I voted no, but as the offseason goes on and FA gets closer, I'm more inclined to sign him. I just don't want a stupid contract, but at the end of the day, I don't run the team, so I'll root for whatever we get.
For perspective, Curtis Martin's contract when he was a Jet took up 15% of the cap... If we gave Leveon Bell 15M over the next 4 seasons he would only take up 9%. Money or a stupid contract is a poor reason to not want LeVeon in my opinion, we can pay him his money and provide our offense with a game-breaking talent for the next 3 years and not have to worry about paying the only two players on this team who actually deserve a big contract (Adams and hopefully Darnold.)
To sign or not sign Bell isn't the same answer for all teams. For any team with a true FQB - Patriots, Saints, Chiefs, and even the Rams as examples - having a #1 all purpose RB isn't as big a necessity as a team that doesn't have a FQB, or one in development like Sam. Having a guy like Bell would take immense pressure off Sam because the defense wouldn't be able to focus on just stopping the pass. Now, after another 2-3 years of improvement on Darnold's part having Bell wouldn't be as big a need, and therefore he could be traded or cut assuming his contract is done right. Of course there is a risk that he doesn't play up to his price tag, but that's true of every FA. Question: would you rather have Trumaine Johnson or Bell? Even if Johnson lived up to his contract (he hasn't yet), do you think he makes a bigger impact than somebody like Bell? If he'll sign, sign him.
Bell isn't 260, that was reported by Mehta (lul). He posted a video of him working out on his Instagram and was laughing as he made fun of the report. No FA player who wants a big time pay day like Bell isn't going to be 40 lbs overweight, and if he is then he'll find a way to get in shape for his physical. EDIT: And if he is then Bell is a fool and won't get his mega contract from anyone.
The Chiefs lost to the Pats because Mahomes didn't do jack shit most of the game and then Dee Ford put his hand on the line negating a game winning INT. Damien Williams was hardly the problem. If we sign Bell I won't be mad about it at all. I just don't think we have to do it. There are other options out there that have more longevity.
Yeah I mean that is just not true. We've seen PLENTY of RB's come in for the 'star' and dominate. It's just not an argument supported by reality anymore.
I know you're convinced CJ Anderson came in and dominated and that Gurley's 2018 can be totally written off, but that's just a crazy thing to say. I'll gladly listen to other examples though, and Conner for Bell is not applicable as we went over a few pages back.
Interesting tid bit about Bell and Tevin Coleman. They share the same agent and Brian Costello said folks are specalating that just like last year with Kirk Cousins and Josh McCown, who share the same agent, once Mac missed out on Cousins (thank the lord) he quickly pivoted to McCown. If Mac can’t get Bell for a price he likes, maybe he moves on to Coleman. I could definitely live with Coleman.
I can live with Coleman as long as we made the most competitive offer possible to Bell first and he turned it down. If we sign Coleman and then find out that Bell signed a deal elsewhere that gives him a $12-$15 million yearly average with team friendly cap hits in the first year then we know that this front office isn’t serious about putting Sam in the best position to progress and succeed.
Yes it did, as it was 15% of their cap space. If the Jets give Bell what he wants it would be 9% of the total cap and would be off the books by the time we would have to pay our QB, which is something we won't have to worry about if we keep giving him second and third tier players.
If you think you can get a 2 to 3 deal where we don't have to absorb a huge up front contract I'm in. The problem is Bell is looking for guaranteed money and lots of it. If we can front load it and we can fine. If we end up with a pile of dead cap money after Bell is no longer productive you don't do it. It's a function of what the market is. The 49ers front loaded Garapollo's deal to the point if he's a bust they are out from under him quickly. If we can do that with Bell we should.
I didn’t say it’s written off. I said rbs are turnstiles and teams get top level production from guys making 90% less all the time.
I would imagine any deal we make with Bell involves money up front and most of it coming within the first 2-3 years, so when he hits the dreaded 30, and even if it it wasn't and we were stuck with him for 4 years, it wouldn't affect our ability to re-sign our guys (Darnold and Adams)
