Report: Steelers to use franchise tag on Le'Veon Bell

[Count Steeler]

Le'Veon Bell (http://www.thescore.com/nfl/players/40421) won't have the opportunity to test free agency this offseason.
The Pittsburgh Steelers (http://www.thescore.com/nfl/teams/11) will use the franchise tag to retain the star running back before his rookie contract expires in March, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000771344/article/steelers-to-franchise-tag-leveon-bell?campaign=Twitter_atn).
Bell has long been expected to receive the one-year tender, and Rapoport's report all but confirms he'll be in Pittsburgh through at least the 2017 season.
While it may be difficult for the two sides to come to an agreement on a long-term contract considering the time he's missed over the past few seasons, the move would give Pittsburgh the opportunity to negotiate such a deal well into the summer.
Should Bell end up playing under the franchise tag, a relative rarity for players in recent seasons, he'll be in line for a full guaranteed salary that could exceed $12 million.

http://www.thescore.com/news/1203240

Journalism? You tell me.

[#CRASHFormation]

He credits Rapoport. LOL

That was known weeks ago when Mort and Schefter broke it.

But I think they have to do it. He's got a lot miles on him even with his young age.

[Born2Steel]

Did anyone notice the comment about how Bell played at 245 at MichState, but now weighs in at 215? 30lbs is a big difference.

[86WARD]

Well that would clearly be a mistake.

[Born2Steel]

I thought so too.

[#CRASHFormation]

He has to prove he can stay clean first. They can also work out a long term deal and remove the tag.

[Born2Steel]

What do you mean by stay clean?

[#CRASHFormation]

Stop smoking weed and missing numerous mandated tests by the NFL.

[Hawkman]

Stop smoking weed and missing numerous mandated tests by the NFL.

Why are you here?

[86WARD]

Why are you here?

Lol. He's here to bash Haley, Hubbard, Nix, etc. and to derail every thread by crow barring the Last Ravens game into it on top of the bashing. He also offers cookies.

[Born2Steel]

I'll take a cookie.

[LloydWoodson]

It's rare that the Steelers franchise stars. Normally they would have signed Bell this past offseason and rolled his future salary into this year to save cap space later.

Probably are concerned with Bell's durability.

It does increase the risk of Bell leaving after one more season. Bell is a difference maker and a big part in the push to win now with Ben.

[steelreserve]

Probably are concerned with Bell's durability.

and general availability as it relates to marijuana suspensions, I would imagine. Next one is most/all of a season (I don't know which for sure since both of his others were modified).


It does increase the risk of Bell leaving after one more season. Bell is a difference maker and a big part in the push to win now with Ben.

Nah. There's nothing that says you can't franchise him again. After that though, we'd need to figure out what the hell we're doing. On the other hand, after that we may have a rough stretch ahead regardless.

[EzraTank]

The Steelers will sign him. There's no way they won't. He's clearly the best back in the league and he's actually reinventing that position. I've never seen someone that just stops like he does and makes crap out of it.

[Born2Steel]

One suspension was for DUI, I thought. Yes, that was for driving under the influence of weed, but the suspension was for his DUI arrest period. ??? His other suspension was for missing a test, which equals a failed test. If this is the case, neither of his suspensions are specifically for pot. So it's not going to be like the Josh Gordon/Martavious Bryant year long suspensions. Is that right or not?

[fansince'76]

Nah. There's nothing that says you can't franchise him again. After that though, we'd need to figure out what the hell we're doing. On the other hand, after that we may have a rough stretch ahead regardless.

Bingo. If Ben is retired/no longer effective by then, it won't make much difference anyway.

[Mojouw]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000687567/article/leveon-bells-suspension-reduced-to-three-games

The Key Part: "As part of a settlement between the two parties, Bell will remain in his current stage of the substance-abuse program, Garafolo added. Staying in the same stage of the program means Bell's next suspension would also be four games, not 10."

