Contract talks between Steelers, Bell on hold

The Pittsburgh Steelers have put contract negotiations with franchise-tagged running back Le'Veon Bell on hold.

General manager Kevin Colbert made the announcement Sunday. The front office will keep its focus on free agency and the upcoming draft. The Steelers will resume dialogue with Bell's representatives eventually, Colbert said, adding that there's no update on a multi-year agreement.

Pittsburgh elected to use its franchise tag on Bell for the second consecutive year.

"At this point, after we tagged Le'Veon, we move into other matters of free agency," Colbert said at the NFL owners meetings, according to Bob Labriola of Steelers.com. "We (also) continue with draft preparation, so it's really not anything we're choosing to ignore, it's just the circumstances of other things that need to be taken care of at the moment. Free agency takes precedence, but we're also trying to keep up with our draft operation as well."

Bell was staunchly opposed to receiving another one-year contract and has yet to sign the deal. He admitted in early March that he has little choice but to play on the tag for another season and said it'd be a "rerun of last year," when he skipped training camp and signed his tender just days ahead of the season opener.

Colbert remains hopeful Bell will attend this year's training camp.