Jul 26, 2017 7 min read

LATROBE – To get a ring, the Steelers will need Bell.

Le’Veon Bell.

But when the All-Pro running back will show up at the team’s training camp at Saint Vincent College is anyone’s guess.

The Steelers are scheduled to report by 4 p.m. today and will complete their conditioning test as they finalize preparations for the 2017 season.

The Steelers are hopeful this season ends one game later than last year, when they were defeated at New England in the AFC Championship game. To get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010, they’ll need Bell on the field.

And the running back remains unsigned at this point after turning down an offer worth $60 million over five years after the team placed the franchise tag on him in February to keep him from hitting the free agent market.

Bell can play this season on that one-year, $12.12-million contract but has yet to sign the deal. He’s under no obligation to report to training camp with his teammates because he is not under contract.

It’s highly unlikely, however, that he will miss any regular season games. NFL salaries are paid in 17 installments during the regular season – one each week of the regular season.

Bell’s reporting status is perhaps the biggest issue facing the Steelers as they head into training camp, but it’s hardly the only one.

That’s something of a surprise for a team that returns 20 of 22 starters and is coming off its third consecutive playoff appearance.

Here are some other things that need to be sorted out by the time the Steelers break camp Aug. 19:

• Is this the final season for Ben Roethlisberger?

The Steelers’ quarterback talked about retirement but decided to come back for his 14th season.

The 35-year-old is signed through 2019 but it now looks like his status will be a year-to-year decision. How healthy he can stay throughout the season will play a large part in that decision.

Look for head coach Mike Tomlin to take things easy on his veteran quarterback in this camp.

• The Steelers want to play more man-to-man defense. That could be troublesome with aging slot cornerback William Gay and Ross Cockrell on the outside. Both are prototypical zone cornerbacks.

But defensive coordinator Keith Butler said he wants to mix more man coverage into his defense after Patriots quarterback Tom Brady tortured the Steelers, primarily a zone team, in the AFC Championship.

“We knew at the end of last year that we needed to be able to do more than just spot drop and play zone,” Butler said. “But we felt like that was the best opportunity that we had to try to get to the Super Bowl. We knew that last year. Right now, going into training camp, it’s going to help on both sides of the ball if we can play more man. Our guys can get used to it.”

The Steelers selected cornerbacks Cam Sutton and Brian Allen in the third and fifth rounds of this year’s draft and signed veteran Coty Sensabaugh, a former starter with the Titans and Giants. It also will have former second-round pick Senquez Golson trying to regain his form after missing his first two NFL seasons with shoulder and foot injuries.

Sorting out the secondary will be a big part of this training camp.

• How much James Harrison is enough James Harrison?

That’s the question the coaching staff must ask about the now 39-year-old outside linebacker.

Harrison began last season as a part-time player behind former first-round pick Jarvis Jones. But with the Steelers struggling at 4-5 and Jones failing to produce, Tomlin put Harrison into the starting lineup and the team took off.

Jones has moved on, signing as a free agent with Arizona. But the Steelers selected outside linebacker T.J. Watt in the first round of this year’s draft, knowing that Harrison can’t play forever.

Will Watt be ready to play right away? Possibly. He got all the snaps with the first-team defense throughout the offseason workouts as Harrison watched from the sidelines.

• Where does Martavis Bryant fit in the equation in a crowded wide receiver group?

Bryant returns from a one-year suspension for violation of the league’s substance abuse policy and essentially will replace former starter Markus Wheaton. Wheaton signed in free agency with Chicago.

In Antonio Brown, Sammie Coates, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Eli Rogers, Justin Hunter – signed as a free agent – DeMarcus Ayers and Coby Hamilton, the Steelers have eight receivers with NFL experience.

Coates will miss the first couple weeks of camp after surgery on his knee.

They also selected Ju-Ju Smith-Shuster in the second round of this year’s draft.

It’s a wealth of riches and only six will likely make the final roster.

Bryant has looked great in the offseason and has 15 touchdown catches in 21 career games. But he’s also one failed drug test away from possibly being suspended indefinitely by the league. Bryant has to regain the trust of his teammates, most notably Roethlisberger.

• What happens at inside linebacker?

After 10 seasons with the team, linebacker Lawrence Timmons signed as a free agent with Miami.

Veteran Vince Williams will move into the starting lineup beside Ryan Shazier, but the depth at the position, which was very good just two years ago, is now thin.

Veterans Steven Johnson, L.J. Fort and Tyler Matakevich have their positives, but none is a starter in waiting.

With Shazier having missed time in each of his previous three seasons, the Steelers don’t have Williams to bring off the bench to replace him.

Fort is probably the best of the three in terms of playing a style similar to that of Shazier, who is emerging as the most versatile defender.

Undrafted rookies Matt Galambos and Keith Kelsey will have a shot to earn a roster spot.

• Can Waynesburg native Scott Orndoff earn a roster spot and become the first Greene County native since Joe Taffoni of Carmichaels to play in an NFL game?

Orndoff, a tight end from Pitt, was signed as an undrafted free agent to add depth to a group that includes Jesse James, Xavier Grimble and David Johnson. Veteran Ladarius Green was released after one injury-plagued season with the Steelers.

At the very least, Orndoff has an inside track at earning a spot on the practice squad. If he makes the 53-man roster, he would end a more than 40-year streak for Greene County. Taffoni, who played for the Browns and Giants, appeared in his final NFL game in 1973.

• Will any other contracts get done?

Brown got a new deal in the offseason before the Steelers turned their attention to sign Bell. The deadline to sign Bell to an extension has now passed and the team will turn its attention to some other impending free agents.

Defensive end Stephon Tuitt will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva was offered an exclusive rights free agent deal that he has yet to sign. He would like a new deal before the season begins. He is currently slated to earn $615,000.

• How will things change without Dan Rooney’s presence?

Even when the longtime Steelers’ owner left to become the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, he kept tabs on the team.

Rooney died earlier this year and the Steelers will wear a shamrock logo with Rooney’s DMR initials in it on their helmets.

Rooney presided over the Steelers during their rise from league laughingstock to one of its most stable and respected franchises. It started with the hiring of Chuck Noll in 1969.

Now, the Steelers will spend the next few weeks practicing on Chuck Noll Field as they try to win their seventh Super Bowl title.