Le'Veon Bell

[feltdizz]

the weird thing is i was good with what the team offered. i wasn't good with the additional guaranteed money he wanted. in other words, i wanted him to continue to EARN his money.

but, i didn't want him. not at what he wanted guaranteed vs his history for missing games (whether suspension or injury).

having said that dizz's comparison made me realize that even by steelers standards, for an elite back it wasn't ridiculous.

The 4.9 vs 4.0 YPC: iirc, he came in after holding out and struggled early. Once he was in game shape but seemed to be his old self by end of season.

To be clear, he had more rushing yards per game that season than any other season. He had both more rushes and more receptions than any other season during his career. Honestly, i don't even blame him for holding out the next year. Seemed like a situation where the team was going to run all the tread off the tires then let him walk.

it wasn’t a ridiculous contract and recent contracts show he was asking for the correct amount of money based on production.

what’s funny (not really) is without Bell we haven’t improved as a team. Our offense is pedestrian. Our running game leaves a lot to be desired.

We lost to the Jets last year who are poorly coached and pretty awful.

But hey, Bell finally got injured again so people will scream we made the right choice even though we haven’t been to the playoffs since he left.

Not sure how anyone can mic drop until we actually make the playoffs and make some noise.

[feltdizz]

I didn't want Bell at what he was asking... but, as someone "on the other side", this is the mic drop...

while I knew we would offer him big money I wasn’t mad at either side. Well, I was a little mad at the Steelers for their ancient contract terms but overall I always thought 13.5 mill was a fine amount for Bell. I wasn’t shocked but I also thought he could’ve gotten more if we let him test the market instead of tagging him twice.

I never understood this idea that the guy who is responsible for a large part of our production shouldn’t get a healthy contract because he’s a RB and those are easily replaceable.

Conner scares no one. Snell might be the next great RB but who knows..

Just think it’s odd that he would handcuff us and not Ben’s insane cap hit all these years. Somehow Ben escapes blame when it comes to not making a SB and it’s the other guys who held us back. Without them we haven’t looked too hot on offense so we need to slow down on celebrating.

and again, we lost to the Jets last year. The Jets.

[Captain Lemming]

the weird thing is i was good with what the team offered. i wasn't good with the additional guaranteed money he wanted. in other words, i wanted him to continue to EARN his money.

but, i didn't want him. not at what he wanted guaranteed vs his history for missing games (whether suspension or injury).

having said that dizz's comparison made me realize that even by steelers standards, for an elite back it wasn't ridiculous.

The 4.9 vs 4.0 YPC: iirc, he came in after holding out and struggled early. Once he was in game shape but seemed to be his old self by end of season.

To be clear, he had more rushing yards per game that season than any other season. He had both more rushes and more receptions than any other season during his career. Honestly, i don't even blame him for holding out the next year. Seemed like a situation where the team was going to run all the tread off the tires then let him walk.

I have never been upset with him for holding out. It was a smart move.

His holdout worked brilliantly. He was able to hide his decline. All people saw was his totals in 2017 just like you. He had the most touches in the league BY FAR. Do you realize we were not a particularly good running team that year?

Teams with AVERAGE backs had more yards rushing than we had. Most teams had a higher yards per carry.

[Captain Lemming]

If Bell doesn’t take a year off I don’t think we see him fall off. Of course since he is now on the Jets everyone can say that would’ve been his trajectory here but that’s crazy talk.

We knew how to use Bell in our offense and I can’t see how our 12 win season turns into .500 in one offseason because of a slight decline in ypc. He was still a beast in the passing game.

Again, teams scored more against us. Bells contributions only matter to offense not defense.

[Captain Lemming]

I never understood this idea that the guy who is responsible for a large part of our production shouldn’t get a healthy contract because he’s a RB and those are easily replaceable.

Conner scares no one. Snell might be the next great RB but who knows..

Eric Pegram, Fast Willie (twice), Spinderella Mendenhall what do they have in common?

