Le’Veon Bell didn’t understand it back when he was a player, and he still doesn’t understand it now.

But he saw the devaluing of running backs coming, and now from a distance, is watching the ramifications affect his former counterparts just as it did to him.

“There is definitely something to be done [about it]…” Bell told The Post in a lengthy interview about his post-football career. “Everybody already called me a rebel. Everybody says I’m the guy that went against the grain. I’m Flick in ‘Ant’s Life.’ I’m the guy who doesn’t accept the way of life…

“What I did was kind of open guys’ eyes a bit — you’re worth more than this.”

Just 31 years old, the former star NFL running back has not officially retired from football but has not played since 2021.

He’s launched newfound careers as a professional boxer and rapper, recently beginning a new partnership with OnlyFans to release content relating to those two new endeavors.

After emerging as one of the league’s most dynamic offensive weapons with the Steelers, Bell infamously became embroiled in a contract standoff with the team toward the end of his rookie deal.

The Steelers franchise-tagged Bell, and after the two sides failed to agree to a long-term deal Bell thought was fair, he decided to sit out the entire 2018 season rather than play on the tag.

He signed with the Jets the following season but never reached near the same level of success again.

It marked one of the most notable first examples of the league’s growing reluctance — or nearing refusal — to pay veteran running backs lucrative long-term contracts.

Giants star Saquon Barkley brought the issue back to the forefront when he failed to secure a long-term deal after the team franchise-tagged him this offseason but gave large extensions to quarterback Daniel Jones, defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence and left tackle Andrew Thomas.

“The quarterback for the Giants, and I’m not trying to talk bad or anything, but the quarterback of the Giants should not be getting paid more than Saquon Barkley,” Bell said. “Let’s be honest — who’s really the best player on the team?

“Now in my situation, when I was with Ben Roethlisberger, and with Antonio Brown, that’s not even a question. Ben had Super Bowls, Ben had 4,000 yards passing, Hall of Famer.

“But certain guys are not that, and the running back is the best player.”

Although speculation emerged that Barkley would hold out training camp or even the regular season, as Bell did, Barkley signed a one-year deal and reported to the Giants for the first day of camp, though the Giants did add a few incentives to sweeten the deal.

Along with Barkley, Raiders standout running back Josh Jacobs, who was also tagged, has been engulfed in a contract standoff with the team and has yet to report to training camp.

Top running backs around the league — both ones already with lucrative contracts and those still seeking theirs — reportedly communicated together and involved the Players Association to examine strategies for how to combat their position’s grim future.

Bell said part of the reason he decided to sit out was to make a stand for the position, but he now knows he was missing, and the position is still missing, a critical ingredient.

“They did a better job sticking together, maybe getting on some calls and whatever, but that still wasn’t enough,” Bell said.

“It needs to be a movement.

“The only way it’s a movement is if they’re all together. I was one lone ant. What happened? Gone… This year you had two guys, Josh Jacobs and Saquon — two guys threatening to sit out. I was the one ant in 2018, now we have two ants in 2023.”

Much of the current narrative around running backs suggests that they are highly replaceable, and given their high injury rate and early decline, aren’t worth a large investment.

Bell sees a completely different reality — one where running backs provide more value than nearly any other position.

“When you have a player like that, like Saquon or Josh Jacobs, those types of players, you pay the player, not the position,” Bell said.

“I think it gets confused in the NFL because they all say, ‘Oh he’s in the running back market, let’s put him here.’

“But it’s like, you pay the player. Is he just a running back? Because he does receiving stuff too. Is he just a running back? Because he blocks too. Is he just a running back? Because he carries all the morale, and everybody literally watches him and the way he’s going, the team is going. If he’s not going, then the team is not going. …

“That’s where I think it kills a lot of people. If you’re a receiver, they have no problem paying you $25 million a year. I don’t get it. Receivers get the ball eight times a game. If that…

“The [NFL] is wrong in that viewpoint because you can do that with any position. Literally any position.”