And now the waiting truly begins.
With the Steelers now just seven days away from playing their regular season opener in Cleveland, All-Pro running back Le'Veon Bell's situation remains in a holding pattern.
A year ago, in the same situation, Bell reported to the Steelers and signed his one-year franchise offer of $12.1 million. He then played in the opener -- also at Cleveland -- carrying the ball 10 times for 32 yards and catching three passes for another 15 in his least productive day of the season.
Now, with Bell waiting to sign a $14.5 million offer, the Steelers find themselves in the same boat, but perhaps better prepared to handle the situation.
After a strong preseason from James Conner and the addition of veteran Stevan Ridley -- signed late last season when Conner was placed on injured reserve -- the Steelers have two running backs capable of carrying the load if Bell doesn't report and sign sometime this week or is not up to speed in time for the Browns. The Steelers also added rookie Jaylen Samuels in the draft.
That's far different than a year ago, when Terrell Watson was the only other running back on the roster besides Conner and Bell.
Conner finished the preseason with 19 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown, also catching seven passes for 61 yards. Ridley, a 1,200-yard runner for New England in 2012, had 18 rushing attempts for 53 yards running behind second and third-team players, but also caught four passes for 50 yards. Samuels contributed 28 carries for 86 yards and eight receptions for another 50 in the preseason.
Conner got just four carries for 11 yards in that 21-18 win at Cleveland a year ago as the Steelers ran for just 35 yards on 17 rushing attempts. But he built up more trust with the coaching staff this year after missing large portions of the 2017 training camp with injuries.
"We treat things the same way," Conner said of how he'll approach this week. "We've got individual things going on. I'm going to work on what I need to work on and just be ready."
But how much he needs to be ready will largely depend on Bell.
The biggest question for the Steelers will be what kind of shape he arrives in if and when he reports. Bell worked out hard prior to showing up last season, but averaged just 3.2 yards per carry in his first two games back.
He might have taken a different approach to his training this time, knowing he looked rusty to start last season. And the Steelers will want to get him onto the field and up to speed as quickly as possible considering they'll be paying him just over $850,000 per game this season.
Conceivably, Bell could choose to skip games and report with six weeks remaining in the season. Per NFL rules, that would be long enough for him to accrue the season and become a free agent at season's end. It's something former teammate James Harrison suggested Bell do on an appearance on FS1 last week.
"Everybody's assuming that Le'Veon is coming back Week 1," Harrison said. "He has a whole mess of money to lose vs. what he's going to lose per week."
If Bell were to sit out until Week 10, he would lose over $8.5 million before becoming a free agent. But he also would be hoping another team would take a chance on him next year -- at 27 -- with a long-term deal.
Regardless of what he does, the Steelers are prepared for the best and worst.
"The whole team, we've got the pieces we need," Ridley said. "Can we get it together and keep it together for the big stretch? That's the question. As far as talent, coaching, experience, having players who know what it takes, we've got a good spread of great players. We've got our work cut out for us, but I like the roster. I like where we're at."
Conner agrees.
"The weapons are in position, so it will be nice to see it all come together," Conner said. "We've got playmakers all around."
Now, they'll just have to continue to wait and see what happens with Bell. Perhaps more importantly, they'll have to see when it happens.
What does that change?
"Nothing," Ridley told me. "Le'Veon is Le'Veon. When he steps in, he's going to be expected to play. He's a pro. This is not his first go-around. There's a lot of hype around that, but that's between Le'Veon and the guys upstairs. Once he does get in the building, he's chasing the same thing the rest of us are, and that's a championship. We'll be glad to see him when he gets in here."