Bell to be franchise tagged, per Rapoport

Pay him his lofty demands. Who knows whats going through his head. Both sides are far apart and unless he comes to his senses there will be no contract just another rental.

But Blast, he has his rap career to fall back on #rapgiant

 

Just let him walk. Use the extra money and have a full team at otas, camp, preseason and start of regular season. 53 men working towards 1 goal. We will be fine. Look what DWill did in his absences and he was what 2 mil.

 

Yeah he isn't turning that down......
Something just dawned on me....you think other teams would be reluctant to sign Bell because of his running style. They would have the change the way their entire OL blocks. We saw that it took ours a few games to get back into the flow because of him not playing in the preseason and they have been blocking for his style for a few years......something to think about ....for us,him and potential suitors...

 

Let him go. Sign 3 of the below for about $8M total.

Dion Lewis, RB, Patriots. Age: 27.
Carlos Hyde, RB, 49ers. Age: 27.
Isaiah Crowell, RB, Browns. Age: 25.
Rex Burkhead, RB, Patriots. Age: 28.
Doug Martin, RB, Buccaneers. Age: 29.
Jerick McKinnon, RB, Vikings. Age: 26.
Alfred Morris, RB, Cowboys. Age: 29.
Jeremy Hill, RB, Bengals. Age: 25.
LeGarrette Blount, RB, Eagles. Age: 31.
Thomas Rawls (RFA), RB, Seahawks. Age: 25.
Orleans Darkwa, RB, Giants. Age: 26.
Jonathan Stewart, RB, Panthers. Age: 31.
Chris Ivory, RB, Jaguars. Age: 30.
Christine Michael, RB, Colts. Age: 27.
Mike Davis (RFA), RB, Seahawks. Age: 25.
Jamaal Charles, RB, Broncos. Age: 31.
Charles Sims, RB, Buccaneers. Age: 27.
Branden Oliver, RB, Chargers. Age: 27.
Kenjon Barner, RB, Eagles. Age: 28.
Benny Cunningham, RB, Bears. Age: 28.
Shane Vereen, RB, Giants. Age: 29.
Alfred Blue, RB, Texans. Age: 27.
Andre Ellington, RB, Texans. Age: 29.
Corey Grant (RFA), RB, Jaguars. Age: 26.
Terron Ward (RFA), RB, Falcons. Age: 26.
Kapri Bibbs (RFA), RB, Redskins. Age: 25.
Travaris Cadet, RB, Bills. Age: 29.
Bishop Sankey (RFA), RB, Vikings. Age: 25.
Damien Williams, RB, Dolphins. Age: 26.
Zach Zenner (RFA), RB, Lions. Age: 26.

 

My question is who will we get on defense to make are defense at least formidable since bell will drop our offense some pegs?

 

I say franchise him and and if you can get Chubb or Michel in the second round you pull the tag the way the Panthers did to Josh Norman a couple years ago. Bell is really good but he's probably going to decline over the next couple of years and we definitely don't need that kind of money tied up in a declining RB.

 

Man I hate that they weren't able to work a deal. We'll rent him for another year and see where that takes us.

 

Now to scrape up the money

 

And...........................???????????????????

 

Some people are still sleeping on Conner as well. He didn't get a real chance ,but he actually ran better than Bell per attempt. Conner had a 4.5 ypc and Bell had a 4.0 ypc average . The style of Conner should be better for the pa passing game anyway.

IMO the Team would be better off signing a Vet FA to go with Conner and just leave Bell behind use that money to target a real player at the Safety spot . My approach would be get rid of the Me guy and build a stronger Team .

 

Did they use the exclusive or non-exclusive tag?

 

From his standpoint he feels and I'm sure for it someone will pay him.. Just won't be the Steelers.

 

Is earl Thomas available?

 

I just looked at the numbers and the next highest paid back is devonta Freeman at 8 million a year.. he's no Leveon of course but Leveon wanting 2x a year is kinda outlandish. I say around 11-12 A year is fair

 

He will get paid more than twice as much as any back in the league except two!I’m a big LB fan and of course would love to keep him but there are plenty of good backs in the league!He is the best all around back but is he twice as good as the rest of them?Definitely not! I can’t feel his pain with the 14.5 million he’ll make this year and what the long term deal he turned down last year.Not feeling the pain!!

 

Nope he is not , but there are some good guys available .

 

This dude is full of crap, his act is getting tired.

 

Honey badger, Landon Collins, or Eric berry? Or Bobby Wagner, luke kuechly , or von Miller? These are the only type of guys who's impact on defense would match Leveon's impact on offense..

 

No team is dumb enough to give up two first round picks for a RB, he also will want a new contract avg 14-15 million a year.

 

We will find out once free agency starts, and the draft also.

 

Given how few times Conner carried the ball, it is ridiculous to compare his average per carry to Bell's. At least part of the reason for that was that Conner couldn't be trusted in the passing game. He struggled with blitz pick-ups and didn't catch a single pass. Bell excels as a blocker and receiver.

I get the thinking of those who want Bell gone, but at least try to understand just how far he is beyond Conner right now.

 

He had his chance at a 5 year deal last year and he turned it down. If they give him a 5 year deal now by the time he's in the 4th or 5th year of that deal they will be stuck with that big contract and a declining player.

 

Conner isn't a #1 RB, he can't stay healthy and he struggles in pass protection.