Le'Veon Bell, Steelers fail to reach long-term deal ahead of deadline

Le'Veon Bell, Steelers fail to reach long-term deal ahead of deadline

Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer

The Pittsburgh Steelers and running back Le'Veon Bell failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension before Monday's 4 p.m. franchise tag deadline, and his agent says that means it is likely Bell's last season with the team.

"His intention was to retire as a Steeler," Adisa Bakari told ESPN's Adam Schefter. "But now that there's no deal, the practical reality is, this now likely will be Le'Veon's last season as a Steeler."

Bell will play on the franchise tag for the second consecutive year barring an unforeseen development. He tweeted after Monday's deadline passed that "2018 will be my best season to date."

The parties reopened negotiations last week and talked throughout Monday hoping to spark something, but there hasn't been much momentum toward a contract over the past few months.

"It became clear the Steelers wanted to pay the position, not the player," Bakari said.

to read rest of article:

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...e-tag-deadline

Bye Felicia

Sometimes the best deal you can make is not making one

Bell wants All Pro WR $$$ and RBs do not get that in a pass first league where RBs have a short peak career span - if it happens in 2019 let some other team run the risk

Bell is a gambler, but the house always wins in the end.

I think it's ultimately best for the team not to tie up that much for a running back.

https://www.50-best.com/images/mike_...ye_felicia.jpg


Then there's this.

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Le'Veon Bell may not be back for the start of the regular season.

Despite his previous statements saying that he will sign is franchise tag before the start of the season (assuming he and the Steelers can't come to terms on a longterm deal by 4 p.m. today), ESPN's Adam Schefter has reported that Bell may elect to skip the first half of the 2018 season if he has to play under the tag this season.

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https://247sports.com/nfl/pittsburgh...tag-119840757/

shefter said that this morning as his own prediction. Bell has not hinted towards sitting out ...yet.

Bell already said it will be a repeat of last season. He will miss training camp, show up about 10 days before Week One.

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Originally Posted by hawaiiansteeler

“It became clear the Steelers wanted to pay the position, not the player," Bakari said.

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Not a bigger line of bullshit had arisen in the whole “Bell saga”

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Originally Posted by Iron Steeler

shefter said that this morning as his own prediction. Bell has not hinted towards sitting out ...yet.

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He will sit out TC and PS for sure... But he's not going to miss a game check.

Hopefully he gets 400 carries and 80 catches this year.

This may not be a popular opinion for some, but the organization should just rescind the franchise tag if he doesn't show. Yes they would lose out on compensation via compensatory pick or even from a trade, but it also means getting rid of that drama. He isn't worth the drama

So glad the Steelers did not tie the knot with Bell.

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Originally Posted by DesertSteel

He will sit out TC and PS for sure... But he's not going to miss a game check.

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P-G reporter Ray Fittipaldo agrees

Do you really think Bell sits out the first half of the year?
Ray Fittipaldo - No. I heard what Adam Schefter said on Sirius XM radio. That's coming from Bell's agent to make the Steelers feel uncomfortable. For someone whose words screams that he's all about the money missing $900,000 checks every weeks seems an unlikely scenario.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/s...s/201807160080

Oh well.

Bell simply wants too much money and the Steelers will never sell the house to buy the trailer. Looks like we're talking a RB with our first or second round pick next year. I may have to pay a little more attention to college RBs this year.

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Originally Posted by AtlantaDan

P-G reporter Ray Fittipaldo agrees

Do you really think Bell sits out the first half of the year?
Ray Fittipaldo - No. I heard what Adam Schefter said on Sirius XM radio. That's coming from Bell's agent to make the Steelers feel uncomfortable. For someone whose words screams that he's all about the money missing $900,000 checks every weeks seems an unlikely scenario.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/s...s/201807160080

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Yeah, costing yourself money with no opportunity to gain anything in return would kind of defeat the point of any holdout. Not that there is a point to begin with.

Well, anyway, this has turned out roughly as expected. Looking forward to the drama next offseason. Big money drama. Big baller. Big rapper.

When Bell's career is over, one will be able to look at the stat sheet and see that the Steelers got the best out of Bell when he was in his prime. Whatever he does elsewhere will pale by comparison.

