Bell could sit out next year

[Slapstick]

like you said.. it doesn't matter what is said, it won't impact the game.

You think this is what Ben and Bell are talking about in the huddle?

Nobody should be talking about it all...

[Sugar]

If he goes, he goes. Let him get through the playoffs healthy and with maximum impact.

[Disco1981]

I know I'm in the minority here...Bell is a great back, maybe the best BUT...He has a ton of mileage, Been hurt EVERY year...Tomlin has run his wheels off...And he has hurt both knees and groin...And the kicker...HE IS SLOW, Yes slow...He has great vision, cuttting ability, pass catching etc...But he is slow...With all this mileage and injuries, He will continually get slower...Will his unique skill set offset his declining speed, AND...Would his running style which is quite unprecedented...wait, wait,wait hit hole...Would that style work with ANY other o-line, or offensive scheme...This is just my opinion...I don't think he is near the money he is gonna ask for, For the aforementioned statements...Looking for some good feedback...Also, I am a newbie, Take is easy on me...Go Steelers!

[Captain Lemming]

Draft BA-RB and be done with it.
Use some of that 14 mil saved to pursue the best free agent inside linebacker available.

[Mr.wizard]

I know I'm in the minority here...Bell is a great back, maybe the best BUT...He has a ton of mileage, Been hurt EVERY year...Tomlin has run his wheels off...And he has hurt both knees and groin...And the kicker...HE IS SLOW, Yes slow...He has great vision, cuttting ability, pass catching etc...But he is slow...With all this mileage and injuries, He will continually get slower...Will his unique skill set offset his declining speed, AND...Would his running style which is quite unprecedented...wait, wait,wait hit hole...Would that style work with ANY other o-line, or offensive scheme...This is just my opinion...I don't think he is near the money he is gonna ask for, For the aforementioned statements...Looking for some good feedback...Also, I am a newbie, Take is easy on me...Go Steelers!

What declining speed? Bell is not a speed back he is a bruiser and a damn good one, not to mention he is excellent in pass protection and in the passing game. The reason Bell wants so much money is because he is such a huge percentage of our offense. Bell doesn't look to be wearing down, he actually looks to be getting better. Will we pay him? I don't know. Will somebody pay him? Absolutely. It's hard to make a guy such a huge piece of the offense and then get mad when he wants a huge contract.

[Captain Lemming]

What declining speed? Bell is not a speed back he is a bruiser and a damn good one, not to mention he is excellent in pass protection and in the passing game. The reason Bell wants so much money is because he is such a huge percentage of our offense. Bell doesn't look to be wearing down, he actually looks to be getting better. Will we pay him? I don't know. Will somebody pay him? Absolutely. It's hard to make a guy such a huge piece of the offense and then get mad when he wants a huge contract.

No reason to be mad at him. It just is not a good investment.
You explain why he want so much money. Is he not the HIGHEST PAID BACK IN THE LEAGUE this year by a wide margin?
Wasnt his offer far and away the biggest contract for his position?
Isnt the money he is turning up his nose to next year gonna be something like 5 mil more than anybody got paid this season?
He IS being paid like the best back in the league.

Will SOMEONE pay him what he wants? Perhaps. They will be stupid, and that is the kind of stupid that keeps bad teams down.
If LB gets the “security” he wants, some poor dope will be stuck with a huge cap hit long after he has that kind of value to a team.

Last back that “got paid” big time was Adrian Petersen. He too was the best back in the league.
Don’t think he even finished his deal. Vikings sure glad they weren’t on the hook for his “security”.

How many rings does Petersen have?
2 fewer than Willie Parker.
2 fewer than Lagarett Blount.

Give me a “really good” back often can be had cheap as a rookie, AND another pro bowl caliber defender and we are a better OVERALL team for it.
Heck we scored more the season DeAngelo was the top back than we scored the last two seasons.

You can’t just pay whatever a player wants every time. What if Bell wants 20 mil a year?

