Do you belive the steeles are shopping bell?

[ravn88]

https://www.fleaflicker.com/nfl/news/it ... ute-228064

The Steelers are now listening to trade offers for Bell (contract dispute), leagues sources informed Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

With Bell showing no indication that he's planning to sign his franchise tender anytime soon and looking increasingly unlikely to report to the Steelers until Week 11, it appears Pittsburgh is now intent on getting something in return for the star running back before he becomes a free agent during the offseason. It's unclear if any team is willing to meet Pittsburgh's asking price for the 26-year-old, but the fact that the Steelers are at least receptive to trade pitches offers some degree of optimism that Bell might make his season debut before the second half of the season.

[KCLep20]

If they trade him, can the new team sign him to a new deal or is he still locked into the tag?

[Cameron Giles]

If they trade him, can the new team sign him to a new deal or is he still locked into the tag?

Steelers hold his rights. He's bound to the franchise tag this year. He can't sign an extension until the offseason. If the tag is rescinded then he becomes a free agent.

[bjd5211]

I think "listening to offers" is a lot different than "shopping" him, it just means they are now willing to consider the possibility of trading not that they are actively pursuing trades. Him being under the tag makes this incredibly difficult to work out a trade because a new team will have to pay him the $14.5 million (minus however many games prior to trading for him) which is a massive number to take on at this point in the year for most teams. Plus he will not be able to sign an extention with his new team either until the conclusion of the season, so this puts the gaining team at risk of losing him in free agency because no team would be willing to tag him at the rate he will cost next season. These two factors (money he'll cost, and risk of losing him anyway) significantly affect the compensation the acquiring team would be willing to surrender in a trade, and there's a good likelihood it won't be enough for Pittsburgh to be willing to pull the trigger on a trade.

It's definitely not impossible, but it is quite unlikely to happen.

[Csl312]

Yeah without the ability to sign him to an extension I just don't see how anyone would trade for him. Wouldn't he also have to sign his contract before a trade was done? Which basically means that team would have him for what 6 games (assigned to his holdout is related to the tag and not Pitt). I think a trade is very unlikely.

[Generic Username]

They can’t even trade him right now if some silly team wanted to take on the franchise tag value and risk losing Bell in the off season to FA because Bell hasn’t signed his franchise tag tender

[dynastyninja]

Is he not able to sign an extension that becomes effective once the season is over?

[Generic Username]

Is he not able to sign an extension that becomes effective once the season is over?

All parties, player and teams, are barred from negotiations until off season

[Multiple Scorgasms]

I believe they are "listening to offers" -- that's all the report is, that they're now hearing teams out -- but what of it? How are they going to convince Bell to sign the tag so that they can trade him? His incentive is staying healthy, so unless the new team comes out and tells him they're going to trade for him only to give him 15 carries/game, I don't see how any deal would go through. It seems like his plan is to sit out as many games as possible, play the minimum (literally and in all manners of speaking) and get paid next year. I can't see how a deal gets done.

[bjd5211]

Is he not able to sign an extension that becomes effective once the season is over?

Nope, he has to play under the tag and cannot sign a new deal with any team until the conclusion of the season. The only way he can sign a long-term deal anywhere before the season is over is if the Steelers (or a team that traded for him) rescinded the franchise tag, but doing that would immediately make him an unrestricted free agent so that's not going to happen.

[Raymond1974]

I believe they are shopping him, I think they've grown tired of the back and fourth and are looking to move on

[Phaded]

I don't see why they wouldn't trade him at this point.
This situation is a million times worse than the Khalil Mack situation - but the Steelers are being irrationally stubborn.
Just trade the guy and get something. You'll get more than the 3rd round compensatory pick you would get next year.

Apparently the Jets have "reached out" but not made an offer.

[Servo]

If his "new" team can't negotiate until season's end, then they are going to have to verbally agree that Bell will extend with them next year....don't know if I'd like to take those odds if having to shell out decent draft capital for him.

[Lotto4Life]

Just trade the guy and get something. You'll get more than the 3rd round compensatory pick you would get next year.

Will they? $850,000/game for a 75% of a season rental who hasn't played football since January.

[Cameron Giles]

Is he not able to sign an extension that becomes effective once the season is over?

All they can do is make a wink-wink deal. It seems like the general sense is Bell will play now if there is one. The news today of the Jets makes sense given that they have a ton of cap space and could easily give him his money.