LB @ the Club in Miami

[Moonie]

We need to keep these diabolical ideas on the backchannel, because I heard that creepy, seditious agent of Bell's reads this board. And I guarantee he never thought some of this stuff.

[Mr.wizard]

obviously Bells camp thinks this is the best route which makes me wonder wtf is up?

Did he get news a team is going to back up the brinks truck next year?

Yes he got news people are to back up the brinks truck, the contracts given this offseason told him teams are willing to pay the type of money he wants. Once they saw the Kahlil Mack deal, i'm sure Bell said no way i'm going to risk injury with that type of money at stake.

[fordfixer]

When Bell’s back on the team I’ll start caring if he’s in a club at all hours of the night. Until then good luck to him.

[Eich]

Also, I do feel like Ben and his contract is ruining this team for the future. Say what you want, but he is not getting it done - consistently enough for anybody to trust him going forward. If they try to give him another contract (which I am seeing no reason why they would entertain that) That is the day I will officially burn my steelers gear. ( Seriously!)

Better get your fire pit, lighter fluid and matches ready.

[flippy]

He said it would take 100mill to sign with them

Any team that signs Bell for ridiculous money isn't going to be competitive. RBs just don't matter that much.

And let's not call him a WR cause he's not.

WRs take people out of the box. The best command 2.5 defenders.

So he's just a RB. Does he command 8-9 in the box to stop him? Probably only if he has a great OLine.

Seriously, if Bell was so good, AB and Juju would see single coverage on every play and they don't.

Teams are legit more concerned about stopping AB. There's a reason Ben tries to throw him the ball even when there's 4-5 guys around him.

Bell is a great player. He's fun to watch. But he's just a RB. And he's in a system built for him to succeed. And if Vance ever gets healthy and we have a legit receiving TE to pull a defender out of the box, it's only going to make any Pittsburgh RB even better. Maybe Bell realizes this and is planning to return when Vance gets healthy?

[Eich]

Any team that signs Bell for ridiculous money isn't going to be competitive. RBs just don't matter that much.

And let's not call him a WR cause he's not.

WRs take people out of the box. The best command 2.5 defenders.

So he's just a RB. Does he command 8-9 in the box to stop him? Probably only if he has a great OLine.

Seriously, if Bell was so good, AB and Juju would see single coverage on every play and they don't.

Teams are legit more concerned about stopping AB. There's a reason Ben tries to throw him the ball even when there's 4-5 guys around him.

Bell is a great player. He's fun to watch. But he's just a RB. And he's in a system built for him to succeed. And if Vance ever gets healthy and we have a legit receiving TE to pull a defender out of the box, it's only going to make any Pittsburgh RB even better. Maybe Bell realizes this and is planning to return when Vance gets healthy?

I agree with all of this.

And what if Connor produces consistently like he did against the clowns? He was perfectly capable of receiving the ball, just like Bell. Maybe Bell even hopes that Connor produces so that the Steelers decide to do move on from Bell, sooner than later?

[feltdizz]

Nah Flip. I swear it’s like you guys are lying to yourselves about Bells ability to get 8 or 9 in the box.

Ben throws to AB a ton because he hasn’t developed chemistry with other WR’s... plus AB is the best WR on our team and maybe best in the league.

and Ben shouldn’t be throwing to AB when he is tripled. That’s just bad football.

Bell isnt worried about no damn Vance McDonald. Wtf.

[williar]

Better get your fire pit, lighter fluid and matches ready.

I will believe it, when I see it! One thing I have learned is that the FO, for better or for worse, could give a crap about fan sentiment, and they are going to what is best for their team. If it was up to fans like you, Landry Jones would still be here!

Steelers didn't become a marquee franchise making dumb decisions - when a guy is past their prime and not producing, rarely do I see them get a new contract and there are plenty of examples to go around. Ben's has no game left and even his most ardent apologist can't deny what they see. So, I say to you, my friend, don't hold your breath, either!

[Mick'sTeam]

I question whether LB's actions will really impact his market value in free agency. Teams can easily justify that he's being like this solely because he doesn't have the security of a long term contract, and that once they sign him to one, they will all go away. Teams are always looking for play makers, and LB is a special one. Teams and management will easily be able to justify it.

[feltdizz]

Not sure what we will do with Ben moving forward but we drafted Rudolph for a reason.

I also had a sneaky suspicion Ben’s words about Landry wouldn’t matter at all to the FO.

[feltdizz]

I question whether LB's actions will really impact his market value in free agency. Teams can easily justify that he's being like this solely because he doesn't have the security of a long term contract, and that once they sign him to one, they will all go away. Teams are always looking for play makers, and LB is a special one. Teams and management will easily be able to justify it.

What team in the market for an elite RB is going to be upset because Bell didn’t take 400 touches of punishment in his last year as a Steeler?

Thats a plus to them.

Also, while I know hey aren’t reading this site I find it hilarious that people are upset he didn’t report AFTER they said they wanted us to run Bell into the ground, hope he gets hurt or is washed up after this deal.

Folks call him stupid but I think he is savvy as hell.. just sucks its at our expense.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Don't get me wrong some desperate team will sign him but I'm willing to bet that he get nowhere near double digit guarantee money.

Nowhere near double digit guarantee money???

FYI...my basic math skills tell me that a double digit guarantee is $10M.

You think he is getting nowhere near $10M guaranteed on a long-term contract?

News Flash...we gave him a tag which includes a guaranteed salary of $14.5M for one year this season...he is just refusing to take it. We gave him a guaranteed one year salary of $12M last year.

[Steelhere10]

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."

[Steelhere10]

ESPN site today.

[Steelhere10]

Nowhere near double digit guarantee money???

FYI...my basic math skills tell me that a double digit guarantee is $10M.

You think he is getting nowhere near $10M guaranteed on a long-term contract?

News Flash...we gave him a tag which includes a guaranteed salary of $14.5M for one year this season...he is just refusing to take it. We gave him a guaranteed one year salary of $12M last year.

Yes we didbefore all of this drama came to front.