Bottom line the dude might be the best back in the league. But no back is worth 5-7 mil more than everyone at his position.

He wanna walk because 14 mil is chump change, let him walk. He can be someone else’s cap hit.
No hate, let him get paid.

[Steelerphile]

Two very good backs together would give the team as much, or probably more production than you get from one Le'Veon Bell. That is apparent if you look at NFL team rushing stats. Bell demands too much money and also demands the ball. I don't think he is being realistic and hope the Steelers don't bend to overpaying him. He is a good player but the team would be better off by splitting running back duties between him and another good back, and would also make more economic sense. If they sign him to a huge contract, they could never justify that contract except by giving him 400 plus touches henceforth.

His ability will only decline because his ypc average took a downward turn this year and probably won't increase much after this year.

[Steel Maniac]

No reason to be mad at him. It just is not a good investment.
You explain why he want so much money. Is he not the HIGHEST PAID BACK IN THE LEAGUE this year by a wide margin?
Wasnt his offer far and away the biggest contract for his position?
Isnt the money he is turning up his nose to next year gonna be something like 5 mil more than anybody got paid this season?
He IS being paid like the best back in the league.

Will SOMEONE pay him what he wants? Perhaps. They will be stupid, and that is the kind of stupid that keeps bad teams down.
If LB gets the “security” he wants, some poor dope will be stuck with a huge cap hit long after he has that kind of value to a team.

Last back that “got paid” big time was Adrian Petersen. He too was the best back in the league.
Don’t think he even finished his deal. Vikings sure glad they weren’t on the hook for his “security”.

How many rings does Petersen have?
2 fewer than Willie Parker.
2 fewer than Lagarett Blount.

Give me a “really good” back often can be had cheap as a rookie, AND another pro bowl caliber defender and we are a better OVERALL team for it.
Heck we scored more the season DeAngelo was the top back than we scored the last two seasons.

You can’t just pay whatever a player wants every time. What if Bell wants 20 mil a year?

Bottom line the dude might be the best back in the league. But no back is worth 5-7 mil more than everyone at his position.

He wanna walk because 14 mil is chump change, let him walk. He can be someone else’s cap hit.
No hate, let him get paid.

Thanks Captain....

We will send Mr. Bell the proper response in the third round of the draft when we select another runningback.

No player leverages Steelers management to do something it may not want to do.

[Ernie]

No reason to be mad at him. It just is not a good investment.
You explain why he want so much money. Is he not the HIGHEST PAID BACK IN THE LEAGUE this year by a wide margin?
Wasnt his offer far and away the biggest contract for his position?
Isnt the money he is turning up his nose to next year gonna be something like 5 mil more than anybody got paid this season?
He IS being paid like the best back in the league.

Will SOMEONE pay him what he wants? Perhaps. They will be stupid, and that is the kind of stupid that keeps bad teams down.
If LB gets the “security” he wants, some poor dope will be stuck with a huge cap hit long after he has that kind of value to a team.

Last back that “got paid” big time was Adrian Petersen. He too was the best back in the league.
Don’t think he even finished his deal. Vikings sure glad they weren’t on the hook for his “security”.

How many rings does Petersen have?
2 fewer than Willie Parker.
2 fewer than Lagarett Blount.

Give me a “really good” back often can be had cheap as a rookie, AND another pro bowl caliber defender and we are a better OVERALL team for it.
Heck we scored more the season DeAngelo was the top back than we scored the last two seasons.

You can’t just pay whatever a player wants every time. What if Bell wants 20 mil a year?

Bottom line the dude might be the best back in the league. But no back is worth 5-7 mil more than everyone at his position.

He wanna walk because 14 mil is chump change, let him walk. He can be someone else’s cap hit.
No hate, let him get paid.

