Bell Signing Rumor

[Orangesteel]

The guy is a complete moron.

[steelmann58]

most of all the steelers fans knew it was not getting done. Bell being greedy and will get a big suprise when no one will offer him the 16 million. He going to get off to a slow start when he skip camp again.Nobody can think Bell will sit out any games during the season either he lose to much and set a bad look for his future teams. IMO Bell all about the money but glad he passed, a question does Conner have more break away speed than Bell and I think Samuels can be a very capable replqcement in the passing game.

[Gonzo]

It's about the guaranteed money
If he thinks he can get over 30m guaranteed next year I suspect he may sit until mid year

[steelmann58]

he about money will not lose any sitting out

[Legacy User]

Do you know anyone, even a CEO, who would refuse an offer for more than 60 percent more than next highest paid CEO in a similar industry? That's what Bell has done.

I'm actually glad he did not sign. I would not have gone over 12 - what they offered last offseason.

He MAY get about $1 million more per season ($15) on the open market. More than that, and I would be shocked, even with the amount of dumb owners there are. Most have smarter people around them telling them not to be idiots nowadays.

[Gonzo]

he about money will not lose any sitting out

Absolutely ....
If he gets hurt he risks losing everything
If he thinks he van get 4 years 60+m next year with over half guaranteed pls the 12.5 from last year and half 7.5 this year he has a long term cash flow risk analysis to do.
So he can earn between 14.5 up to about 75 over the rest but of his career.
Then again a big year without injury hits the lotto

What will,he do. - I don't think He is going to risk it all while playing a non-guaranteed contract. And he is going to play very carefully

Then again no idea what kind of insurance he can buy

[Suwanee88]

Do you know anyone, even a CEO, who would refuse an offer for more than 60 percent more than next highest paid CEO in a similar industry? That's what Bell has done.

I'm actually glad he did not sign. I would not have gone over 12 - what they offered last offseason.

He MAY get about $1 million more per season ($15) on the open market. More than that, and I would be shocked, even with the amount of dumb owners there are. Most have smarter people around them telling them not to be idiots nowadays.

If he gets all time money next year from someone, that most likely means he has s kick ass year which hopefully helps bring another SB ring!

[KCSteeler]

If he holds out to week 10, rot his ass on the bench the whole season. Fuck him, no matter the cost.

[Thrillsseeker]

Do you know anyone, even a CEO, who would refuse an offer for more than 60 percent more than next highest paid CEO in a similar industry? That's what Bell has done.

I'm actually glad he did not sign. I would not have gone over 12 - what they offered last offseason.

He MAY get about $1 million more per season ($15) on the open market. More than that, and I would be shocked, even with the amount of dumb owners there are. Most have smarter people around them telling them not to be idiots nowadays.

If he gets all time money next year from someone, that most likely means he has s kick ass year which hopefully helps bring another SB ring!

Absolutely. Let him be the SB mvp then walk for all I care. Buh bye.

[Thrillsseeker]

most of all the steelers fans knew it was not getting done. Bell being greedy and will get a big suprise when no one will offer him the 16 million. He going to get off to a slow start when he skip camp again.Nobody can think Bell will sit out any games during the season either he lose to much and set a bad look for his future teams. IMO Bell all about the money but glad he passed, a question does Conner have more break away speed than Bell and I think Samuels can be a very capable replqcement in the passing game.

No Conner does not have more break away speed. About as slow As Bell, but only wearing one shoe.

[steelmann58]

he will not sit out and run him until the wheels fall off. if he gets us a SB all will be fine with him leaving .

[Steelknife]

I'm on Bell's side here from a high level standpoint. Realistically speaking, he has another 4-5 years to make enough money to set himself and his family up for the rest of his life. It makes sense to look to get more.

That said, he's overvaluing himself, though I can imagine some cap flush team ponying up 14.5m per year. Lots of teams out there with a ton of cap. Wouldn't be surprised to see him in SF in 2019.

[bradshaw2ben]

http://www.nfl.com/network/shows/good-morning-football

Click the video where Burleson is comparing Bell with Carmelo Anthony...

That's a bit of a stretch. Anthony was worthless and massively overpaid last year, and is far closer to the end than Bell.

Well, neither has ever played a minute of defense in his entire career.

[LakecrestSteeler]

Maybe this is the best tactic to keep Bell! Why do we need to offer him a long term contract? We keep going with one year contracts and really zero money is risked other than the money for the current year. It is a big cap hit, but we know what we are getting.

I think we will pay the QB money for Bell next year. His tag salary will be around $23,000,000, especially if Rappaport’s 5 year $70 million are to believed. If you count when the tags started, and include 2019, he will have had a 3 year $16.6 million per year contract.

And next year we just use the non-exclusive tag, and nobody is going to offer him QB average salary for a long term deal. The market will be set and we can match the offer or collect the draft picks. He will be around in 2019. Doing the 144% multiplier in 2020, if the CBA even permits it, is Lebron James money. That won’t happen!

