Should the Steelers Rescind the Franchise tag on Bell?

Keep the tag. Keep Bell fresh. Try to ramp up his touches as the season goes on and work some other guys in early. Either way Bell is going to get paid so I dont know what all the hubbub is about. Who knows mabye the Steelers win the SB next year and that convinces Bell to stay for less? Doubtful, but I understand why Bell would cash out. I wish him the best no matter what.

 

Quite the opposite!He has a huge chip on his shoulder and will be going on all cylinders for that big contract that some team will pay him!How big?Probably not what he’s talking about but more than the Steelers more than fair offer.

 

Not had a chance to watch him yet. Wasn't sure how good he may be at it .

 

Yes, I would rescind the tag.

Use that money on Kendricks and keep the rest as a "what if" in case of injury or a decent cut comes closer to the season.

I think with the RB's currently on the roster they can give the team 80% of what Bell does. I also think that going in to camp knowing that you have all of the pieces of the offense already there will allow Fichtner to teach his playbook to everyone, and have everyone (hopefully) on the same page by the time the season starts.
Also, I imagine blocking for Bell is probably different as an offensive line. Which is probably also why Bell struggled at the beginning of last season.

From a team perspective, I think letting Bell go is the smart move. He's a malcontent who won't be here next year anyway. Might as well just rip the band-aid off now and move on when they are installing a new playbook anyway.

 

Bill Cowher did it, too, at least when he running back who was good enough to warrant that kind of load.

That is exactly how they need to use Bell this season. Despite the foolish assertions of others, he can't just cruise into the deal he wants. He needs to go out there and produce to get it. His yards per carry dropped significantly last season. If his overall numbers fall off this season, it's going to look like he is in decline and the big money won't be there. Bell knows this, so he's got to play for that contract.

 

No he didn't...He used Veron Haynes, Pegram, Lester, John Williams, Fu, Zeroue..Not even close...Used these guys way more, and argument could be made that they weren't as goid as Blount or DeAngelo

 

He used Lester? The guy who had 33 carries in his entire career?

Cowher gave Bettis a heavy workload. He ran Barry Foster into the ground for two seasons. Parker wasn't that type of workhorse back, plus Bettis was still there with him until Cowher's final season.

 

That's 33 more than Nix has gotten

 

I assume that was a joke laid out there rather than acknowledge the error. It is also incorrect. Nix carried the ball three times in 2017. He even scored a touchdown on a one-yard run against the Texans.

 

The foolish assertion? Bell will get paid, maybe not what he wants but he will get paid well, good season or not. As you say his numbers were down but his usage was up last year and we still are paying him 14.55 mil. this year. Far and away more than the next back in the league. It may be that he is just getting used up as happens to rb's in the league and no matter how he tries this year and his usage numbers, he may not reach those goals try as he might. AP is a good example. As good as Bell was and is, we have won nothing in the way of championships with him. Neither did Minnesota with AP but they are still in the thick of the post season without him.

 

It is a foolish assertion. By 2019, Bell will be a year older. Unless he gets hurt again, he will have a lot more mileage on him. Either would hurt his value. If his production were to decline as well, that would cost Bell a lot of money. Clearly, that's his priority.

Teams aren't going to pay for 2017 Bell in 2019, especially if he had a disappointing 2018. It's not that difficult of a concept.

 

He did. They did.

Do he do be do

 

Wasn't that Tomlin who said that and ran the wheels off of Parker in 2007? Or am I remembering that wrong?

 

I'm not sure Cowher ever said that about Parker. He did say it about Foster.

 

That was Tomlin that said that about Parker..

 

And then Parker broke his leg...

 

Yep I was at that game.

 

That was December Glenn. I was in Florida, Friends daughter (crack addict) bought us tickets to see the nut cracker. Wife wouldn't shut up saying I would hurt her feelings if I went to the local steeler bar instead of with her. I got to the steeler bar during wrapup. A Rams fan told me Willie broke his leg. Dang it

 

I think he had over 200 receptions and over 40 TDs in college.

 

I gotta say Glenn, you do get around, lol

 

Cowher used all those guys when he didn't have as much of a stud at RB. When he had Bettis and Parker, he ran the wheels of them.

 

Bettie’s and Parker averaged about 20 rushes a game. That is hardly running the wheels off them.

 

The problem with dropping him now is that we really don’t have any running back with NFL starter potential. I love the Conner story as much as the next guy but his health issues have certainly curbed his growth. To count on him staying healthy for 16 games as a starter is asinine. If we were going to drop Bell we would have needed to draft a RB high or signed a legit FA. We did neither so let’s hope Bell plays his ass off one last season for us.

 

I think that'd be a very foolish move at this point. Not only are there no real players available that would be considered 'impact', I'm not sold our running backs would be able to 'replace' the productivity lost by losing Bell.