Excellent post. We'd all like to see Bell retire as a Steeler, but his demands aren't realistic for what we are trying to do AS A TEAM. Bell stated "It isn't about the money, it's about setting the market for guys like Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley etc." If that's the case, wouldn't you think 5+ million over the #2 RB salary in the league would be enough? And yes, some team will "Pay the man"... Some team like the Redskins, notorious for mortgaging away their future for a single player "RGIII"

[feltdizz]

Excellent post. We'd all like to see Bell retire as a Steeler, but his demands aren't realistic for what we are trying to do AS A TEAM. Bell stated "It isn't about the money, it's about setting the market for guys like Melvin Gordon, Todd Gurley etc." If that's the case, wouldn't you think 5+ million over the #2 RB salary in the league would be enough? And yes, some team will "Pay the man"... Some team like the Redskins, notorious for mortgaging away their future for a single player "RGIII"

RGIII?

Why not use players like Peyton Manning, Brees, Brady, etc as examples of teams mortgaging away their future?

Bell is a top 3 RB in the league but you guys use examples like Flacco and RGIII to make a point?

[Ernie]

RGIII?

Why not use players like Peyton Manning, Brees, Brady, etc as examples of teams mortgaging away their future?

Bell is a top 3 RB in the league but you guys use examples like Flacco and RGIII to make a point?

hmm.... well who else on those teams "Manning, Brees, Brady" besides those guys were getting "Top of the league" money at their positions at the time? We've already got record contracts in Pouncey, AB... Can't have top pay scales at every position.

[feltdizz]

No reason to be mad at him. It just is not a good investment.
You explain why he want so much money. Is he not the HIGHEST PAID BACK IN THE LEAGUE this year by a wide margin?
Wasnt his offer far and away the biggest contract for his position?
Isnt the money he is turning up his nose to next year gonna be something like 5 mil more than anybody got paid this season?
He IS being paid like the best back in the league.

Will SOMEONE pay him what he wants? Perhaps. They will be stupid, and that is the kind of stupid that keeps bad teams down.
If LB gets the “security” he wants, some poor dope will be stuck with a huge cap hit long after he has that kind of value to a team.

Last back that “got paid” big time was Adrian Petersen. He too was the best back in the league.
Don’t think he even finished his deal. Vikings sure glad they weren’t on the hook for his “security”.

How many rings does Petersen have?
2 fewer than Willie Parker.
2 fewer than Lagarett Blount.

Give me a “really good” back often can be had cheap as a rookie, AND another pro bowl caliber defender and we are a better OVERALL team for it.
Heck we scored more the season DeAngelo was the top back than we scored the last two seasons.

You can’t just pay whatever a player wants every time. What if Bell wants 20 mil a year?

Bottom line the dude might be the best back in the league. But no back is worth 5-7 mil more than everyone at his position.

He wanna walk because 14 mil is chump change, let him walk. He can be someone else’s cap hit.
No hate, let him get paid.

The Vikes didnt use the 1 year option in his contract.

[feltdizz]

hmm.... well who else on those teams "Manning, Brees, Brady" besides those guys were getting "Top of the league" money at their positions at the time? We've already got record contracts in Pouncey, AB... Can't have top pay scales at every position.

Saturday and Harrison probably had nice contracts at the same tine.

Its all about timing. Pouncey wont play forever. Ben wont play forever. Guys will come off the books and the cap is going up.

[Slapstick]

I like Bell. But, the Steelers didn’t set the market for RBs. They almost did, but Bell thought their offer wasn’t good enough.

Fine.

Let another team set a new high bar for RBs.

[Ernie]

Saturday and Harrison prolly had nice contracts at the same tine.

Its all about timing. Pouncey wont play forever. Ben wont play forever. Guys will come off the books and the cap is going up.

You said he was a "Top 3 back". Does that mean he's not "Levels above" the others? If not, how do you warrant paying him damned near double what the other guys are getting? You are one of those guys who typically puts the "Team" ahead of individual players. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment on this one dizz.