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4pm deadline looms

Steelerfan81

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Steelers have until 4pm to sign Bell or he plays on the franchise tag.
 
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I hate it when things loom. Makes me uncomfortable.
 
Hope we get him locked in. Not sure where they are in negotiations but if it takes the deadline to get a deal done, lets get it done.
 
It seems that there are some people out there that are not fans of giving Bell the huge contract he wants. Reason being, he may only have a couple more good years left.

Production

No matter how you slice it, there appears to be a drastic regression in output after the conclusion of a running back's forth season in the league. This is true for both the Hall of Famers & the players who fizzled out. Let's say, hypothetically of course, that Le'Veon Bell signs a contract for 4 years and puts up the average of 84 yards & 0.5 touchdowns per game over that span. Over the four years Bell will accumulate approximately 5,375 yards from scrimmage & 33 touchdowns. While it is fairly safe to assume Bell will put up more yards than this, it is also probably wise to assume he will not play all 16 games each year so we will consider it a wash.

Then it comes back to the money issue too.


When looking around the league, $7M to $8M seems to be roughly what teams are paying for a reliable RB1 so it makes sense that the cost roughly equals the value. So we lock him up for 4 years at $7M per year? While $7M per year is all Bell's estimated production is really worth, the harsh reality of the matter is that Bell will be paid more than that. The next question, though, is by who?

And they are serious.
I recommend the Steelers offer Bell a 4-year deal worth $30M with incentives that could bring the deal to $44M. These incentives would basically be saying that if Bell stays relatively healthy (plays in at least 54 out of 64 possible games) and suspension free he will get the full pay day. I would also put a clause that if Bell gets caught with pot again, all guaranteed money goes away. If Bell continues to play at the pace he has, basically dressing for 3 out of 4 games, he will get paid as such. If Bell refuses this deal, I would keep the Franchise Tag on the table for 2017 and plan to draft one of many good RB prospects in the 2018 NFL Draft. If this happens, it will be sad to lose such a great player, but business decisions should never be made out of emotion.

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2017/7/6/15932578/for-whom-will-leveon-bell-toll
 
Hope we get him locked in. Not sure where they are in negotiations but if it takes the deadline to get a deal done, lets get it done.

with what kind of contract would you be happy?

For me 45 to 48M for 4 years. I doubt he signs for less than that, more would be just too much given his two problems (injuries and drugs)
 
Question is.....can they add contract language regarding the substance abuse? The CBA may preclude it. So Bonus money is guaranteed regardless. It will be interesting to see if he isn't signed what happens with his production this year.


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If no deal is done by 4. He can't sign a multi year contract until next FA. Unless he gets tagged again.


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Question is.....can they add contract language regarding the substance abuse? The CBA may preclude it. So Bonus money is guaranteed regardless. It will be interesting to see if he isn't signed what happens with his production this year.


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easy.
word it to revolve around games suspended for by the commissioner, to be reviewed by the team and if the infractions were due to ingestion of illegal substances, but not PEDs, then guaranteed money is removed from the contract going forward and the final year(s) become team-option and the highest pay rate available would be 5th of the top 5 paid at his position, subject for contract review after the third year. offer a 5 year contact (player security) and $45 mil overall, with $15-20 mil in incentives.
 
Not gonna happen. What is the situation with Big Al? Is he on a tender or a tag? I know he had no contract at mini camp.
 
4 years for $40 million. Give him $20-25 million as signing bonus. The bonus can be recouped if he ***** the bed in a couple years. I can't see going over $10 million per. That is already a 25% raise over the current No. 1 paid RB in the league.
 
Think Le'Veon ****** himself by not getting a deal done. He's going to still get paid but he may not get the years he wants after the season. RBs have shorter productive careers than other position players. He'll be paid nicely this year though.

Tim to go get Big Al signed long term.
 
If he plays well, they'll tag him again. I'd only wager on him having about 2-3 stellar years left anyway. A four year deal benefitted him more than the team.
 
No deal. We can hopefully enjoy Bell's services for a year or maybe 2. Him not signing this year means I doubt they sign him to a long term deal next year - especially if he doesn't play 100% injury free this year. Someone will way overpay for Bell if he hits FA. I am sure the Steelers offered him something more than fair but he wants to break the bank at the RB position. The position doesn't warrant the type of money it used to and obviously the type of money Bell wants. I would be shocked if the Steelers didn't offer him $10 million per year for 4 or 5 years with somewhere around $20-25 million signing bonus. That would have been a good deal for the Steelers and a very good deal for Bell and would have made him the highest paid RB by 25%.

I hope he sits for most or all of camp so Connor can get as many reps as possible. He may be our future in a year or two.
 
Oh well, at least he will have to play hard to earn that fat contract next year. Whether it's with the Steelers or not, he'll have to go balls to the wall this year. I hope he stays but if he's determined to squeeze every dollar out he can, he'll probably be somewhere else.


I disagree. He won't be going anywhere provided he doesn't have a career ending injury or screws up with weed again.
 
I disagree. He won't be going anywhere provided he doesn't have a career ending injury or screws up with weed again.

Depends on how cutthroat he and his agent want to be come contract time. The Steelers are not going to going to do a ridiculous contract like some other teams will, trust me. They'll get outbid by the a few teams who are desperate and are willing to handcuff themselves against the cap for awhile. It just comes down to whether a player values a couple extra million or being on a winning team. If the money trumps winning for him, he'll go elsewhere.
 
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