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Originally Posted by steelreserve

Yeah, costing yourself money with no opportunity to gain anything in return would kind of defeat the point of any holdout. Not that there is a point to begin with.

Well, anyway, this has turned out roughly as expected. Looking forward to the drama next offseason. Big money drama. Big baller. Big rapper.

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That's the thing, the drama is over. Here's how I see it playing out.

Sometime before 4:00 pm, March 13, 2019, Steelers make an offer to Bell. Bell rejects it.
March 11-15, Bell receives various offers and visits teams.
March 16, Bell still hasn't received his now 19 million dollar a year contract that he requires.
March 24-27, Owners laugh at Bell's stupidity at the league meeting in Phoenix.
March 28, behind the scenes the Redskins, Raiders, and Dallas all make stupid offers to Bell thinking the rest of the owners don't know how to win titles.
March 29, Bell still unhappy that contract offers aren't 19 million a year. He still holds out.
April 2, Bell signs contract of highest bidder, but he's really not happy about it.
April 25-27, Steelers move on and draft Bell's replacement.
Sometime in the offseason of 2021, Bell announces his retirement, leaving new team with millions tied up in the cap.
2022, Bell releases rap album and goes on tour.
2023, Bell announces he's staying out of the studio until his record label pays him for being both a rap artist and a musical poet.

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Originally Posted by DesertSteel

When Bell's career is over, one will be able to look at the stat sheet and see that the Steelers got the best out of Bell when he was in his prime. Whatever he does elsewhere will pale by comparison.

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Couldn't agree more. His best days will soon be behind him.
So, run his wheels off.
It will be so nice when he takes his drama elsewhere.

Those other two RBs -- Conner and Samuel -- must be celebrating today.

I would have explained that they would be willing to pay him as the #1 RB with a reasonable bonus for catching out of the backfield or as a #2 WR with a reasonable bonus for blocking and running out of the backfield.

He is not in a commissioned business. If he wants to get paid he needs to get on the field however he can and play. He can only wear one uniform and play one position at a time even if he has multiple skills.

He might be targeting a Super Bowl contender, otherwise he is committing career suicide.

Fuck him then. I hope Conner lights it up on the field. No compromise. Oh...and fuck his fucking agent...right up the pooper. The Steelers compromised and were willing to come in a little higher..likely out of their comfort zone. Not that I'm surprised he turned it down I guess.

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Originally Posted by BlackAndGold

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Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by DesertSteel

When Bell's career is over, one will be able to look at the stat sheet and see that the Steelers got the best out of Bell when he was in his prime. Whatever he does elsewhere will pale by comparison.

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With the exception of perhaps one or two years, I think you're absolutely right. If Bell leaves next year, he'll be on a "prove it" highhorse to the league that they all screwed up by not paying him what he wanted. The year after that, though, he's going to struggle.

One thing in Bell's favor, however, he's not a speed back, so age isn't going to hurt him like it did Willie Parker.

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Originally Posted by DesertSteel

Those other two RBs -- Conner and Samuel -- must be celebrating today.

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Along with Chris Boswell, who now is going to get his deal done. This from the online chat with P-G reporter Fittipaldo earlier today

Any updates on signing Boswell?

Ray Fittipaldo - Not yet. They'll turn their attention to him and some others looking for long-term deals after this Bell stuff is over.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2018/07/16/leveon-bell-contract-ray-fittipaldo-steelers-chat-7-16-18/stories/201807160080

I side with the Steelers on this one. Anyone who thinks Bell has more than 2 seasons left is fooling themselves, the shelf life on an NFL running back is very short and Bell has a ton of miles on him and far too many off field issues.

I'm glad he didn't sign it, although the terms of the deal are basically a 2 year agreement with the team being able to cut bait with little to no cap hit after 2 years. They will run the wheels off of him this year. Good luck to him trying to ever collecting that kind of money. If he's lucky enough to stay healthy, his max value is going to be in the neighborhood of $15M/year. He's basically risking staying injury free for 2 straight years to squeeze what out of another deal? Another $1M or $2M/year. At some point, security should have come into play. Shazier is proof that it can all end on a single play. Willing to bet he never earns $70M during his remaining years with another team.

