Le’Veon Bell Prepared To Retire...

[86WARD]

Answering a question today, Bell said he’s prepared to sit out the 2018 season or retire before he plays on another franchise tag.

[Iron Steeler]

well thats great to hear

[polamalubeast]

Firstly, Bell will not sit the whole season and not make 14-15 millions.

But yes, it'll be time to pay this man

[pczach]

Just shut up and play football to the end of the year. Don't get hurt, play your ass off, and help bring home a Lombardi Trophy.

The rest will take care of itself.

[Mojouw]

Says every franchise tag candidate ever. They all end up playing. Aren't happy about it.

Bell might sit, but I kinda doubt it.


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[Fire Goodell]

Poor him, he'll be mad about making 12 million a year.

[DesertSteel]

I hope he retires. The juice of 4 YPC is not worth the squeeze of his aggravation. He has no burst.

- - - Updated - - -

Is there a link to these quotes?

[polamalubeast]

Is there a link to these quotes?

[DesertSteel]

People who claim that the player has no culpability because he is just answering the question that is asked are so naive.

[steelreserve]

Either of those would be supremely stupid in terms of actually making money.

I am not opposed to giving him a long-term deal, but it is looking like this is a pretty clear lead-up to him having unrealistic expectations again.

So then he will probably do the same thing - holdout/shitfit through training camp, finally sign the franchise tag right before the opener. It sucks that we are obliged to start every season for the past three years, going on four, without our top offensive weapon. First two from idiot drug suspensions, this year and the next from self-imposed stupidity where he shows up obviously not ready to play and performs poorly for the same length of time, and might as well be suspended.

Does he not realize that had he shown up prepared, he could've easily had a 1,500-yard rushing, 800-plus yard receiving season, led the league in rushing by far, and been the clear #1 back in the league, instead of merely being among the leaders, and could've basically gotten whatever he wanted? That holdout actually cost him money and a ton of leverage.

I know "Yeah, but if it wasn't for that, I would've been #1 so they gotta pay me like I actually was #1." Well, maybe if it only happened once, but with him there's always been a "yeah, but if." Being out or ineffective three times in a row at the start of the season is a genuine liability. Just once I'd like to see what the guy can do with a full year where he's ready to play and there's no drama and there's no bullshit. He WILL get paid a lot.

Sadly, that will probably be with another team, because when he inevitably turns down another huge offer he'll end up with the franchise tag, which means he probably will not even entertain another offer from the Steelers ever again.

[vasteeler]

Man... Why can't some of these guys just say "no comment" and move on to the next question

[DesertSteel]

I don't think Bell has ever been accused of being smart.

[SteelerFanInStl]

I just wish that they'd leave these kind of comments until after the season is over. We've still got games to play.

[GoSlash27]

I wasn't expecting that comment, and I bet his agent wasn't either. If he want's to stay here, he'll have to restructure. We've got cap space issues.

[BlackAndGold]

Pay this man his money.

FFS he made the All Pro team as a RB, and flex player.

PAY THE MAN

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

I just wish that they'd leave these kind of comments until after the season is over. We've still got games to play.

This!

[Fire Goodell]

Well, let him test free agency and see if he can be the first RB to break the 370 curse. Good luck kid, history is not on your side

[stillers4me]

I don't think Bell has ever been accused of being smart.

Joe Haden took less money just to play in Pittsburgh. He probably would be happy playing the playoffs for free.

[AtlantaDan]

Pay this man his money.

FFS he made the All Pro team as a RB, and flex player.

PAY THE MAN

He made it as a flex player because the RB position was already taken by Todd Gurley (aka the best running back in football who bad better stats as a runner and receiver)

Bell - 1291 yds rushing/321 carries (4.0 yds average) & 655 yds receiving/85 receptions (7.7 yd average)
http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats...25/leveon-bell

Gurley - 1305 yds rushing/279 carries (4.7 yds average) & 788 yds receiving/64 receptions (12.3 yd average)
http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats...todd-gurley-ii

Gurley is not getting the $$$ Bell wants either when his contract is up

[polamalubeast]

I think the steelers should draft a RB very early in the next draft (first 2 round) if Bell don't sign a long term contract.

I know it will be impossible to find a good RB like Bell, especially since Bell is a complete RB (we must not forget his quality as a blocker and receiver) but at the same time, in the second half of the season in 2015, we survived with DeAngelo Williams be being 6-2 with 6 games of more than 30 points in a game.We have almost been in the AFC title game with our 3rd RB and without Brown at Denver.

I mean, the steelers offense is good enough to not have a collapse if our next RB if Bell leaves is good as Williams was in 2015 and the difference is that he would be younger.

