Thanks Leveon

That was just the most extreme example. He had other dominant performances.

 

If they thought connor was the guy before this season they would have let bell go and used that 14 million in cap space elsewhere. They obviously still wanted bell's services and didnt think he'd holdout all these games which you did just state. Had they thought he would do this it's no way they franchise tag him because you just held up 14 million in cap for a guy who will play 6 games and the playoffs. I never thought about that and it was a shocking stunt pulled by him.

 

That’s the point

 

I think this resembles the Herschel Walker Dallas/ Minnesota trade, sort of. Minnesota sold their soul to get Herschel Walker, thinking he was a once in a generation running back, and he would propel them to the Super Bowl. The problem was, they lost so much draft capital ( and the team they gave it to became a dynasty), they couldn’t build a good enough team around Walker to win a Super Bowl. I think the Steelers realize that if they give Bell what he wants, they will be stuck in mediocrity due to not being able to improve or keep the status quo of the rest of the team.

 

Conner and Samuels are the contingency plan. Not plan A. Plan A was Bell playing.

They had in place plan B. Not as good but hopefully functional enough to move the chains when needed. I'm sure they were hoping not to implement it this year, but it's in place and they're doing it.

No where does the Steelers suggest they were planning on Le'veon leave in free agency this offseason. The plan has been to franchise tag him again if a long-term deal could not be established. Bell knew that which is where his comments of early retirement came from.

 

The front office never thought Bell would sit out for that kind of money. They were going to carry multiple RB's regardless. If you break it down (gorilla-math style), he's giving up 25-30,000$ a touch, and that's worst-case scenario. No one would be stupid enough to pass that up.....

 

No they didn't think he'd go through with forfeiting 855 thousand dollars a game. Who would, but they were ready for it. They acquired both Conner last year and Samuels this year to prepare for life without Le'veon Bell. If we recall, there was talk of potentially drafting a running back with the 1st round pick this year also. This wasn't a knee jerk reaction.

So the contingency plan got moved up a year. Not ideal but it was in place.

Bell has mentioned retirement in the past, etc if he got franchised tagged. The Steelers responded appropriately to these comments and made sure their bases was covered.

 

I think we're both saying the same thing. The front office had a backup plan, just like they would of if Bell showed up week 1 then got injured. If they had drafted a RB in the first round this year, then I'd think moving on was plan A.

 

He said if. So does everytime a team and a player cant agree on a long term deal they franchise tag them? No. I'm pretty sure they felt on their end they offered him a good deal. It's of course why they offered it. They planned to get him locked up but I thought the writing was already on the wall. I think the front office and co feel some type of way about him not signing a deal they thought was feasible and this is ultimately a who has the last laugh type of deal. It's just gone way too far but right now advantage him because he simply putting the team in a position where they had no choice but to get rid of him.

 

Yes if a team has the money available and they cannot agree to a long-term deal they franchise tag the player. Just ask Kirk Cousins for one example. This is not some vindictive thing teams do. It is agreed upon by players upon entering the league and one of the reasons they can make 15 million dollars a year of guaranteed money running and catching a football.

It was pretty much common knowledge Bell was getting tagged again if a long-term deal wasn't going to get completed. This was not a knee jerk reaction to him rejecting the deal. The franchise tag has been on the table for a while, which is exactly why they tagged him the first time.

The Steelers allotted the 14.5 mil this year to tag Bell and keep him around one more year if a long-term deal wasn't met. That alone is proof this is not some knee jerk reaction. They drafted two running backs the past two drafts as an insurance policy to what exactly we see going on now.

It is also common knowledge the Steelers had no interest in tagging Bell a third time which would be in the ball park of 22 million per season as that is a ridiculous amount of money to pay any player let alone a running back. So if a L-T deal wasn't done, this would most definitely be his last year in Pittsburgh.

It's the business of the game. The Steelers were in their right to tag Bell, which at the time would have been around 5 million per year paid to any running back in the league. Gurley used Bell's Franchise tag number as negotiating leverage for his deal to average around 14.4 million per year.

So to play Bell a victim here and using the Franchise tag as some type of concept that has not helped players is just not accurate. The Steelers aren't using the tag as some vindictive knee jerk reaction to Bell not signing a long-term contract.

They offered him what they were willing to pay for a long-term deal for him, which at the time was by far the best deal for a running back in the entire league.

Bell wants to make a political statement and get paid roughly twice as much as players like LeSean McCoy. He wants to reset the market value for running backs.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/vincen...lary-cap-hits-for-running-backs/#78d49ff43fd3

That's great and all but to play him as a victim here because the Steelers didn't bow before his lofty demands playing into his political agenda to reset the market while being devastated by his cap hip long-term is laughable.

 

Well said Brother

 

Kirk wasnt franchised this past offseason after they saw last offseason they couldnt agree. They let a qb of all positions be a completely free agent. And them not tagging him a third time is why he's doing what hes doing and he DEFINITELY NOW really is assuring they wont tag him because who is tagging a guy holding 20 million against your cap all year who will holdout to week 10. And bell saw how Dallas used up DeMarco murray on a knee year deal then kicked him to the curb and he after was never the same. Not saying that's what they would have done to bell but in these positions you have to go off any and every outcome. Also more than anything nfl players worry about gurantees. Nba players are the guys you can just look at a contract number and say ok yeah this I'd the best contract. If hypothetically leveon had been cut after signing that deal this year which OVERALL was more than Gurley it wouldnt mean anything what he signed for as his gurantees were low. This next NFL CBA will probably have a lot of changes. I foresee the franchise tag being taken away and probably the hard cap as well.

 

And if that is laughable will be determined. If another team happens to give bell what he wants it isnt laughable as he could have simply then said had pitt let me go I could have gotten this. If they thought I wasnt worth that oh well but someone else did. I can definitely say he will get more guranteed on the market than 10 million. That's a win in itself because what is the percentage of nfl players who play the entirety of their contracts after their rookie deal. It's very low.

 

I thought Cousins was tagged three seasons. Isn’t that the limit?

Whether a player is “worth the contract” isn’t so black and white. He might be worth every penny, but the resultant salary-cap hell is just too risky for an organization. Or they just don’t have the cap space to give the player what he’s worth. Many situations can’t be reduced to a single factor.[/QUOTE]

 

Haha jokes on you. Elite RB’s are pretty hard to come by and so far this season the Steelers look like crap without our star. Pay the man!