Le'Veon Bell did not report to the Steelers' facility for Wednesday morning meetings

[skins85]

i think the steelers got his best years. now he wants to be paid like he has 4-5 great years ahead of him but his success i think is partly tied to the makeup of the steelers and wont have the same success in many other places, which are likely the places that will pay him. if he wants his money he will get it from a bad team and he will be frustrated with the team not winning. thats a me first guy. he will get his money but likely never be close to winning it all again.

i have the steelers under 10.5 even with him this year, just not high on them. but the steelers have always been able to find a competent running back to fill in and be productive. conner could be solid and the team may not face that much of a dropoff in wins and losses. some organizations (like the patriots) can find production throughout their depth chart.

 

[Betallsports]

now a days it's all about the Guaranteed Money, that's what he really wants.

and the way these RB's ( and every other player ) gets banged up, do you really blame him ?

at any given day they could go down and they done... guaranteed money is the Key to most smart players

 

[MadTiger]

Legit LOLed.

 

[PatsFan1283]

i think the steelers got his best years. now he wants to be paid like he has 4-5 great years ahead of him but his success i think is partly tied to the makeup of the steelers and wont have the same success in many other places, which are likely the places that will pay him. if he wants his money he will get it from a bad team and he will be frustrated with the team not winning. thats a me first guy. he will get his money but likely never be close to winning it all again.

i have the steelers under 10.5 even with him this year, just not high on them. but the steelers have always been able to find a competent running back to fill in and be productive. conner could be solid and the team may not face that much of a dropoff in wins and losses. some organizations (like the patriots) can find production throughout their depth chart.

If he hits FA in 6 months and is considered the same caliber of player as he is right now. Someone will pay him well. Very few of the top players hit free agenct.

And wanting to get paid by another team that isn’t as good as the 1 your on isn’t being a me first guy. That’s some subservient shit man. It’s a business.

 

[skins85]

money over winning.....me first guy.....thats all im saying. to me its a smart move by the steelers to not offer ridiculous money to him. someone will undoubtedly pay him but he is going wherever the most money is and i would imagine his numbers will be similar to whoever else pittsburgh puts at the rb position.

 

[rolltide]

now a days it's all about the Guaranteed Money, that's what he really wants.

and the way these RB's ( and every other player ) gets banged up, do you really blame him ?

at any given day they could go down and they done... guaranteed money is the Key to most smart players

so ramon foster can't go down and have his career end at 1/7th of what Bell is scheduled to be paid? or how about Pouncey, or Decastro, or any other lowly lineman that makes a fraction of what Bell is going to if he decided to take his job seriously?

he was guaranteed to be the highest paid player at his position this year and he's giving that up voluntarily so apparently that guaranteed money isn't what he's looking for. guaranteed FUTURE money is what he's looking for but even that math doesn't add up

Gurley is a whole lot younger (2.5 years) with far less wear on his body and got 22M guaranteed which is only 5.5M/yr guaranteed. Bell is guaranteed $14.5M if he shows up this week

 

[PatsFan1283]

I thought being TO makes you a me first guy?

Now its just momey over winning? Guess most people are me first guys.

 

[skins85]

cmon man. if you make it about yourself over the team than there is where the problem is. Owens had contract despites with the eagles, wanted more money and became a distraction and we all know how it ends. Bell will get paid, the steelers will be fine and life will go on. seems like he told his teammates one thing and now doing another. i simply agree with how the steelers are handling it and disagree with Bell.

 

[PatsFan1283]

so ramon foster can't go down and have his career end at 1/7th of what Bell is scheduled to be paid? or how about Pouncey, or Decastro, or any other lowly lineman that makes a fraction of what Bell is going to if he decided to take his job seriously?

he was guaranteed to be the highest paid player at his position this year and he's giving that up voluntarily so apparently that guaranteed money isn't what he's looking for. guaranteed FUTURE money is what he's looking for but even that math doesn't add up

Gurley is a whole lot younger (2.5 years) with far less wear on his body and got 22M guaranteed which is only 5.5M/yr guaranteed. Bell is guaranteed $14.5M if he shows up this week

So if he makes 10m this year and then another 30 gets on his next deal. Will you say he played it perfectly? Why not?

The more he plays this year, the better chance he has to get hurt and his earning power is forever compromised. Don’t blame individual players for a bad system giving them certain incentives.

 

[Betallsports]

so ramon foster can't go down and have his career end at 1/7th of what Bell is scheduled to be paid? or how about Pouncey, or Decastro, or any other lowly lineman that makes a fraction of what Bell is going to if he decided to take his job seriously?

he was guaranteed to be the highest paid player at his position this year and he's giving that up voluntarily so apparently that guaranteed money isn't what he's looking for. guaranteed FUTURE money is what he's looking for but even that math doesn't add up

Gurley is a whole lot younger (2.5 years) with far less wear on his body and got 22M guaranteed which is only 5.5M/yr guaranteed. Bell is guaranteed $14.5M if he shows up this week

I hear ya ... but I just think you see a lot more of these Guaranteed contracts each and every year

I agree he should just show up, get paid and move on. also believe this is a huge detraction to teams that have to deal with this so close to Game day

 

[PatsFan1283]

cmon man. if you make it about yourself over the team than there is where the problem is. Owens had contract despites with the eagles, wanted more money and became a distraction and we all know how it ends. Bell will get paid, the steelers will be fine and life will go on. seems like he told his teammates one thing and now doing another. i simply agree with how the steelers are handling it and disagree with Bell.

