Le’Veon Bell: Will He? Won’t He? Who Cares??

[Coach]

What point does burning a jersey do? The NFL made their money off of the sale of the jersey, revenue sharing was already generated, and if you think Bell gives a flying **** whether you burn a jersey then I have ocean front property in Iowa to sell you. Why not donate the jersey to Goodwill or Amvets instead.

For me if a guy leaves in free agency, I usually wish him well.

Bell is an @ss, trashed Steelers on social media and lied to the fans. He pissed some players and fans off, which is why they are burring the jersey.

Bell is about image, so yes I think this bothers him a bit. The optics aren't good for him.

 

[slashsteel]

Exactly. I mean really...no one has even offered him anything yet.

Now he has

*Sat out a year, new team wonders if he will be a difficult resign or anything contract related (restructure,etc). Or will his desire be there with a large front load of money. A lot of time off to bounce back and resume your old form too.

* Past injuries

* Suspensions

*Social media mouth offs, will he be a distraction if things aren't going well.


A lot for a new employer to think about...

 

[Coach]

Jim trotter at nfl.com lets us know why we are, really, angry....

This is junk Ark Steel. Bell made himself easy to hate. DUI's, Lies about failing drug tests, banging cheerleaders while his fiancé was pregnant, trolling his team on twitter, ....and that's only the stuff that was reported in the news.

He's an @ss hat, just like Johnny Manziel, who was white. Somehow I think Mr. Jim Trotter didn't mention anything racial when the Browns fans turned on Johnny.

 

[ktw1021]

Bye- will miss him on the field but will not miss him as a person and supposed to be role model. He does not have the character that our organization requires.bottom line.
People, instead of burning your Bell gear or jerseys, please donate them. I gave two Bell shirts to what appeared to be a homeless man this morning at a traffic light,, he smiled said thanks and it makes me feel good

 

[Hines57]

He's going to be 27 in February. He's likely got 3 more good years in him given the beating that RBs can take. Teams will be highly reluctant to give him a deal beyond that. If they do the contract would be front loaded, which is what he wants, so when they cut him with a year or two remaining they aren't stuck with a bad deal.

The other real question is, why overpay for a RB when there is great value in the draft?

 

[Troglodyte]

"Bottom line, ask yourself this: If your employer was offering you a $100,000 contract for 2019, but another company was offering $1 million if you sat out of the workforce until 2020, what would you do? It really isn't more complicated than that."

Sure it is. In fact it’s a mystery that just doesn’t make sense. Bell could have insured himself for a small fraction of what he lost.

 

[Ice Cubist]

Sure it is. In fact it’s a mystery that just doesn’t make sense. Bell could have insured himself for a small fraction of what he lost.

I'm really surprised that I've only heard one talking head (Nate Burleson?) mention this fact...

 

[Stryker]

"Bottom line, ask yourself this: If your employer was offering you a $100,000 contract for 2019, but another company was offering $1 million if you sat out of the workforce until 2020, what would you do? It really isn't more complicated than that."

Woof. For a writer employing such a generally lazy thought process throughout, he really has missed the low hanging fruit. It's not interesting in the slightest that fans have turned on him. People are fans of the team, and Bell has been misleading with them throughout this process, at best. A lot more people (including teammates) would be on his side if he'd have just stated his intentions from the jump. It really isn't more complicated than that.

That's an incorrect analogy. The correct analogy would be:

Bell turned down $70M over 5yrs and refused $14.4M this year to sit out a year and get the same to lower value offered next year.

Terrible business move.

 

[Coryea]

Little different than this scenario.He could have that money this year and still cash in next year....

Hell had he signed the ******* contract, he was guaranteed what 30 over the first two seasons, add that to the 14 million under last year's cap, that's 44 million guaranteed through the 2019 season, plus he'd be here for 2020 because it would be to damn expensive to cut him, so add another whatever that year would be, 12 million, so that's 56 million.

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[thesteelcity]

Little different than this scenario.He could have that money this year and still cash in next year....

why is this scenario so hard to digest? After he made his $14.5M this year, he was going to FA to cash in then, too. He will always be $14.5M lighter, any way he looks at it.

 

[Troglodyte]

I'm really surprised that I've only heard one talking head (Nate Burleson?) mention this fact...

Emmanuel Sanders mentioned it as well. It’s not a common practice but it can be done. Peyton Manning did it for his senior year at Tennessee, but I’m sure he used his dad’s money to cover the premium.

 

[madinsomniac]

I would absolutely transition tag his *** and the second he signs with anyone trade him to the Jets...
keep him away from the Ravens and the Patsies as FU moves when he doesn’t get near what he wants on the open market

 

[Confluence]

Even in 2018, you can't fix stupid

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[Spike]

I don't really give a **** about him at all, **** him, he's not a Steeler

Did Conner finish practice today?