1. Only Steeler SBs starters not named "Franco".
2. Not as "scary" as Bell.

The issue is NOT that elite backs pay is disproportionatly high. It is that elite backs aren't as valuable as their stats would lead you to believe in today's NFL.

Just think it’s odd that he would handcuff us and not Ben’s insane cap hit all these years. Somehow Ben escapes blame when it comes to not making a SB and it’s the other guys who held us back. Without them we haven’t looked too hot on offense so we need to slow down on celebrating.

Ben has two rings Dizz. NONE with Bell. Why do QBs get paid? There is no more frequent factor in championships than elite QBs. Nearly EVERY team that has gone to multiple SBs in recent years features an elite QB. (exception Eli who weirdly can look better than Peyton in a hot playoff).

Elite QBs are difference makers on a level that NO runningback can come close to comparing.

and again, we lost to the Jets last year. The Jets.

We lost because Duck started and had a 37 quarterback rating. Run games were roughly even.

Hey Dizz, say your life depends on that game. You can have Ben or Bell back on the Steelers.

You know the answer...THAT is why you pay the QB his money.

[Captain Lemming]

McCaffey just signed a 4 year deal for 64 million.
Mahommes signed a 10 year contract for 503 million.

You wanna bet who has more Superbowls in his future?

[feltdizz]

McCaffey just signed a 4 year deal for 64 million.
Mahommes signed a 10 year contract for 503 million.

You wanna bet who has more Superbowls in his future?

That’s a weird comparison. First
off, Carolina gutted their team and has a new HC.

Second, Mahomes deal is still cap friendly. He’s making less than 32 mill per year for the first 3 years of it.

But guess what? There’s only one Mahomes. What about all the other QB’s with huge contracts who won’t sniff a SB?

[Mr.wizard]

Bell is not struggling because he signed with a bad team.......

Stupid moves like signing Bell to a deal they can't escape is why the Jets are a bad team.

If you want I can dig up where I sad WHILE HE WAS A STEELER that a stupid team would sign him.

And it came true.

Have you watched the Jets??? They may one of the worst NFL teams I have ever seen, if Gase makes it a full season I will be shocked.

[Northern_Blitz]

That’s a weird comparison. First
off, Carolina gutted their team and has a new HC.

Second, Mahomes deal is still cap friendly. He’s making less than 32 mill per year for the first 3 years of it.

But guess what? There’s only one Mahomes. What about all the other QB’s with huge contracts who won’t sniff a SB?

You can certainly pay QBs too much.

I think we are close to that category.

[feltdizz]

Have you watched the Jets??? They may one of the worst NFL teams I have ever seen, if Gase makes it a full season I will be shocked.

He really tried to imply signing Bell is why the Jets aren’t any good? Lmao.

[Ernie]

I think we are just fine at RB. Conner has played well thus far.. and we have good depth behind him. McFarland appears to be a real nice pick up. I'd expect to see 5 to 6 touches per game for him from here on out

[NorthCoast]

I think we are just fine at RB. Conner has played well thus far.. and we have good depth behind him. McFarland appears to be a real nice pick up. I'd expect to see 5 to 6 touches per game for him from here on out

Does this hold when the inevitable Conner injury strikes? Then down to Snell, McFly, and Samuels...

[feltdizz]

I think we are just fine at RB. Conner has played well thus far.. and we have good depth behind him. McFarland appears to be a real nice pick up. I'd expect to see 5 to 6 touches per game for him from here on out

One thing to remember is the Texans were 31st against the run. Kudos to the offense for attacking their weakness.

[NorthCoast]

One thing to remember is the Texans were 31st against the run. Kudos to the offense for attacking their weakness.

agree feltdizz.

And kudos to Fichtner for not outsmarting himself. I saw where this game was the most balanced run/pass so far this season. And finally a return of play action passing!

[Eich]

He really tried to imply signing Bell is why the Jets aren’t any good? Lmao.

It's clearly not the reason they've been awful. But it might be another sign of a team that is mismanaged and doesn't know how to become good, dumping that kind of money into Bell.