Earl Thomas _ L Bell Straight Up?

[NorthCoast]

would you...?

[feltdizz]

Helllllll no

[pittpete]

Nope..........

[Disco1981]

Yep.........

[Buzz]

No ..........

[Oviedo]

would you...?

No way

I think everyone tends to forget that the team appears to have gotten Ben to commit to at least three more years. I really don't think part of those discussions include..."oh by the way, we are getting rid of LB." IMO LB is important enough that if he goes Ben reconsiders staying. Just my opinion

[Ernie]

No way

I think everyone tends to forget that the team appears to have gotten Ben to commit to at least three more years. I really don't think part of those discussions include..."oh by the way, we are getting rid of LB." IMO LB is important enough that if he goes Ben reconsiders staying. Just my opinion

The times I have heard Ben talk about retirement, and why he considers sticking around... the Offensive line always comes up. I have never heard him talk about Bell specifically... but I'm sure Bell leaving doesn't help Ben's cause (in terms of Ben staying a few more years). Do I see Ben having a huge influence on Offensive personnel the next few years? Absolutely.. my hope is, it's not at the expense of solidifying the Defense.

[SteelBucks]

No way

I think everyone tends to forget that the team appears to have gotten Ben to commit to at least three more years. I really don't think part of those discussions include..."oh by the way, we are getting rid of LB." IMO LB is important enough that if he goes Ben reconsiders staying. Just my opinion

Your theory will more than likely be tested next offseason.

[feltdizz]

No way

I think everyone tends to forget that the team appears to have gotten Ben to commit to at least three more years. I really don't think part of those discussions include..."oh by the way, we are getting rid of LB." IMO LB is important enough that if he goes Ben reconsiders staying. Just my opinion

Exactly.

and we didn’t have problems improving the defense defense last year when we paid Bell 12.5 mill.

[Northern_Blitz]

Exactly.

and we didn’t have problems improving the defense defense last year when we paid Bell 12.5 mill.

I wouldn't hold my breath hoping that something like the Haden deal happens again. I hope it does because I think we need two starters on D on the cheap. The team seems to be OK going into the draft with Wilcox and Big Red since our current cap room is about draft picks plus the cushion they bring into the regular season.

That being said, the advantage that consistently good teams like the Steelers have is that they become a preferred destination after all the stupid money signings in UFA.

[Buzz]

Exactly.

and we didn’t have problems improving the defense defense last year when we paid Bell 12.5 mill.

We had more money available last year, and weren't having to replace Ryan Shazier.

[Slapstick]

Shazier also counts $8.7 million against the cap.

[williar]

I doubt if I'm going out on a limb to say that, without LeVeon Bell, we would be lucky to win 6 games next season. (Seriously!) People just overlook what he actually means to this offense...

[Northern_Blitz]

I doubt if I'm going out on a limb to say that, without LeVeon Bell, we would be lucky to win 6 games next season. (Seriously!) People just overlook what he actually means to this offense...

I think that might be true if you don't account for the fact that we'd use the money elsewhere.

On the other hand, if the draft doesn't pan out and we end up starting Wilcox and Big Red I'm not sure we do all that well either. The Shazier injury really hurts the team. I think good offenses will shred our D without some significant changes. But maybe I'm over-reacting to the Jags game...we played OK against the Pats without Shazier. I do think that we built our D to beat the Pats and got their polar opposite in the Jags.

[williar]

The best thing for this offense (team) is continuity. You have a mostly veteran team on offense and the last thing they need to be doing is trying to reinvent themselves. You have an aging QB who has proven he is slow to change. The strength of this team is still the offense and hopefully, with the new OC, they will become more consistent.