It was a missed test. Bell claimed the NFL didn't do enough to notify him. Claimed you can't show up for a test you don't know about. NFL was like whatever. Then Bell basically took them to court/arbitration and the NFL magically reduced the suspension by a game and held him in the same level of the program. They almost never don't advance a player through the program stages. Only logical conclusion is that the league knew that Bell's suspension was BS but didn't want to open the floodgates for everyone to appeal every failed/missed test so they horsetraded to make it go away quietly.

[ALLD]

The Steelers will sign him. There's no way they won't. He's clearly the best back in the league and he's actually reinventing that position. I've never seen someone that just stops like he does and makes crap out of it.


Bell is going to get flagged one day for delay of game he takes so much time in the backfield to hit the hole. As for the tag, Bell will hit a mini $12 million lottery. If he can stay away from weed, other drugs, booze, and loose, crazy women he might be set for generations and become one of the top 10 of all time.

[86WARD]

No Brainer. Smartest move the team can make.

[pczach]

He is a special player. They have to keep him here.

I know he has been suspended for pot, but he appears to be a good guy and teammate in every other way. He works his ass off and prepares off the field, and he is a dynamo on the field. Dude is a beast with sweet feet, vision, power, and the hands of a possession receiver. He truly is the total package.

With his amazing talent and skillset, the only thing that can stop him are injuries or himself.

[pczach]

Did anyone notice the comment about how Bell played at 245 at MichState, but now weighs in at 215? 30lbs is a big difference.


That's an accurate comment. I think he was listed at 244 at Michigan State. He played as a power back that always had the vision and great cutting ability. He could also catch the ball.

I watched a ton of his games, and that's why I was very high on him coming out of MSU. You could just see the potential in a big guy with short area quickness. If you go back and watch some of the teams he was on, and the lack of a quarterback or any kind of quality line, it was incredible what he was able to do. I thought he could be the best running back in the NFL and told people that back at Steelers Fever before he ever took a snap. He was one of those guys that I fell in love with watching him play, and was jumping up and down when his name was called on draft day.

He lost a ton of weight, and you now see the difference in his quickness. He is able to start and stop much quicker, and has explosion. He has also developed his game and has adjusted to the weight loss by changing the way he runs. He is very smart, and has figured out ways to maximize his skills. He truly is a rare talent physically and above the shoulders from a football standpoint.

[SteelMayhem72]

That's an accurate comment. I think he was listed at 244 at Michigan State. He played as a power back that always had the vision and great cutting ability. He could also catch the ball.

I watched a ton of his games, and that's why I was very high on him coming out of MSU. You could just see the potential in a big guy with short area quickness. If you go back and watch some of the teams he was on, and the lack of a quarterback or any kind of quality line, it was incredible what he was able to do. I thought he could be the best running back in the NFL and told people that back at Steelers Fever before he ever took a snap. He was one of those guys that I fell in love with watching him play, and was jumping up and down when his name was called on draft day.

He lost a ton of weight, and you now see the difference in his quickness. He is able to start and stop much quicker, and has explosion. He has also developed his game and has adjusted to the weight loss by changing the way he runs. He is very smart, and has figured out ways to maximize his skills. He truly is a rare talent physically and above the shoulders from a football standpoint.
Loved your assessment of him. I dont watch a lot of college football so its great to hear somebody's perspective of him by following his college career.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[pczach]

Loved your assessment of him. I dont watch a lot of college football so its great to hear somebody's perspective of him by following his college career.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


Here's a youtube highlight video from Michigan St.

You could see all the elements of his game that he has taken to a different level in the NFL.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r74G2Mm2xQ

[teegre]

The Steelers have cap room.

Sign him to a three-year $45 million contract. Why three? Three peat... and then, BB retires.

[st33lersguy]

After the season he had, keep him. He has potential to be a really special player if he can stay on the field

[LloydWoodson]

I really want to reply more because I think you're all off base...

but WTF is going on?! Everyone is making offseason threads. Will Greene be NEXT YEAR's OLB coach? Will the Steelers tag Bell NEXT YEAR?