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Originally Posted by ALLD

I would have explained that they would be willing to pay him as the #1 RB with a reasonable bonus for catching out of the backfield or as a #2 WR with a reasonable bonus for blocking and running out of the backfield.

He is not in a commissioned business. If he wants to get paid he needs to get on the field however he can and play. He can only wear one uniform and play one position at a time even if he has multiple skills.

He might be targeting a Super Bowl contender, otherwise he is committing career suicide.

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If he's really serious about the $17M per season figure, and it appears that he is, a legit SB contender won't pay it.

No, chances are he'll sign with some suck team that vastly overpays for his services and his numbers take a nosedive accordingly because, well, he'll be playing for a suck team. See: Mike Wallace.

Hey Le'Veon, you can sign with Washington next year and become the Albert Haynesworth of RBs. Gonna love the media circus surrounding him not doing the conditioning test in training camp 2020

Main thing is Bell is a Steeler this year. It's time to bring home #7

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we-L7w1K5Zo

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Originally Posted by Craic

With the exception of perhaps one or two years, I think you're absolutely right. If Bell leaves next year, he'll be on a "prove it" highhorse to the league that they all screwed up by not paying him what he wanted. The year after that, though, he's going to struggle.

One thing in Bell's favor, however, he's not a speed back, so age isn't going to hurt him like it did Willie Parker.

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I'd agree if I thought will power played a bigger part than it does.

I’m not mad at either party when it comes to bell, Steelers made a better then fair offer IMO, but Bell is betting on himself and wants to get paid it is what it is. Someone will pay him 15
Million plus next year just glad it’s not us. Don’t get it twisted I’ll be rooting for him this year he’s a great player but the. It’s time to move on


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No big surprise. I'm so over Bell and his drama.

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Originally Posted by Lady Steel

No big surprise. I'm so over Bell and his drama.

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me too, I don't mind seeing drama when I go to the theatre but I don't want to see it when I'm following my beloved Steelers.

I hope that Bell...

-has an all-time, record-setting season.

-brings a 7th Lombardi to Pittsburgh.

-gets his $20 million/season contract in 2019... with the Browns. :lol:


Really though, if he gets Ben another ring, I don’t care if he gets paid a ridiculous contract (by some other team).

There is a version of this where Bell plays on a series of ludicrously expensive 1 year deals. Be it in Pittsburgh or elsewhere. I just don’t see teams going multiple years with Demarco Murray falling off a cliff like 5 minutes ago.




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I am with Ed B. - tired of the bullshit posturing from Bell and his agent - just say you want to get paid

Le'Veon Bell: "I want to be a Steeler, as long as I get payed what I want"

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Originally Posted by Craic

One thing in Bell's favor, however, he's not a speed back, so age isn't going to hurt him like it did Willie Parker.

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I think this is a big misconception, and not for any reason that has to do with Willie Parker (yes, I do still hate him, though).

No running back's game is "based" on speed, because having breakaway speed doesn't mean shit until you've already gotten past the first eight or nine guys. Until you're past the linebackers, everybody has a potential angle on you, which means your speed is completely negated until you dodge them, break a tackle, or find a place where they're blocked out for you. If you don't have the ability to do that, you're not going to be a good running back. (Willie Parker was very much below-average at all of those aspects of the running game, but maintained a deceptively high YPC and season totals with a few long runs here and there. Terribly inconsistent, like the guy who hits 25 home runs a year but strikes out 180 times and has a .220 batting average. The Rob Deer or Dave Kingman of football, who kills as many rallies as he starts.)

Anyway, the point is, the skills Bell uses to get past the line of scrimmage are the same skills that Parker used, or that almost any running back uses. He's just a lot better at it than most. But when you lose that half-step of elusiveness and quickness, either you can adjust to the new reality or you can't, and there's no telling ahead of time which it will be.

Really the only exceptions to this are the true straight-ahead power backs who make their living by running over people. But most of them have the opposite problem, which is that they can only crash into people like that for a few years until they can't take it anymore. Jerome Bettis was a rare individual indeed.

In my opinion, this article on Bell is stunningly accurate! OVERRATED.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news...i1aezg4ycp7yh0