I hope that Bell will stay for a few years, but if it's not the case, the steelers must find a RB in the next draft, which is possible, even if he will not be good like Bell, but I have not trust in Conner as receiver and as blocker, but the steelers must find one in the next draft if they are not able to sign a long term deal to Bell.

[steelreserve]

Here's the stark reality of it. If Bell turns down another deal similar to the one he was offered, he'll play on the franchise tag and the next offer he gets (from someone else) will probably be significantly lower because of his age.

27-year-old running backs are a risk to fall off at any time, and 30-year-old RBs are a near-certainty. So he will probably be getting offers for more like 3 years. Or he'll get a 5-year contract but the last 2-3 of that will be funny money (the team can walk away at any time in the second half of it), and he won't like it.

While going through all this bullshit, he will have decreased his negotiating position because he has roughly 3 years ahead of him instead of 5 that teams will see as reasonably sure that he can still play at a top-5 level. On the other hand, he will have been paid well for the two years in the meantime, to the tune of almost $30 million.

So basically the whole thing is a lot of running around for nothing. He still gets about the same amount of money over the same number of years, only he gets really angry about it, and probably switches teams and pisses a lot of people off.

CHAMPIONSHIP!

[GBMelBlount]

While I am thankful we have Bell, I think we might get just as much value and lower our risk if we invest the money we are paying Bell in a more affordable top-shelf running back AND a top-shelf tight end, if he retired or does not sign a reasonable deal.

[AtlantaDan]

Bell tries to walk back what he said by sending a tweet.

Showing some skillz for modern politics with that trick if he decides to retire.

[steelreserve]

I think we might get just as much value and lower our risk if we invest the money we are paying Bell in a more affordable top-shelf running back AND a top-shelf tight end.

That would be great, but as far as I know, neither one of those is going to be available on the market this year. #feelsbadman

[Fire Goodell]

That would be great, but as far as I know, neither one of those is going to be available on the market this year. #feelsbadman

Maybe a top flight ILB and extra money to retain our O-line. Bell has had a productive year no doubt, but no RB is worth that kind of money. He's not even the best RB in the league as others have pointed out.

[Psycho Ward 86]

the superbowl window is closed when Ben retires. That day is imminent. This is probably the rare occasion where I would throw silly money at him to keep him happy long term and backload the contract considerably. Once Ben retires, we'll have a ton of cap relief. That means:

1) We still get to keep Bell
2) If he's still eating up too much cap space and hamstringing the team, trade him
3) Can't trade him because no one wants to pay up? Cut him and bite the bullet on the dead money. It'll suck, but not as bad as it did with Lamaar Woodley when we restructured his contract nonstop + had big QB money tied up. We'll be playoff contenders and not Superbowl contenders at that point anyways

[FrancoLambert]

All I want from him is a run of three very good games.

Contribute in a big way to get us #7 and if he feels he's underpaid at what....12-14 M/year..... say bye-bye and move on.

Tough to replace but that's happened before and we seem to manage it pretty well.

[pczach]

Pay this man his money.

FFS he made the All Pro team as a RB, and flex player.

PAY THE MAN

I have no problem with them paying him a fair deal....but he's not worth quarterback money......He's not. And I might be his biggest fan.

He deserves a big contract, but $17mil a year for 5 years? That's crazy talk.

All he had to say was what he said in his tweet. He didn't need to drop and atomic bomb on the organization a couple days before their first playoff game. If the fans love the player and are on his side, and he was available for nearly every game, and the team wins big...... the organization feels the pressure even more to sign the man. He's the one that hasn't been available at the beginning and the end of every season. In his tweet, he talks about team. In the interview, it was all about him getting his, and sitting out on his "brothers". Team just left his mind for a moment there.

He's the one asking to be paid like a #1 RB and a #2 WR combined. Nobody made him say that or demand that. He's an amazing talent that I'm ecstatic to have on this team. However, he can't do it by himself. No running back can. If there aren't holes to run through, running backs don't gain a lot of yards. He's a major piece of the offense, but he's still just a piece.

If he really feels this way, let him sit next year or retire. He'll be the one not making any money. You would think a little talk with Joe Haden about playing for a bad organization and a horrible team just isn't worth any amount of money if you can make similar money with a good team and organization.

Like I said in my last post. Just shut up, go out and play your ass, off and win a championship. It goes a long way with people. If he does that, he will get paid. Maybe not what he's asking for....but a lot.

[st33lersguy]

Sorry, not willing to pay over $15 million a year for a RB, particularly RBs that get injured every year and have known character issues

[teegre]

Uh... why are we discussing this NOW?????