You agree with the Steelers spending 15m on a year when you think his backup can do his job fine?

Why not deal him and use the $ elsewhere if he’s so expendable?

 

[CHOPTALK]

I have never seen players react this way to another player .

He must not be very popular with his teammates

 

[skins85]

You agree with the Steelers spending 15m on a year when you think his backup can do his job fine?

Why not deal him and use the $ elsewhere if he’s so expendable?

the franchise tag really complicates it. was just reading all the factors about it. seems very hard to trade a guy on the tag since teams can negotiate with him

 

[Dave007inVegas]

he isnt a steeler next year regardless, if im the steelers i trade him. may get a good return for a guy gone in a year and willing to sit out games this year. jets and colts are 2 that would likely be interested but i dont know if they wouldnt trade him inside the same conference. i know he is a great back but if he is gone next year id cut ties now and get a return. this saga could continue for a few more weeks.

You got that right. It's the way the Steelers do business. Look at what happened to
Santonio Holmes, SB MVP in 2009, traded to the Jets in 2010. I think at this point
they're probably shopping him around as we speak.

I understand he wants his money but how much is enough? RT said it best, see post #5.
If he wants to piss away 7 million more power to him. In the meantime he's going to
to get a rep for being a malcontent.

He's done being a Steeler after this year maybe sooner.

 

[PatsFan1283]

the franchise tag really complicates it. was just reading all the factors about it. seems very hard to trade a guy on the tag since teams can negotiate with him

Its complicated now but just deal him 5-6 months ago for a pick and let him work a deal with his new team. Then put the 14.5 elsewhere
Now you’ve created this huge distraction and you just said he can be replaced easily.

This is objectively horrible GMing unless you think Bell is so good and valuable that you must tag him a 2nd time.

 

[Mobdeeper7239]

You know Gruden will give up his entire draft for him

 

[Acebb]

They offered Bell a 5 year/$70 million dollar contract in June 2018

In 2017, they offered him a 3-year $42 million dollar contract.

Limited signing bonus and incentives with less than half of the deal guaranteed compared to Gurley’s $21 million signing bonus, stacked incentives and around 80% guaranteed. Overall, pretty shitty offer from the Steelers.

That offer was before Gurley's contract.

Bell's agent accepted a contract from the offer and told them it meets their demands. He took it to Bell and Bell said no.

 

[Acebb]

With a similar amount in guarantees as the 9ers gave career backup Jerick McKinnon.

Steelers know his time is ticking given the short life span of the position. That’s fine, he’s just using the little leverage he has available to him.

If Bell would have signed in June he was going to make $44 million($10 for signing and 33 for playing the next 3 seasons).

Either way, the Steelers didn't set out to merely tag him. Bell's agent agreed to the contract.

 

[Acebb]

Maybe they should’ve traded him 5 months ago then if he’s so dastardly? Why is their org so dumb and trying to tag “me first guys”

The fuck do they want this loser on the team for? He’s a moral hazard. They should really get better at managing this stuff.

One other point here, this would only happen with Tomlin at the helm. Complete clown coach.

 

[PatsFan1283]

If Bell would have signed in June he was going to make $44 million($10 for signing and 33 for playing the next 3 seasons).

Either way, the Steelers didn't set out to merely tag him. Bell's agent agreed to the contract.

10m guaranteed is really nothing for a consensus elite RB if you can actually hit free agency. The reason RB's make so little is because the position is so volatile that nobody really makes it to free agency in their prime. You just do what Todd Gurley did and take a slightly below market deal so you can lock up the security rather than go through what Bell has gone through and get tagged 2x.

McKinnon is a career backup that has never been all that productive and he got 12m guaranteed from SF.

The best players in the NFL don't really hit free agency because of the franchise tag, but Bell is pretty close to doing so now. If he hits FA and he is considered the same caliber of player in 6 months as he is now, then he should do well. 31 teams with 180m to spend, only takes 1 to break the bank. Maybe the Raiders want a name to open their new stadium in LV? Maybe the Browns want to stick it to the Steelers? Maybe the Jets wanna throw around some $?

Who knows but Malcolm Butler had an inconsistent year with the Pats and it ended with him being benched in the SB, didn't affect his market value at all. Sammy Watkins was invisible for the Rams, their #3 WR and he got paid by the Chiefs. Bell's agent knows all this. Rookies and stars tend to be undervalued in the NFL and the guys that hit FA tend to be overvalued. It's just the way the system is setup.

If I were Pitt, I would've dealt him 5-6 months ago and used the money on improving a defense that was atrocious after Shazier got hurt. They gaveup 45 points in the playoffs to the Jaguars at home when we last saw them. Let Ben/AB/Juju/OL carry the O rather than hope you can rent Bell for another year and everything goes perfectly. They got what they bargained for.