The Pittsburgh Steelers have yet to progress on trade talks involving Le'Veon Bell to a serious stage.

Some teams have inquired with Pittsburgh on Bell but none have been aggressive.

Bell's continued absence from Pittsburgh has raised questions about what his future salary could and would be if the Steelers, or any team that traded for him, used the transition tag on him this offseason.

The longer Bell stays away, the more his salary for this season drops, which could dramatically affect what he earns in 2019. 

If Bell were to report to the Steelers next week, the most cash he could make this year would be $11.12 million; and 120 percent of that number under the transition tag would be $13.346 million -- lower than the $14.534 he was scheduled to earn under the franchise tag this season.

James Harrison, a former teammate of Le'Veon Bell with the Pittsburgh Steelers, has some advice for the running back.

Bell has stayed away from the Steelers, who placed the franchise tag on him. Bell wants to hit free agency this coming offseason in good health, but won't get the accrued season he needs to become a free agent if he never shows up.

Harrison suggests Bell should sign the franchise tag before the deadline to get the accrued season, report to the Steelers and then fake an injury to prevent himself from taking the field.

"I think the play for Le'Veon, if I'm Le'Veon, is I'm coming back — what is it, November 13? — and I'm gonna go in there, I'm gonna get my credit for the season I need to get, and I'm gonna do the best I can to get out of that season healthy. And, for me, I'd give you everything in practice, you would see — the cameras would see — that I am fine, I am healthy. But come Saturday, 'Something ain't right, I can't play on Sunday.' Because if I go out here and I mess something up I'm losing a lot of money," Harrison said on FS1.

The New York Jets have reached out to the Pittsburgh Steelers with interest in a trade for Le'Veon Bell.

Bell has yet to sign his $14.54 million franchise tag tender.

The Jets have not made a concrete offer for Bell yet.

NFL rules prohibit any team trading for Bell to give him a multi-year deal until after the 2018 season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are now listening to trade offers for Le'Veon Bell.

Bell is currently holding out and is expected to leave the Steelers this offseason either way.

The Pittsburgh Steelers plan to simplify their defensive game plan after giving up 42 points to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2.

The Steelers are 0-1-1 heading into Monday night's game against the red-hot Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Defensive coordinator Keith Butler admitted to trying to "do too much" with the Kansas City game plan, leading to breakdowns in communication.

"It's not an excuse, but I think simplifying the game plan, letting us line up and make plays, line up to what we see [will help]," Joe Haden said. "We have to do a lot of film study, study the receivers and see where they line up at. And since they throw with timing, we've got to get a feel for the concepts."

The Pittsburgh Steelers disciplined Antonio Brown for missing work on Monday.

"He and I met yesterday for an extended period of time," Mike Tomlin said. "I'll leave the nature of that conversation between us. There was discipline involved for his missed meeting on Monday."

Brown was a no-show to team headquarters the same day he tweeted "Trade me let's find out" to a former Steelers public relations staffer who posted that Brown wouldn't be the same player without Ben Roethlisberger.

Roethlisberger said he has spoken to Brown and is not taking his actions personally.

"He's the best in the world," Roethlisberger said of Brown. "When you're the best in the world, you want to help participate, you want to win football games. We're all a little frustrated because we're not winning right now."

Antonio Brown doesn't want to be traded by the Pittsburgh Steelers and wasn't with the team on Monday because of a personal matter, his agent said.

Brown was seen getting into a sideline confrontation with offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner during Sunday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The receiver also responded 'Trade me let's find out' to a former Steelers staff member who tweeted Brown wouldn't be the same player without Ben Roethlisberger.

"The tweet yesterday was not in reference to anything other than Antonio responding to a person he knows," Drew Rosenhaus told ESPN.

"It was not directed toward a trade, or wanting to be trading. It was a personal response to a former Steelers employee who insulted him. Any idea he was asking for a trade is not accurate. Secondly, yesterday he had a personal matter. I talked to the team about it. His issue was unrelated to the tweet or his relationship with the team. Third, anything you see between AB and the coaches, AB has an incredible drive to win. He just wants to win. That's all that that is. That's not anything more than him encouraging his coaches and teammates to win. And that's what his entire focus is on. Any notion, any speculation otherwise, can be put to bed. This is a non-story that has been blown out of proportion. We can end this right here and now."

Antonio Brown responded to criticism from a fan on social media with a dare for the Pittsburgh Steelers to trade him if the fan wants to find out whether he can produce as he has with another team.

Trade me let’s find out https://t.co/4OeepI78zy

— Antonio Brown (@AB84) September 17, 2018

Brown has consistently been one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL over the past few seasons.

Le'Veon Bell recently had a conversation with former NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew and expressed his concerns about being overused in what will almost certainly be his final season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"[Bell] was happy for James Conner after that performance but that performance justifies why he's not there right now," Jones-Drew said on the Dave Dameshek Football Program. "If you're going to give James Conner 31 carries, imagine how many you'd give to Le'Veon Bell?"

Bell also told Jones-Drew that there's nothing personal about what he views as a business decision to stay away from the team.

"[Bell] said to me, 'People think that I don't like Pittsburgh, I don't like James Conner, I don't like these guys,'" Jones-Drew said. "He was like, 'Yes, I was disappointed they went out and spoke about my contract,' understandably so. He was like, 'But I still want them to do well, they're still guys that I work with and guys that I've put in this extra work with — blood, sweat and tears like I still want them to do well.'"

As his holdout lingers, the Pittsburgh Steelers have removed Le'Veon Bell from their on-line depth chart.

James Conner, who had nearly 200 total yards in Week 1, is now listed as Pittsburgh's No. 1 running back.

The timing of the decision is odd, but Bell isn't currently an employee of the Steelers and won't be until he signs a contract.