Steelers owner expects Le'Veon Bell to report next week

The clock is ticking on Le'Veon Bell's return to the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of Tuesday's deadline for franchise-tagged players to report to their teams.

The star running back will lose his eligibility to play this season if he continues to stay away from the Steelers. However, team owner Art Rooney II said on Thursday during a SiriusXM NFL Radio appearance that he expects Bell to rejoin the team before time runs out.

"I don't know what his plans are, but I would say at this point we expect him to come back next week," Rooney said, via NFL.com's Austin Knoblauch. "We know he's back in Pittsburgh and so we're hoping to have some communications with him over the weekend and we're kind of expecting he will be back next week."

Despite Bell's absence causing friction, including public calls from his teammates to end his holdout, Pittsburgh wants the Pro Bowler back, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Bell is reportedly considering skipping the rest of the 2018 season after learning the Steelers will have to pay him around $25 million if the team franchise tags the veteran for a third straight year.