 

[coupon]

Say, who pays for the surgical repair of a football related injury to an NFL player?

 

[LastRide]

That's tampering. Doubt that happened. I think he believes he will get a number regardless if anyone has talked to him.

I think tampering happens more than we think. It 's just hard and rare to get caught doing it. Someones been in his ear. I believe Bell had intentions to come back after a certain time period. Something all of a sudden changed that he is willing to flush 14.5 Mill down the toilet or approximately half that after holding out.

 

[thesteelcity]

I think tampering happens more than we think. It 's just hard and rare to get caught doing it. Someones been in his ear. I believe Bell had intentions to come back after a certain time period. Something all of a sudden changed that he is willing to flush 14.5 Mill down the toilet or approximately half that after holding out.

#30 James Conner

He wasn't expecting James to do as well as he is doing and he would be welcomed with open arms. Didn't happen. It backfired.

 

[Steelworth]

Did Conner finish practice today?

Just saw where Tomlin said he was a full participant.

 

[Coach]

#30 James Conner

He wasn't expecting James to do as well as he is doing and he would be welcomed with open arms. Didn't happen. It backfired.

Conner clearly won the " NO BELL " prize. I think he's better, younger, cheaper, and better overall for team morale.

 

[slashsteel]

Conner clearly won the " NO BELL " prize. I think he's better, younger, cheaper, and better overall for team morale.

I think the Steelers and the fans won it too. They act more as a team, we have less drama. Just a win win for everyone involved.

 

[madinsomniac]

That's so ******* dumb, I was wondering how long before the race card got thrown out there, if Ben did the same thing, he'd be getting the same treatment Bell is.
It doesn't matter what the race, fans side against the players because they are playing a game alot of fans grew up playing, and now he turns away from the money he was offered and wants more. Alot of fans bust their ***** every week at their job to just get by, and this guy turns down a deal that makes him by far the highest aid RB

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I hate the sanctimonious press view of these things...
sure its a business, but even at league minimum those players will make more in one season than over 3/4ths of the world makes in a lifetime.... sure they get injured but guess what, there are tons of more dangerous jobs with worse heath risks that pay a **** ton less...

And I despise when they compare draft rights to slavery... they aren’t slaves... any single player can quit anytime they want and go do anything for another industry... just cause they cannot play at the business location they want to... hell, id have loved to be transferred to the old carolina office where I work at, but I don’t get that choice either.... and I don’t get millions in compensation..

The bottom line is they are entitled spoiled people. They have the right to ***** about ridiculous money but that doesn’t make them heros or persecuted victims...

One last point... Bell getting more money just takes money away from teammates... cause he isn’t fighting the cap, just how little his position is worth ... he is a glorified janitor asking for CEO money....

 

[LastRide]

Steelers would have loved to have that 1-2 punch with both Bell and Conner. think about it, I think both together could have done some real damage splitting the work load. Conner is starting to look a little gassed to me. How much of Samuels, Ridley and Nix have we seen this year, other than the last game against the Panthers, hardly anything. Conner has been taking too much of work load in my opinion.

 

[Steelworth]

Steelers would have loved to have that 1-2 punch with both Bell and Conner. think about it, I think both together could have done some real damage splitting the work load. Conner is starting to look a little gassed to me. How much of Samuels, Ridley and Nix have we seen this year, other than the last game against the Panthers, hardly anything. Conner has been taking too much of work load in my opinion.

They could still have a 1-2 punch with a FA RB. And maybe I wasn't looking close enough, but it didn't seem like Conner was gassed. It was a short week so they smartly worked Samuels & Ridley into the rotation so that Conner isn't taking too much of a workload IMO. I think Conner had 13 carries but still was averaging 5 yards a pop. I just see smarter decisions being made under this Fichtner-led offense. I know he hadn't called plays since his Memphis days but I remember them having a prolific offense as well. Not missing Haley, that's for sure.

 

[Coryea]

Steelers would have loved to have that 1-2 punch with both Bell and Conner. think about it, I think both together could have done some real damage splitting the work load. Conner is starting to look a little gassed to me. How much of Samuels, Ridley and Nix have we seen this year, other than the last game against the Panthers, hardly anything. Conner has been taking too much of work load in my opinion.

He averaged 5 yards per carry vs the Panthers and 4.5 vs the Rats, I don't see him looking gassed at all.

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[Stryker]

Say, who pays for the surgical repair of a football related injury to an NFL player?

While under contract, the team pays for all medical cost.

Tomlin did an excellent job of limiting Conner's snaps on a short week. There is always worry of injury on a short week. Ridley and Samuels were thrown in early and often. Conner's injury wasn't because of over use, and keeping his legs fresh on a short week is the best thing the coaching staff could have done on 3 days rest.