Uh... playoffs? I'm wondering if the Steelers are able to re-sign Timmons and Bell NEXT YEAR... they also have to re-sign AB and Tuitt the NEXT YEAR AFTER THAT... the only thing that is certain is the Steelers have most of the pieces to win a SB RIGHT NOW....

So be in the moment?!

[Born2Steel]

So you're thinking we should re-sign him right now?

[Mojouw]

That's an accurate comment. I think he was listed at 244 at Michigan State. He played as a power back that always had the vision and great cutting ability. He could also catch the ball.

I watched a ton of his games, and that's why I was very high on him coming out of MSU. You could just see the potential in a big guy with short area quickness. If you go back and watch some of the teams he was on, and the lack of a quarterback or any kind of quality line, it was incredible what he was able to do. I thought he could be the best running back in the NFL and told people that back at Steelers Fever before he ever took a snap. He was one of those guys that I fell in love with watching him play, and was jumping up and down when his name was called on draft day.

He lost a ton of weight, and you now see the difference in his quickness. He is able to start and stop much quicker, and has explosion. He has also developed his game and has adjusted to the weight loss by changing the way he runs. He is very smart, and has figured out ways to maximize his skills. He truly is a rare talent physically and above the shoulders from a football standpoint.

I've always heard that it was the big cheerleader that told him to lose the weight and get better. But Tomlin doesn't do anything....so that must've not been correct....

[pczach]

I've always heard that it was the big cheerleader that told him to lose the weight and get better. But Tomlin doesn't do anything....so that must've not been correct....

The team did want him to lose weight. I think Tomlin did speak to him directly about it.

[Mojouw]

The team did want him to lose weight. I think Tomlin did speak to him directly about it.

Cool. It is that kind of stuff that gets me all riled up when folks argue that the Steelers coaching staff isn't good or up to snuff.

They looked at college tape of guy. Drafted him in the second round. Had him lose weight and tweak his game a bit. Bam! Best RB in the business.

But, you know, these guys don't really know that much...

[pczach]

Cool. It is that kind of stuff that gets me all riled up when folks argue that the Steelers coaching staff isn't good or up to snuff.

They looked at college tape of guy. Drafted him in the second round. Had him lose weight and tweak his game a bit. Bam! Best RB in the business.

But, you know, these guys don't really know that much...


I wasn't trying to slight Tomlin by not mentioning that the team wanted him to lose weight. I assumed everyone already knew that. From what I heard, both Bell and the Steelers wanted his weight down. He had already lost some pounds for the combine, and he reported to his first camp, I think, around 225-230. Tomlin and the organization thought he should lose more weight because they believed the added quickness would take him to a different level.

Yeah.......Tomlin doesn't know anything about football. I can't believe we are at a point when it is not just a given at how much Mike Tomlin knows about football. It's pretty fucking sad that you actually have to explain that to people.

[lipps83]

Eddie Lacy would have resigned with the Steelers on a 10 year contract and played for free since his salary through the length of the contract would have been a charitable donation to Childrens Hospital.

Le'Veon Bell hates children.

[Mojouw]

I wasn't trying to slight Tomlin by not mentioning that the team wanted him to lose weight. I assumed everyone already knew that. From what I heard, both Bell and the Steelers wanted his weight down. He had already lost some pounds for the combine, and he reported to his first camp, I think, around 225-230. Tomlin and the organization thought he should lose more weight because they believed the added quickness would take him to a different level.

Yeah.......Tomlin doesn't know anything about football. I can't believe we are at a point when it is not just a given at how much Mike Tomlin knows about football. It's pretty fucking sad that you actually have to explain that to people.

Sorry. Should've been clear - I realized you weren't doing that and wasn't directing my post at you or any of your recent comments. It was more of a general comment, that quoted your post to give credit where credit is due, that tried to quickly say why some of the recent conversations around these parts get me all riled up.

I can see that we are basically on the same page with that.