Year Salary Multiplier
2015 $779,600
2016 $966,900
2017 $12,120,000 Top 5 FT
2018 $14,544,000 120% FT
2019 $20,943,360 144% $23,189,000 QB Avg
2020 $33,392,160. 144%
2021 $48,084,710 144%

[LakecrestSteeler]

Another point I read was that last year’s offer was front loaded at $30,000,000 for 2017 and 2018, so he is still down $3.36 Million dollars.

He seems to be quite foolish. Bell is maximizing risk, stress and getting paid after he delivers the goods and the Steelers are maximizing his performance and paying when the goods are received.

Bell has all the risk and the Steelers have none...:foolish Bell.

[Ice]

I'm on Bell's side here from a high level standpoint. Realistically speaking, he has another 4-5 years to make enough money to set himself and his family up for the rest of his life. It makes sense to look to get more.

That said, he's overvaluing himself, though I can imagine some cap flush team ponying up 14.5m per year. Lots of teams out there with a ton of cap. Wouldn't be surprised to see him in SF in 2019.

Well, on the one hand, look at the money they threw at Jerick McKinnon, and, well, on the other hand, they've got that much tied up in Jerick McKinnon.

[Ice]

http://www.nfl.com/network/shows/good-morning-football

Click the video where Burleson is comparing Bell with Carmelo Anthony...

That's a bit of a stretch. Anthony was worthless and massively overpaid last year, and is far closer to the end than Bell.

Well, neither has ever played a minute of defense in his entire career.

Never hurts to throw in a shot at Melo's "defensive abilities."

[Legacy User]

If he’s already made his mind up that he doesn’t want to play for the Steelers after this year he’ll probably hold out into the season.

[jebrick]

I'm on Bell's side here from a high level standpoint. Realistically speaking, he has another 4-5 years to make enough money to set himself and his family up for the rest of his life. It makes sense to look to get more.

That said, he's overvaluing himself, though I can imagine some cap flush team ponying up 14.5m per year. Lots of teams out there with a ton of cap. Wouldn't be surprised to see him in SF in 2019.

The only teams that might are the Raiders and 49'ers. The Raiders will have space and no RB ( Lynch on last year). This is only if they think he is the missing link to a SB. They still need to sign Mack.

For any other team with cap room it would be a big waste of cap space. The Colts have a terrible roster. Adding Bell would be stupid as compared to building out their entire roster. Same with the Brownsand the Jets. Seattle and Detroit got their RBs in the last draft.

I predict he gets between 10-12M per year in FA and he sits 8 games with the Steelers.

[Havoc]

We live in the age of stat whore. Not saying players and fans didn't think about those things in the past (they did), but seems to me it is intensified today.

I remember watching the Saints when Brees broke Marino's record for passings yds in a season. I watched their post game locker room celebration. It struck me as a little odd. OK, sure, it was cool that Brees thought so highly of Dan and it was celebrated in a team concept and in a classy way. But still, a little odd to me.

I saw a stat yesterday comparing Bell and Jim Brown per game yds from scrimmage. Jim Brown is before my time. I was curious to see what he did in the post season so I did a little research.

Jim Brown did not do shit in the post season. If you were a rb fanboy and put that above championships, you would love watching those teams. If you wanted a post season winner, you might have been calling for better qb/receiving talent if they didn't have it and maybe calling for them to be more involved in the offense.

JIm played in 4 ps games. They lost 3. In the 1 Browns ps win , their qb had TD strikes of 18 yds, 42 yds, and 51 yds.

Jim's ps numbers in those 4 games...

241 yds
3.65 Y/A
8 rec 99 yds
1 TD

Leveon yds from scrimmage per game avg ...

It was done in the context of an offense that was overhyped and overrated. Never among the very best offenses in the league. No rings. No sb appearance. Many on this board including myself have argued, the offense was more explosive more dynamic and better with less Leveon touches. So those numbers don't mean anything to me. Great player but overhyped (sans his 2014 season) and overused.

[LakecrestSteeler]

I predict he gets between 10-12M per year in FA and he sits 8 games with the Steelers.

Why would he sit 8 games if he is looking for money? He is getting more money than he probably can in free agency currently. Why would he waste roughly 8 million dollars and potentially piss off the Steelers? He has to sign the contract and play. If he does and sits out I believe the Steelers could say he voided the contract and they could cancel the contract and put the Franchise Tag on him again in 2019; if they wanted to play hardball. He would then lose the 144% multiplier and drop back to the 120% I suspect or I suppose you could go to the contract language and perhaps argue that he gets top 5 running back salary average or 120% of his 2018 salary $0 because he sat out and voided his contract.

If he sits out and loses $8 million dollars coupled with the nearly $4 million he is behind when the Steelers offered $30 million over the 2017 and 2018 seasons, he will never be made whole by free agency.

The Steelers are in the driver’s seat, but he is a passenger in a Ferrari.

