LB @ the Club in Miami

[RuthlessBurgher]

So, what? Are you saying that he'll end up signing a long term contract with guaranteed dollars of, say, $5M total (nowhere near double digit guarantee money, as you said)???

[Steelhere10]

So, what? Are you saying that he'll end up signing a long term contract with guaranteed dollars of, say, $5M total (nowhere near double digit guarantee money, as you said)???

Maybe a little exaggeration, I'm saying a team with offer him a big money contract with around 10 guarantee. Something like 3 years worth 40 million but only 10 million guaranteed.
My take Noone in this day of NFL is going to guarantee a 27 YEAR old RB with off field and now on field issues more than 10 guaranteed money.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Maybe a little exaggeration, I'm saying a team with offer him a big money contract with around 10 guarantee. Something like 3 years worth 40 million but only 10 million guaranteed.
My take Noone in this day of NFL is going to guarantee a 27 YEAR old RB with off field and now on field issues more than 10 guaranteed money.

Alrighty then...suddenly "nowhere near double digit guarantee money" morphs into "exactly double digit guarantee money."

[feltdizz]

Yes we didbefore all of this drama came to front.

Yeah. I think you are way off. He is going to get double digit guaranteed money over more than 2 years. Hell, he may even take a 3 year deal to try and get 2 contracts before he retires.

Let’s be honest. Most of us hav been wrong about every contract offer he has received thus far. I think it’s time to accept that Bell is going to get big bucks in FA.

[feltdizz]

Maybe a little exaggeration, I'm saying a team with offer him a big money contract with around 10 guarantee. Something like 3 years worth 40 million but only 10 million guaranteed.
My take Noone in this day of NFL is going to guarantee a 27 YEAR old RB with off field and now on field issues more than 10 guaranteed money.

If he gets 3 years 40 mill just about all of it will be guaranteed.

with all Bell has done in his past we still offered him big money. M Bryant was still traded for a 3rd.

[Steelhere10]

If he gets 3 years 40 mill just about all of it will be guaranteed.

What he want and what he gets are different. I'm going to go looking for this thread in March please do the same.
Friendly bet, whomever loses we can't defend Tomlin or say anything negative about Ben after a loss for two games.

[feltdizz]

What he want and what he gets are different. I'm going to go looking for this thread in March please do the same.
Friendly bet, whomever loses we can't defend Tomlin or say anything negative about Ben after a loss for two games.

I will take that bet.

srill not sure what the terms are but I predict he will get double digit guaranteed money in the high 30’s.

[Steelhere10]

I will take that bet.

srill not sure what the terms are but I predict he will get double digit guaranteed money in the high 30’s.

Next year after a loss, we can no longer blame Ben Or defend Tomlin for Two consecutive losses.
I say nothing over 12 guaranteed.

[feltdizz]

Next year after a loss, we can no longer blame Ben Or defend Tomlin for Two consecutive losses.
I say nothing over 12 guaranteed.

12 mill total?

*runs to bookie to place bet*

[papillon]

What about his future in free agency? Do NFL teams care about the optics of Bell picking business over his team?

Depends on the team. I spoke to two NFL personnel execs this week and got different responses. One said some teams will view Bell's move as disrupting the team-first formula they covet, thus potentially affecting his bottom line.

While another disagrees, he wonders about Bell's end game.

"Nobody is going to pay a running back $20 million a year, and if he can get $12-15 million annually, he best take it," the exec said. "It's a hazardous position with a short life expectancy. But he's not bailing, just trying to get his last contract."

I don't think the team that signs him to his next contract really cares about the optics and here's why. Bell is 26, he'll turn 27 after the season, the next team that signs him is going to probably try and get a 4 year deal, Bell will probably want a 5 yer deal and he'll end up with a 4 year deal with an option for the 5th. At that the end of his 4th season he will be 30 years old, if they pick up the option, he'll be 31 at the end of that season, the team will have had him under contract and won't be in the predicament that the Steelers are ion because of bell's age. So, they don't care that he's putting himself first right now, they'll sign him, have him under contract and then discard him, they won't have to worry about him wanting 12, 13, 15, million a year, he won't be getting that again.

Pappy

[Slapstick]

If Gurley and Johnson aren't getting it, Bell isn't going to either...

[feltdizz]

Exactly Pap, people keep acting like the next team cares about this drama. The only thing they care about is his health once he hits FA.

If he is healthy they will throw a ton of money and it won’t be a 2 year guaranteed contract.

[feltdizz]

If Gurley and Johnson aren't getting it, Bell isn't going to either...

I think he gets about 14 mill to 17 mill per with most of it guaranteed over 4 years.

[RuthlessBurgher]

If Gurley and Johnson aren't getting it, Bell isn't going to either...

The guaranteed portion of Gurley's new 4 year deal is $45M.

The guaranteed portion of Johnson's new 3 year deal is $30M.

Steelhere is proposing that Bell's next contract (to be negotiated on the open free agent market rather than with just one team only) will be nowhere near double digit guarantee money (last night), then no more than $10M (this morning), and now no more than $12M (this afternoon).

[flippy]

I think he gets about 14 mill to 17 mill per with most of it guaranteed over 4 years.

Bell will be 27 so he kinda fudged himself not doing a multiyear deal with Pittsburgh last year. Had he done a 3 yr deal last year, he could have held out in the final year of his contract next year and forced the team to re-do a bigger contract or trade him. He'd have done a bigger deal, would be looking at a 2nd bigger deal for 3 years at 27 and then could have tried to force the contract to be re-negotiated one last time at 29 and went for another big payout.

The way he's gone about it is mind blowing to me. He's missing money in his prime years that he'll never get back. Now he's boxed himself into doing his first long term deal when he's 27 and he just can't do more than 3 years because he'll never get a second big contract. He really didn't think this whole thing thru.

And in the whole process, the Steelers kinda F'd him by running him into the ground with so many carries.

Add in he can't stay healthy and has been suspended and you gotta hope this guy's rap career will eventually take off for his benefit. Or he crosses over into some other job after football.