[pczach]

Sorry. Should've been clear - I realized you weren't doing that and wasn't directing my post at you or any of your recent comments. It was more of a general comment, that quoted your post to give credit where credit is due, that tried to quickly say why some of the recent conversations around these parts get me all riled up.

I can see that we are basically on the same page with that.


I'm sorry as well. I didn't mean to sound like I was coming down on you.

I made those comments as a general comment of the negative shit and complaining about every aspect of the Steelers organization. In this case Tomlin.

With all these super bowl championships, playoff participation, great scouting and GMs, outstanding coaching, and HOF quarterback play for well over a decade........and we have to sit here and listen to people bitch about and criticize all of it.

Then, we get the added bonus of listening to people who bitch about everything Steelers complain about the people that tell them they shouldn't be bitching because they can't see the forest for the trees.

To root for the most successful franchise in the modern era of professional football and not be able to comprehend how incredibly lucky we have all been at the unprecedented success is beyond stupid.

To have a HOF quarterback and still complain about every conceivable mistake he makes is infuriating. Especially when they are blaming him for things that flat out aren't his fault or simply don't understand how much he is actually doing to get the team into good plays with his work at the line of scrimmage. We have to listen to people claim that his throws in the last game were simple short throws that anyone could have made and that AB made the plays and did everything.....you know.....like all the other quarterbacks not named Ben Roethlisberger are doing. Yet Ben always leads the league in throws down the field and completion percentage on those more difficult throws. More than all the other quarterbacks that we have to hear are better than him. Again, the ones whose league he doesn't belong in according to these same people. The complete lack of understanding of what is really happening on the field just pisses me off. If they don't know, that's fine. Then you explain it and they still don't believe anything you say because they don't have the knowledge of the game to comprehend.

I mean can't some of these people ever be satisfied, happy, or thankful with any aspect of the team? They won a playoff game by 18 points, yet so much of what we hear are the negatives.....many of which are imaginary.

[fansince'76]

I'm sorry as well. I didn't mean to sound like I was coming down on you.

I made those comments as a general comment of the negative shit and complaining about every aspect of the Steelers organization. In this case Tomlin.

With all these super bowl championships, playoff participation, great scouting and GMs, outstanding coaching, and HOF quarterback play for well over a decade........and we have to sit here and listen to people bitch about and criticize all of it.

Then, we get the added bonus of listening to people who bitch about everything Steelers complain about the people that tell them they shouldn't be bitching because they can't see the forest for the trees.

To root for the most successful franchise in the modern era of professional football and not be able to comprehend how incredibly lucky we have all been at the unprecedented success is beyond stupid.

To have a HOF quarterback and still complain about every conceivable mistake he makes is infuriating. Especially when they are blaming him for things that flat out aren't his fault or simply don't understand how much he is actually doing to get the team into good plays with his work at the line of scrimmage. We have to listen to people claim that his throws in the last game were simple short throws that anyone could have made and that AB made the plays and did everything.....you know.....like all the other quarterbacks not named Ben Roethlisberger are doing. Yet Ben always leads the league in throws down the field and completion percentage on those more difficult throws. More than all the other quarterbacks that we have to hear are better than him. Again, the ones whose league he doesn't belong in according to these same people. The complete lack of understanding of what is really happening on the field just pisses me off. If they don't know, that's fine. Then you explain it and they still don't believe anything you say because they don't have the knowledge of the game to comprehend.

I mean can't some of these people ever be satisfied, happy, or thankful with any aspect of the team? They won a playoff game by 18 points, yet so much of what we hear are the negatives.....many of which are imaginary.

http://www.gifstop.com/images/misc/clap03.gif

[Psycho Ward 86]

I'm sorry as well. I didn't mean to sound like I was coming down on you.

I made those comments as a general comment of the negative shit and complaining about every aspect of the Steelers organization. In this case Tomlin.

With all these super bowl championships, playoff participation, great scouting and GMs, outstanding coaching, and HOF quarterback play for well over a decade........and we have to sit here and listen to people bitch about and criticize all of it.

