That's what's being reported. Something about Bell not having to report to the Steelers at all and still being able to force his way to free agency this upcoming offseason. It's being reported as if this is some sort of master stroke by Bell. The right thing to do. I'm sorry I don't get it. It's simple math if he signs his franchise tender and reports by Tuesday's deadline he still gets paid $6 million for this season AND he can force his way to free agency in 2019 if he doesn't report he gets $0 AND supposedly can still force his way to free agency in 2019. $6 million in 2018 > $0 in 2018 easy right? Or is there something that I'm not seeing? Is Leveon Bell that stupid or do the Steelers & media people believe Bell (and the readers) is that stupid & gullible to believe it's the right thing to do?
At the start he might've had an argument (every commentator I read/watched/listened to had some variation of "he's a FA next year so the Steelers will run him into the ground), but now? I guess he's convinced himself that the risk of catastrophic injury is so high, that it's better to skip 2018 and secure the sure long-term payday, than to report, take the $6M, and risk getting hurt and never getting paid in FA? *shrug* IMHO all he's done is make himself $6-14M poorer, plus, if he had played and put up a career/MVP year he might've driven his FA price up a notch. Now, while he probably still gets paid, all that's happened in the meantime is that the Steelers plugged Conner in and got Le'veon-esque numbers, and this has turned into a season-long "I'm all about securing that next payday" spectacle. In a league that mostly considers RBs fungible. Again, 99% he still gets paid, but none of this helped.
Well, look at Dez for starter. That likely didn't help his decision to come back. Also the players all hate the franchise tag, Bell is making a strong play for all players to get rid of it. By sitting out the entire year, he is making a statement that he will not play under the franchise tag and he wants a contract. Not saying it is right or wrong, but that is how I see it. Also, I can't remember where I read/heard, but RB are extremely fungible, so they are treated like trash and not paid. They need their own Players Association because that position is not like any other in the NFL.
The post above yours? I know at this point Bell is really trying to make a statement but I almost hope that no-one picks him up next season just so I can laugh. I know of course that will never happen, but it would amuse me if it did.
Bell cashed a 14mil insurance policy to make 30-45 mil . He’s going to get paid and saved a year of wear and tear . That’s all he did
There's a loophole in the CBA language. If he signs , the Steelers can tag him with the nonexclusive tag and the tag would be based on his prorated 2018 salary of 6 Million. There's also a debate on the amount the franchise tag would cost. Is it a third tag equalling QB money, or a second tag at $14.5 million since this season doesn't toll. All leaked by the Steelers a week or so ago. It appears they didn't want him back, and he didn't really want to be back.
How can a team invest big money in a Me player who hasn't even played football in an entire year? I don't know, but ask Mac, because I am sure he will!
Ah I didn't know that. Now it makes more sense. So he's actually pretty smart eh? I respect this guy for sticking to his guns.
You are not missing anything warrior ,,Bell is missing a few brain cells Gave up a couple of lottery winnings for his Ego meanwhile James Conner is beasting it for Steelers..so who needs this greedy a hole Bell??
That’s the hard part to understand. Did he over estimate his value or does he just not want to be there ?
As I see it there are only two possibilities: either Bell is an idiot, or he truly believed that the Steelers would run him into the ground this season and strongly damage his value in the process. The argument that he saved a year of wear and tear on his body is nonsense, since by that argument you should never play. Similarly, the argument that he avoided getting seriously hurt is only reasonable if you think that there is a relatively high probability of getting seriously hurt, which is not consistent with the NFL facts and is a foolish way to manage your career. The only way this makes sense is if his expected earnings from now on are more than $15 million more than they would have been if he had played this year for the Steelers, and that is only true if the way the Steelers would have used him this year would have had a healthy probability of getting him hurt or damaged enough to seriously affect his future earnings.
Don't think he anticipated the hold out going this far, and now that the Steelers could tender him based on his remaining salary, he is stuck. His agent mishandled things and he will not recoup the lost money.
If the Steelers tag him again, he will be disappointed, but the way Conner is playing there is no reason to do that unless they are just trying to screw him over.