James Harrison, Bell's teammate from 2014-17, recently said of Fox Sports' "Speak for Yourself" that Steelers' fans shouldn't automatically assume that Bell will be back for Pittsburgh's first regular season game.
“Everyone is saying, ‘When he comes back in Week 1.’ Everybody is assuming he’s going to come back in Week 1," said Harrison, Pittsburgh's all-time leader in sacks. "He has a whole mess of money to lose vs. what he’s gonna lose per week. If I’m in Le’Veon’s situation, I come back with enough time to get my credit for the season, and then I move on. Unless he has a huge insurance policy…there's no way I go into [Week 1] knowing what I would lose.”