Le'Veon Bell's Holdout has Reached Point of Career-Damaging Consequences
By Jeff Diamond
Le'Veon Bell's holdout from the Steelers, an illogical, costly and self-induced absence that's a major misjudgment of potential market value by the player and his agent, is one of the most ludicrous in NFL history.I saw a lot of holdouts during my NFL contract negotiating days and was a party to many. But the Pittsburgh running back, whose holdout dragged on through the preseason and is now into the third week of the regular season, has done major damage to his career just in the past two weeks.
MORE: Explaining Le'Veon Bell's holdoutFor whatever reason — supposedly an unsatisfactory amount of guaranteed money — Bell in the offseason turned down a reported five-year, $70 million deal (with $33 million guaranteed) that would have made him the NFL's highest-paid back. After the July 15 deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign long-term deals passed, Bell's only option for this season became the one-year, $14.5 million franchise tender.I predicted in July that Bell would report to the team the week before the season opener, and that "no player is going to give up $853,000 per week."Wrong and wrong.I misjudged the ill-advised intentions of Bell and his agent, Adisa Bakari, who has been making inflammatory statements that Bell might wait until Week 11 to report in order to limit his exposure to injury prior to free agency and, in the process, forego $8.53 million.
Bell and Bakari are living in a fantasy land if they believe the 26-year-old will make up that money in his next contract.
MORE: NFL's highest-paid playersBoth the statements from the agent and Bell's absence into the regular season say several things to NFL team owners, general managers and coaches. As a former GM and team president, I first would consider the brain cramp that is Bell giving up so much money each week.Then I'd think about the lack of commitment. As Bell frolics in Miami Beach on jet skis and in album-recording sessions, his Steelers teammates are struggling through an 0-1-1 start highlighted by diva wide receiver Antonio Brown's truancy.
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