Then, we get the added bonus of listening to people who bitch about everything Steelers complain about the people that tell them they shouldn't be bitching because they can't see the forest for the trees.

To root for the most successful franchise in the modern era of professional football and not be able to comprehend how incredibly lucky we have all been at the unprecedented success is beyond stupid.

To have a HOF quarterback and still complain about every conceivable mistake he makes is infuriating. Especially when they are blaming him for things that flat out aren't his fault or simply don't understand how much he is actually doing to get the team into good plays with his work at the line of scrimmage. We have to listen to people claim that his throws in the last game were simple short throws that anyone could have made and that AB made the plays and did everything.....you know.....like all the other quarterbacks not named Ben Roethlisberger are doing. Yet Ben always leads the league in throws down the field and completion percentage on those more difficult throws. More than all the other quarterbacks that we have to hear are better than him. Again, the ones whose league he doesn't belong in according to these same people. The complete lack of understanding of what is really happening on the field just pisses me off. If they don't know, that's fine. Then you explain it and they still don't believe anything you say because they don't have the knowledge of the game to comprehend.

I mean can't some of these people ever be satisfied, happy, or thankful with any aspect of the team? They won a playoff game by 18 points, yet so much of what we hear are the negatives.....many of which are imaginary.

The absence of scrutiny breeds complacency. Im glad we have a team of coaches and players that probably dont carry this kind of attitude and instead strive to always be greater

[pczach]

The absence of scrutiny breeds complacency. Im glad we have a team of coaches and players that probably dont carry this kind of attitude and instead strive to always be greater


We agree on something.

"The absence of scrutiny breeds complacency." That's what coaches and players are supposed to do. They find their own motivation....and it's not you or me. That's their job. I'm also happy that you're "glad we have a team of coaches and players that probably don't carry this kind of attitude and instead strive to always be greater". The strange thing is that in your criticisms of them, you don't make it come across that you actually believe that.

This is what I don't agree with in your post:

We are fans. The coaches and players don't care about your scrutiny. They don't get complacent because Psycho Ward 86 isn't keeping it real on a Steelers message board. We discuss things with each other and disagree with coaches and players, but at the end of the day what we say is only for each other right here. You and I are not on speed dial with Mike Tomlin or Big Ben, and they don't give a rats ass about the criticisms they get from us.

You talk like if you just keep verbally busting players up and demanding more of coaches and players that you are pushing them to improve. That's just not how it is. :noidea:

[teegre]

You and I are not on speed dial with Mike Tomlin or Big Ben

Ozzie Newsome does stalk me, though.

[pczach]

Ozzie Newsome does stalk me, though.


Have you seen this man?


http://prod.static.ravens.clubs.nfl.com//assets/images/imported/BAL/photos/person-assets/front-office-cards/Newsome_Ozzie_Text.jpg


I don't mean to burst your bubble, but the Ravens didn't make the playoffs this year.......So.......keep doing what you're doing?????? :nw:


I'm starting to believe you are Ozzie! It has been uncanny that they have selected players you love so often over the years.

I have never seen you and Ozzie in the same room at the same time. :lol:

[LloydWoodson]

Ozzie Newsome does stalk me, though.

Was it you who wanted Elam so badly?

[43Hitman]

Was it you who wanted Elam so badly?Yep it was him...lmao, admittedly, a lot of us did, including myself. But NO ONE and I mean NO ONE had a man crush on him like teegre. Hahaha

[teegre]

Have you seen this man?I have never seen you and Ozzie in the same room at the same time. :lol:


Sometimes, when I can't sleep, I stay up late and make soap...

- - - Updated - - -


Was it you who wanted Elam so badly?

Wanted him... is an understatement. :lol:

- - - Updated - - -


Yep it was him...lmao, admittedly, a lot of us did, including myself. But NO ONE and I mean NO ONE had a man crush on him like teegre. Hahaha

Guilty. :chuckle:

Who was it that photoshopped Matt Elam's head onto Kate Upton's body???