Report: Bell will

[Slapstick]

Bell isn’t producing anything....

[Mr.wizard]

Huh?? He had conversations with insiders and said management have moved on.

Read the article, it doesn't say that.

[steelz09]

why does it have to be Bell or a high priced defensive player?

Why can’t we get rid of 2 or 3 salaries from people who don’t produce in order to get that high priced player?

We already pay Haden, Tuitt and Heyward good big money for a D that’s a joke.

Pay the players who produce. Cut the players who don’t and see how much money we have left over to sign better players.

You have a valid point (did I just say that?).

With that said, I bet you were probably a poster (as was I) that was happy about signing Tuitt to a long term deal. You want these players to get big money? That's an example where we paid up and it backfired.

The Tuitt contract looks like a bad investment. Now, it's basically a toxic contract that prevents us from signing other guys like Bell.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers/stephon-tuitt/

So, between Heyward and Tuitt, we have two 3-4 DE making a combined 120 million (total contract). Thats a lot of dough. Shouldn't our DL be dominating with that type of investment?

[feltdizz]

Read the article, it doesn't say that.

The article is nothing more than an opinion piece on what LaContfore would do it he was the GM of these teams.

incredible how one can read this article and see something that isn’t there.

[Northern_Blitz]

“Report, Bell will...”

Since when was Yoda on this board??

"A contract. Guarantees. A Steeler craves not these things."

[feltdizz]

You have a valid point (did I just say that?).

With that said, I bet you were probably a poster (as was I) that was happy about signing Tuitt to a long term deal. You want these players to get big money? That's an example where we paid up and it backfired.

The Tuitt contract looks like a bad investment. Now, it's basically a toxic contract that prevents us from signing other guys like Bell.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers/stephon-tuitt/

So, between Heyward and Tuitt, we have two 3-4 DE making a combined 120 million (total contract). Thats a lot of dough. Shouldn't our DL be dominating with that type of investment?

I was happy we signed Tuitt. Didn’t really have an opinion on his contract numbers at the time. More than likely I probably thought we saved some money from signing him early on. He definitely hasn’t played as well IMO.

[Northern_Blitz]

why does it have to be Bell or a high priced defensive player?

Why can’t we get rid of 2 or 3 salaries from people who don’t produce in order to get that high priced player?

We already pay Haden, Tuitt and Heyward good big money for a D that’s a joke.

Pay the players who produce. Cut the players who don’t and see how much money we have left over to sign better players.

It doesn't have to be Bell. But, it will be Bell because he made the decision not to sign the long term contract (and the team decided not to offer him the guarantees he wanted).

The team wanted to pay him long term. They just couldn't find a mutually beneficial contract.

So now that we know he's leaving next year, it's reasonable to talk about what to do with the cap hit.

[feltdizz]

It doesn't have to be Bell. But, it will be Bell because he made the decision not to sign the long term contract (and the team decided not to offer him the guarantees he wanted).

The team wanted to pay him long term. They just couldn't find a mutually beneficial contract.

So now that we know he's leaving next year, it's reasonable to talk about what to do with the cap hit.

i get that part...

its an an old topic but I always found it odd to say it’s either Bell or a great defensive player.

My initial post was a response to 09 asking if Bell would be more valuable that a high priced defender.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Steelers offensive linemen are ready for Le’Veon Bell to return

Posted by Darin Gantt on October 4, 2018, 7:25 AM EDT

One of the startling aspects of Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell‘s absence was the way his offensive linemen violated the code of the locker room, criticizing him openly after he didn’t show up for the opener.

And while they’re glad he’s about to come back, there still seems to be some degree of tension there.

Via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Steelers right tackle Marcus Gilbert said it was “music to my ears” but stopped short of singing Kum Ba Yah.

“But I wish we could have him back today,” Gilbert said. “Why’s he taking so long? . . . Why wouldn’t he come back here and be around the guys and see us in the eye? I don’t know. I know we’re all waiting on him.”

Center Maurkice Pouncy insisted that the affection for the wayward running back was still there.

“We love Le’Veon,” Pouncey said. “Sometimes, I think that gets misconstrued, how much we care about him. We all want the best for him. People take things the wrong way sometimes, and we’re totally fine with him.”

Not everyone sounded so sure.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff in-house we have to deal with more than anything,” veteran guard Ramon Foster said. “If he shows up, that’s awesome. If he comes later, that’s cool. Our job right now is to win these games that’s in front of us until he does.”

Likewise, guard David DeCastro sounded hesitant.

“If he’s not here, he’s not here. I’ll believe it when I see it,” DeCastro said. “We’ll go with who we’ve got this week, and when he comes back, he comes back.”

While Bell can obviously help fix the Steelers offense when he comes back, it’s clear there are some fences that need mending as well.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/10/04/steelers-offensive-linemen-are-ready-for-leveon-bell-to-return/

[Eich]

i get that part...

its an an old topic but I always found it odd to say it’s either Bell or a great defensive player.

My initial post was a response to 09 asking if Bell would be more valuable that a high priced defender.

As an example, could we actually afford Ben, AB, Bell (with what he wants) and say, Mack, if we had wanted to trade away draft picks for him when he became available? At some point, we run out of CAP money.

[RuthlessBurgher]

As an example, could we actually afford Ben, AB, Bell (with what he wants) and say, Mack, if we had wanted to trade away draft picks for him when he became available? At some point, we run out of CAP money.

Mack is a great player for sure, but he's making more money than Ben right now.

He was only going to a team that is starting a QB who is still on a reasonable rookie contract.

Any team that is already paying a veteran franchise QB a market value deal cannot also afford to pay a defense player an average salary of $23.5M per year.

[feltdizz]

As an example, could we actually afford Ben, AB, Bell (with what he wants) and say, Mack, if we had wanted to trade away draft picks for him when he became available? At some point, we run out of CAP money.

$90 million guaranteed?

I don’t think we could afford Mack even if we didn’t have Bell on the books.

Thats franchise QB money.

[feltdizz]

Mack is a great player for sure, but he's making more money than Ben right now.

He was only going to a team that is starting a QB who is still on a reasonable rookie contract.

Any team that is already paying a veteran franchise QB a market value deal cannot also afford to pay a defense player an average salary of $23.5M per year.

We keep saying we aren’t waiting on him but obviously we are... smh.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer

Steelers OLB Bud Dupree on Le'Veon Bell's eventual return: "When he comes back, I'm going to be like, 'good job coming back, let's win.' You can't replace Le'Veon. Whatever he has going on with the organization and off-the-field stuff, i know people say it's a distraction, but we don't look at it like that."

18h

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Interesting the way that this whole situation has played out and it could be even more interesting moving forward. I think that:

1) Bell makes this offense click once in rhythm with the O. He brings a skillset to the table that is currently missing and forces the D to adjust the gameplan every week.

2) It will probably take 2-3 weeks before that all happens. Let's hope that there isn't a Chicago type loss in there to throw the team off.

3) If Bell does play well then everything is forgiven and he is a favorite amongst fans and teammates again.

4) I think that while Bell wanted to reset the market, after seeing what Gurley and Johnson received, they were already talking in the right neighborhood. I'm not sure where the guaranteed money negotiation was but I'm sure that there could have been contractual provisions to ensure that any concerns were met (i.e. annual mandatory bonuses every year not suspended for drug use).

I think that Bell recently making comments about still wanting to retire a Steeler shows that he is now realizing that. I would bet that if Bell could go back to before the deadline, he would have wanted to negotiate a deal.