That should get done soon thanks to that same collective bargaining agreement that set up this stalemate with Bell. Part of that deal included caps and slotting on rookie contracts that limited what young players could be paid, pushing it instead toward veteran players.
But as part of the unintended consequences of that CBA, teams figured out they could find cheap labor at running back with young players they didn’t need to pay a lot of money.
Bell wants to change that. And if he had an opportunity to reach the open market, he probably would. Going into free agency this year, his franchise tag salary ranked 40th in the NFL in terms of compensation in 2018.
Now that we’ve gone through free agency and the draft, his salary ranks 47th. Of the players ahead of him, 22 are quarterbacks, which is understandable. But does anyone seriously think Blake Bortles, Andy Dalton or Joe Flacco are better players or more valuable to their teams than Bell?
If not those guys, how about Carolina’s Kawann Short, a good, not great, player, who had 7.5 sacks last season? He’ll make $16.1 million this season.
Or maybe Sammy Watkins, who is being paid $16 million this season after catching a combined 57 passes the past two seasons? That’s 26 fewer than Bell had in 2017 alone.
Jarvis Landry will make $15.1 million from Cleveland this year. He won’t come anywhere near the 112 catches he had last season in Miami, though the Browns might be disappointed if he only has 987 yards or averages 8.8 yards per catch as he did last season.
Fact of the matter is, for what he means to his team, Bell deserves to make the kind of money he’s making — if not more — when compared to other star players. Brown knows that, as well.
That’s why he and the rest of the Steelers don’t have an issue with the running back not being at OTAs or skipping training camp. They know he answered the bell last season — no pun intended — leading the league with 406 touches.
"He’s always highly conditioned. We know that he is going to be taking care of his body and putting himself in high condition,” Brown said. “That’s one thing about Le’Veon that makes him special. He takes this game serious. There is never a question or doubt about his game about being physically ready. I know when he walks in the building and whenever he shows up you know what you are going to get. You are going to get a guy who’s ready to take 400-500 carries. A guy who is willing to run and catch the ball. A guy who can do it all.”
• The running back position is underpaid in the league right now, but as I’ve written before, that will change soon, starting next year.
If the Steelers don’t get a long-term deal worked out with Bell this year, he’ll be a free agent again next year at 27. And as things currently stand, so will Arizona’s David Johnson.
Anybody think those two guys are getting signed for $8.25 million per year, the current top average salary for a long-term deal for a running back? That’s not happening.
Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournettewill soon follow into free agency. And Elliott and Fournette are already making more than $6 million per year each on their rookie deals
https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2018/05/24/lolley-no-bell-isnt-holding-steelers/
But as part of the unintended consequences of that CBA, teams figured out they could find cheap labor at running back with young players they didn’t need to pay a lot of money.
Bell wants to change that. And if he had an opportunity to reach the open market, he probably would. Going into free agency this year, his franchise tag salary ranked 40th in the NFL in terms of compensation in 2018.
Now that we’ve gone through free agency and the draft, his salary ranks 47th. Of the players ahead of him, 22 are quarterbacks, which is understandable. But does anyone seriously think Blake Bortles, Andy Dalton or Joe Flacco are better players or more valuable to their teams than Bell?
If not those guys, how about Carolina’s Kawann Short, a good, not great, player, who had 7.5 sacks last season? He’ll make $16.1 million this season.
Or maybe Sammy Watkins, who is being paid $16 million this season after catching a combined 57 passes the past two seasons? That’s 26 fewer than Bell had in 2017 alone.
Jarvis Landry will make $15.1 million from Cleveland this year. He won’t come anywhere near the 112 catches he had last season in Miami, though the Browns might be disappointed if he only has 987 yards or averages 8.8 yards per catch as he did last season.
Fact of the matter is, for what he means to his team, Bell deserves to make the kind of money he’s making — if not more — when compared to other star players. Brown knows that, as well.
That’s why he and the rest of the Steelers don’t have an issue with the running back not being at OTAs or skipping training camp. They know he answered the bell last season — no pun intended — leading the league with 406 touches.
"He’s always highly conditioned. We know that he is going to be taking care of his body and putting himself in high condition,” Brown said. “That’s one thing about Le’Veon that makes him special. He takes this game serious. There is never a question or doubt about his game about being physically ready. I know when he walks in the building and whenever he shows up you know what you are going to get. You are going to get a guy who’s ready to take 400-500 carries. A guy who is willing to run and catch the ball. A guy who can do it all.”
• The running back position is underpaid in the league right now, but as I’ve written before, that will change soon, starting next year.
If the Steelers don’t get a long-term deal worked out with Bell this year, he’ll be a free agent again next year at 27. And as things currently stand, so will Arizona’s David Johnson.
Anybody think those two guys are getting signed for $8.25 million per year, the current top average salary for a long-term deal for a running back? That’s not happening.
Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournettewill soon follow into free agency. And Elliott and Fournette are already making more than $6 million per year each on their rookie deals
https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2018/05/24/lolley-no-bell-isnt-holding-steelers/
