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

[hawaiiansteeler]

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

[st33lersguy]

Bye Felicia

[AtlantaDan]

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

[ALLD]

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

[Mach1]

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




Then there's this.

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.

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

[Iron Steeler]

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

[86WARD]

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

[86WARD]

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

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

[vader29]

[DesertSteel]

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

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.

[st33lersguy]

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

[GBMelBlount]

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

[AtlantaDan]

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

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

[Craic]

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.

[steelreserve]

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

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.

[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.

[Craic]

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.

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.

[FrancoLambert]

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.

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.

[DesertSteel]

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

[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.

[BlackAndGold]

[Bluecoat96]

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.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[Craic]

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.

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.

[AtlantaDan]

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

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

[Neversatisfied]

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.

[Steelerchad]

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.

[fansince'76]

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.

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.

[st33lersguy]

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

[BlackAndGold]

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

[Dwinsgames]