without paying him for those two weeks.

“This is the ultimate team sport,’’ Foster said. “We get into a roll and we’re rolling with whoever is back there and we come into Week 8 and we’re 8-0 [and Bell reports], do we change up everything for him? Or do we ride it and [let him] find his way in. So there are a lot of questions behind that.”

All-Pro guard David DeCastro says Bell fooled those teammates who believed he’d report by Wednesday and begin preparations for the Steelers’ first game in Cleveland Sunday.

“I think we’re all disappointed. What’s the expression? We’re stuck with our foot in our mouths. We all thought he’d be here.”

If Bell decides to stay away the entire season, his 2018 contract would toll and he would be under the same franchise tag in 2019 unless the Steelers removed it. If he reported before the 11th week of the season, he would lose his salary for those weeks he missed but be eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in 2019.

His teammates sounded betrayed by Bell, whom they generally have been fond of before the stance he took this week.

“With this being the ultimate team sport, it kind of puts us in a bind,” said Foster, who joined Pouncey and Villanueva in texting Bell back and forth last week.

“We asked him when he was coming. We joked around with him. He hit us with an IDEK – ‘I don’t even know.’”

Pouncey told a crowd of media gathered around him after practice that the Steelers are “bigger than one player.”

“Is he a great player? Absolutely. Do we all respect him and think he’s one of the best? Absolutely. But this is a team sport and we all know that.”

It was mentioned that not having Bell would take a large weapon and security blanket away from Ben Roethlisberger. Pouncey was having none of it.

“Ben’s a Hall of Famer. He’s played in his career here with eight different running backs. So I don’t think it affects him that much. When we had DeAngelo [Williams], we had the No. 1 rushing offense in the league.

“Trust me, it’s bigger than one player.”

Pouncey predicted that Bell’s absence would not hurt the team.

“No. This team is totally fine. This team is a veteran team. We have a lot of older guys who have been through a lot of situations. You’ve seen the ups and downs we’ve been through and we’re strong, we’re strong-minded, we’re strong-willed, and we’re just ready to play football.”

Steelers are dumbasses. Pay the guy. He's one of the 3 best RB's of the last two decades and he's in his absolute prime.

I'm not saying you did but the national media seemed to get on the Bears for their holdout but the Steelers are getting a pass for this one even though he clearly deserves it.

AFAICT the Steelers can't even pay him now since they franchised him. I wouldn't be shocked to see Bell sit for 8 weeks to preserve his health instead of being used up this year before being able to hit the open market.

I thought he didn't sign the franchise offer yet, thus still being able to negotiate. If they can't even negotiate with him at this point they might be in for a rough season if Conners isn't very good.

I thought he didn't sign the franchise offer yet, thus still being able to negotiate. If they can't even negotiate with him at this point they might be in for a rough season if Conners isn't very good.

Bell has been hurt and if I’m not mistaken , one more postive drug test and he’s facing a year suspension? What did he turn down, 60 million? He can go fuck himself .

Bell has been hurt and if I’m not mistaken , one more postive drug test and he’s facing a year suspension? What did he turn down, 60 million? He can go fuck himself .

Last report was they were only willing to guarantee 10-15 million. Gurley got 45 million guaranteed. I'm sure he thinks the Steelers can go fuck themselves too. He's a better player than Gurley will ever be.

Many here are saying that. Many people on the board ignoring their guy on the ground.

Not ignoring you mike. But if I'm playing a sport that is going to take two decades off my life I'm not playing for less than my market value either. Not sure how anyone can fault Bell for this.

I thought he didn't sign the franchise offer yet, thus still being able to negotiate. If they can't even negotiate with him at this point they might be in for a rough season if Conners isn't very good.

Yep players turning down millions of dollars usually have the sympathies of the fan base

The menstrual cycle changes among Hassidic Jewish women was something as well.

Not ignoring you mike. But if I'm playing a sport that is going to take two decades off my life I'm not playing for less than my market value either. Not sure how anyone can fault Bell for this.

Meanwhile those same fans will throw a shit fit if there is even whisper at capping CEOs salaries.

Oh I think you're right about that. I'd be shocked if the Steelers rescinded the franchise though. Even if they became inclined to do so, they'll be getting pressure from the rest of the league not to because it would significantly weaken the use of the franchise tag across the board. This is quite a bit different from the Bears being pigheaded about language that other teams had already shown flexibility over.

Personally I think both sides are behaving completely rationally here. Well besides the NFLPA reps who are deciding to throw their teammate under the bus in an ongoing labor dispute.

You misunderstand this fan base.

It's not just Steeler fans. Its society in general. Workers need to fall in line and thank their benevolent employers for blessing them with a job, bosses/owners get benefit of doubt.