He will play all games this year, they will tag and sign him again next year and pay the 144% or the top 5 QB salary avg (QBs will be $23 to $24 million) or they could do the non-exclusive and show him that he will not get no where near $14-$15 million a year from other teams, and if he does Steelers match and they are no worse for the wear. Worst case they pay $23ish million in 2019 and they are still in the ball park of their offer last year and th report 5/$70 offer this year.

[K_C_]

I absolutely adore Bell, but those who said Bell saved the Steelers from themselves are right on the money.

Use him up and let Bell's ass go wherever he wants next Spring.

If Conner or Samuels don't develop quick or one of our UDFA rookies doesn't turn into Willie Parker, draft Bell's replacement in the early rounds next April.

[StillerInCT]

I absolutely adore Bell, but those who said Bell saved the Steelers from themselves are right on the money.

Use him up and let Bell's ass go wherever he wants next Spring.

If Conner or Samuels don't develop quick or one of our UDFA rookies doesn't turn into Willie Parker, draft Bell's replacement in the early rounds next April.

The problem with the Willie Parker types is if you take away the long runs...

[Havoc]

I absolutely adore Bell, but those who said Bell saved the Steelers from themselves are right on the money.

Use him up and let Bell's ass go wherever he wants next Spring.

If Conner or Samuels don't develop quick or one of our UDFA rookies doesn't turn into Willie Parker, draft Bell's replacement in the early rounds next April.

The problem with the Willie Parker types is if you take away the long runs...

I think you are joking CT, but this got me to thinking.

In our last 4 super bowl appearances our starting RB's were...

Mendenhall
Parker
Parker
Morris

[Ice]

With the exception of Mendenhall (who never, to my memory, got "run the wheels off" level carries), none of those were "feature back" situations, either. Frees the offense up to be a little more versatile, I think.

Also, frees up a LOT of cap space. Has anybody ever spent as much combined money on 1 RB, 1 WR and 1 QB in a season as the Steelers will this year? Combine that with Decastro and Pouncey, and it's no wonder the defense underachieved.

Puts the Steelers in the same position as the Manning/James/Harrison Colts. Maybe worse.

[Legacy User]

I think bell is in a pretty decent position for a holdout. There are plenty of below average teams where bell could be the difference between a winning or losing season or even a playoff berth. Coaches and gms on the hot seat would surely shell out 17M per if they’re not guaranteed to be around anyway.

Bell loses weekly pay but that could easily be offset by new contract.

There are decent reasons for not holding out too but I won’t be shocked if he’s not out there opening day

[Legacy User]

Plus now there’s the martavis precedent. Could bell force their trade hand in season?

[Ice]

Plus now there’s the martavis precedent. Could bell force their trade hand in season?

The Martavis Precedent involved a year long drug ban, followed by a year of physical and digital whining, combined with career low performance on a loaded, 13-3 team, while being essentially replaced by a rookie.

That sort of Precedent might hurt Bell's chances at a 17 million dollar per year contract after whatever trade takes place.

I still think, if he's really looking to have any chance to make the kind of salary leap he's after, his best bet is to have a career, "bet on himself" kind of season from start to finish.

[Legacy User]

Plus now there’s the martavis precedent. Could bell force their trade hand in season?

The Martavis Precedent involved a year long drug ban, followed by a year of physical and digital whining, combined with career low performance on a loaded, 13-3 team, while being essentially replaced by a rookie.

That sort of Precedent might hurt Bell's chances at a 17 million dollar per year contract after whatever trade takes place.

I still think, if he's really looking to have any chance to make the kind of salary leap he's after, his best bet is to have a career, "bet on himself" kind of season from start to finish.

But he’s spurned the team, skips camp, tweets, basically not a good Steelers citizen.

What if he does sit out and come October there’s a bubble on playoff team that’s gets in his range and gives us a couple choice draft picks? Let’s sweeten it more by saying what if we’re undefeated at that point without him?

I could see a scenario where they move him in season.

[Jobu]

Plus now there’s the martavis precedent. Could bell force their trade hand in season?

The Martavis Precedent involved a year long drug ban, followed by a year of physical and digital whining, combined with career low performance on a loaded, 13-3 team, while being essentially replaced by a rookie.

That sort of Precedent might hurt Bell's chances at a 17 million dollar per year contract after whatever trade takes place.

I still think, if he's really looking to have any chance to make the kind of salary leap he's after, his best bet is to have a career, "bet on himself" kind of season from start to finish.

But he’s spurned the team, skips camp, tweets, basically not a good Steelers citizen.

What if he does sit out and come October there’s a bubble on playoff team that’s gets in his range and gives us a couple choice draft picks? Let’s sweeten it more by saying what if we’re undefeated at that point without him?

I could see a scenario where they move him in season.

JMO, but I see very little upside to the Steelers trading him at that point. I doubt they get “a couple choice draft picks” for a FA to be RB looking for $17 mil per.

FWIW, I don’t see Lev holding out. He came out and said the Steelers will get his best...I have no reason to doubt he means it.
I think the holdout stuff is just the media dopes looking to create drama BS.