As much as I don’t want to offer big money to a RB, I really don’t see any reason not to throw Bell a 3 year deal with the most of the money front loaded. He’s the second or third best running back in the NFL and would be a very good weapon for a young QB.
The only problem I have with the likes of Bell is the fact he can just down tools for a season and pretend it doesn't matter, the fact the money grabbing cunt thinks 16m is beneath him and he would rather go on strike than earn a kings ransom for playing football. Horrible twat may be a good weapon but a truly horrible example of a man.
I'm becoming less opposed to it. For me, it will depend upon whom is available and how Mac prioritizes things. For instance, if Mac makes signing Bell his #1 priority and then winds up missing out on an edge rusher and/or AJ Cann (if he makes it to FA), then I would be royally pissed and want Mac's head on a pike outside the stadium or One Jets Drive. If he can sign a quality edge rusher, sign Cann if he's available, upgrade our OL depth, add a WR, a TE and Bell, great. We have a lot of our own players who will be FAs. Hopefully, Mac won't wait around to re-sign the ones that he wants to keep, and he'll get those done before the start of FA so he can focus on signing outside FAs to fix needs in the best way possible. Just signing a warm body at a position doesn't really help. He had better target 6-7 FAs he wants, knowing that he'll be lucky to sign 3 or 4 of them. He should target the best edge rusher that he can, the best OL he can, and the best skill players that he can. He should have a solid plan for replacing Carpenter, even if it's moving Long to OG and signing/drafting a quality center. OL depth needs to be upgraded. Unless they're gonna keep Crowell and bring Powell back, they will need to add a RB. Similarly, unless they plan on bringing Sterling and/or Tomlinson back, they'll need to sign at least one, if not two TEs. It doesn't look like they're going to be able to count on Leggett, and I'd think that next season will be his last chance. If Rishard Matthews shows anything, then they need to re-sign him as well as Enunwa and Kearse, and then look to add another quality WR. Hopefully, they'll re-sign Roberts as the return man.
I don’t see how he spends that much without signing bell. Realistically, who else do you throw a big contract at and feel safe about it? Clowney maybe? Certainly no o lineman. No one on the team that needs to be resigned for big dollars. I am actually on board with it. Make it happen mac
If we landed bell and lawerence that would be huge. maybe a 2nd tier lineman and a WR3 as well. then look to the draft for lineman and WRs. keep Q and anderson. kearse can leave, cut crowell and let maguire and cannon backup bell. i wouldn't mind bringing in a TE either. sterling and tomlinson should be gone. maybe jared cook and use him and herndon in 2 TE sets and legget gets 1 more year as a TE3. for WRs cobb, tate, brown are options. also if we want to let roberts go patterson or austin could be the KR/PR for us and are better at WR then roberts. white and humprhies are interesting as well
The question isn't whether we are active but what quality of players are available. Cap money means nothing if there is nothing Worth buying.
The only reason I'm not totally opposed to Bell is that our offense has no elite skill position players.
If Bell goes on the market and his expectations come down dramatically and we can get him for a 2 year deal without a big dead cap hit in year 3, I would do it. It may well be that his expectation and value may be more aligned next year. I doubt it. I also don't discount what having all that speed and a Big down field passing attack has done for his stat line. David Johnson after being out a year is being bottled up this year because the Cardinals don't have a WR and a big downfield throwing QB to open the field up. Bell will be in a similar situation next year and he has a lot more tread on his wheels.
It is hard to speculate who they should go after right now because we don't know if Bowles will still be employed or Macc either for that matter. obviously offensive line, offensive skill positions, and edge rusher are big needs but you don't know yet if there will be a whole new philosophy to talk about specific guys. bell for example, is probably not a good idea at the moment. But if Bowles is canned, Haley brought in, and the offensive line upgraded. He would be a great signing to try and replicate Haley's offense in Pittsburgh. But giving him big money to run in Bates' junky system behind this trash O-line would be a mistake!
I agree, Bell is good, but I think Pittsburg has shown that any RB can be good with their OL & Offence. Steelers don't need Bell & I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. Mathieu I could handle in place of Skrine, but I'd rather Nickerson take on the roll in the slot, but he has some work to do seeing he never played the slot in college.
One of the reasons Bell is so good is that the Steelers have a real good OL & a lot of weapons so defenses can't key on just Bell. If he were on the Jets, teams would key on shutting down Bell without fear of getting beat over the top. 8 in the box with our OL & teams would easily shut down Bell.
Bell's holdout this year raises big questions about him for me. He doesn't seem like the kind of player I'd want on the team. I hope they can make some huge moves while still being smart. WR market seems thin, unfortunately, but might be better for OL and OLB. Dee Ford seems to be having a big year.
If you can get Bell for 3 years he is a must sign. Another smart signing who is likely to make it to FA would be Tyrell Williams. I’d be surprised If SD can resign him with Allen already making big money and Williams showing some signs. Those two plus the best edge rusher available would be a nice start. Unfortunately doesn’t seem to be much quality at OL but the draft will be extremely strong there.
Isn’t this something Mac should know? I believe the Jets will be active in free agency but Mac should know whether they will be or not.
