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What should we do with Le'Veon Bell?

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by brosonke, Jan 29, 2018.

  1. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    Dec 10, 2012
    I guess we will soon find out what the steelers think. My opinion is the Steelers are a lesser team without him.......
     
  2. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

    8,604
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    Dec 10, 2012

    Teams can start to apply these designations to players on Feb. 20 and have until March 6 at 4 p.m. ET to do so. Most players who are set to hit free agency when the new league year begins on March 14 are eligible for the tag. And if the player and team are going to work out a long-term deal, that has to happen no later than July 16. If not, the tagged player will play that season under the tag.
     
  3. Diamond

    Diamond Well-Known Member

    5,790
    469
    May 26, 2012
    ESPNs take on Bell and other players, I dont agee on everything they say but I agree with them on Bell:

    Pittsburgh Steelers
    1. Franchise Le'Veon Bell. Bell reportedly turned down a contract that would have paid him $30 million over two years and $42 million over three years last offseason. If the Steelers are willing to offer Bell an average of $14 million per season on a long-term deal, $14.5 million seems like a relative bargain on a one-year pact.

    It's worth nothing that Bell was closer to good than great last year. The 26-year-old stayed healthy for the entire season and racked up his largest workload as a pro, but his efficiency suffered. Bell averaged just 4.0 yards per carry and converted 23.1 percent of his carries into first downs, both of which were his lowest marks since 2013.

    Bell was still relatively efficient, but he also lacked big plays as a runner. The same guy who had eight carries of 20-plus yards on 113 attempts in 2015 had only three in 321 carries last season. Bell didn't have a single run for more than 30 yards. He did have three catches of 30 yards or more, all of which strangely came against the Bengals. Bell's patience and vision remain unquestioned, but in the past he has been able to combine that with explosive plays after making his cut upfield. Last season was probably a fluke, but if Bell can't rack up those big plays, it's tough to justify making him the only running back in the league to top an annual average salary of $10 million.

    mentioned back in January, the Steelers can cut safeties Mike Mitchelland J.J. Wilcox to free up $8.1 million in space, which gets Pittsburgh back into the black.

    After that, the Steelers will likely renegotiate Antonio Brown's deal by converting $12.9 million of his combined base salary and roster bonus into a signing bonus, which would free up about $9.7 million in additional space. Pittsburgh probably won't have the cap space to retain utility lineman Chris Hubbard, but a Brown restructure will give the Steelers breathing room and allow them to look at an inside linebacker -- possibly Lawrence Timmons, a likely cap casualty in Miami -- to fill in for Ryan Shazier.

    3. Pick up Bud Dupree's fifth-year option. The Steelers haven't gotten a ton out of Dupree since drafting him in the first round in 2015, in part because of injuries, but the Kentucky product made it through the final 15 games of 2017 and racked up six sacks. I would be skeptical of a Dupree breakout, given that he recorded only seven knockdowns. But the risk of picking up Dupree's option is outweighed by the possible reward of having him signed for 2019 in the case of a breakout campaign.

    4. Draft an offensive lineman high. Hubbard will likely leave in free agency, and 32-year-old left guard Ramon Foster is entering the final year of his deal. With everyone else on the line signed to long-term deals, Pittsburgh should be in the market to find an interior lineman who can serve in Hubbard's role before moving into the starting lineup.

    5. Find a low-cost receiving back to play behind Bell. It's tempting to hope that Bell will stay healthy for the entire 2018 season, but history tells us that four available months from the star running back are the exception, not the rule. James Conner barely featured as the backup last season and was thrown only one incomplete target all season. While Conner would be in line to handle the running half of a rotation if Bell went down, the Steelers also would need a back capable of catching passes and helping in pass protection. Someone like Lance Dunbar, Charles Sims or Shane Vereen could figure in for just over $1 million.
     
  4. Watt Wack

    Watt Wack Well-Known Member

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    Jul 29, 2017
  5. SteelerGlenn

    SteelerGlenn

    20,075
    4,358
    Nov 24, 2011
    • Agree Agree x 1

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