Bell: Steelers inquired about me before trade deadline

The New York Jets listened to trade offers for Le'Veon Bell ahead of Tuesday's deadline, and the star running back revealed Thursday that they had an unexpected suitor in his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"I found out through my agent. He had talked to the Jets and there were teams like Houston (Texans), the (Green Bay) Packers, the Kansas City Chiefs, and, surprisingly, the Steelers were all in the mix in trying to trade for me," Bell said on the "17 Weeks" podcast.

Bell said the main reasons a trade didn't happen were that New York asked for a "high price" in return and his contract is hard for other teams to take on.

Pittsburgh's apparent interest could be explained by its recent injury troubles in the backfield.

Both James Conner and Benny Snell were hurt during Monday's win against the Miami Dolphins. Connor suffered an AC joint injury while Snell suffered a knee ailment that will keep him out for two-to-six weeks.

Shortly after the deadline passed, Bell - who was the Jets' prized free-agent addition this past offseason - said he was "happy as hell" that New York ultimately kept him.

Bell established himself as one of the NFL's top running backs during his five seasons with the Steelers.

However, his split from Pittsburgh was messy, as Bell sat out the entire 2018 season over a contract dispute before exiting in free agency.

- With h/t to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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