LeVeon Bell considering retiring

[thebeast]

I saw something that makes it seem like they are not that far apart, I think the note was he was offered $13mil per year, but won't sign a contract for less than $14.5 mil per year. If they are actually that close they will work it out.

[Cult of Dionysus]

It's more about the guarantees, than the base salary.

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

Slightly off-topic, but I wonder if Le'Veon Bell has talked to Drew Brees at all, or if Brees's new contract would help the situation. Obviously NFL management treats the QB and RB position very differently, but Brees has always advocated for players to be paid what they deserve, and with guaranteed money.

[kamihamster]

At some point, if the NFLPA don't negotiate things for the better, RBs are going to have to take a stand and sit out. There's plenty of data that says they have a short career. Those that make it to a 2nd contract really should get paid. Sounds like Bell was talking to Gurley and Kamara at the Pro Bowl and they are looking to him to reset the market. Who knows, maybe Gurley and Kamara join in on the hold out if it comes to that. Wouldn't surprise me. I really get the feeling it's not about the money but getting this RB situation right not just for him (although he is most deserving) but for all workhorse RBs.

Just because all the teams are using Ford Fiesta's for their RB position doesn't mean that the few that are Ferrari's should be paid the same.

[zeeshan2]

I own no shares of Bell and I own the 1.02, I really want him to walk or retire and the Steelers to replace him with Guice

Well:

Since Steelers RB is a popular topic this week: The Steelers had a formal meeting with LSU RB Derrius Guice at the NFL combine.

https://twitter.com/JFowlerESPN/status/ ... 5205676032

[joeday]

Didn't he threaten this last year or something ?

Dude is going to sign his tag. No moron retires and walks away from 15 million

Calvin Johnson retired w/ a lot more than $15m remaining on his contract

IMO, Bell should have held out last year as long as possible and gotten the min amount of games played to accrue a season. They rode him HARD last year. Based on his usage, I thought for sure it was a 'use em and abuse em' situation and they'd let him hit FA like the Cowboys did w/ Murray a few years back.

That is kind of an apples and oranges situation though because Calvin had made quite a bit of money before he retired. Remember, his rookie deal wasn't great because he was a 2nd rounder post new CBA rookie wage scale and he only signed one tag. Calvin was the 2nd overall pick pre new CBA rookie wage scale and had multiple contracts after that. So $15m to Bell, at this point in his career, is much more important than what Megatron was giving up.

[Lotto4Life]

I own no shares of Bell and I own the 1.02, I really want him to walk or retire and the Steelers to replace him with Guice

Well:

Since Steelers RB is a popular topic this week: The Steelers had a formal meeting with LSU RB Derrius Guice at the NFL combine.

https://twitter.com/JFowlerESPN/status/ ... 5205676032

This nearly guarantees they won't draft him.

[zeeshan2]

Per source, the Steelers have officially tagged RB Le'Veon Bell.

https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/ ... 7533421571

[Cult of Dionysus]

So the Steelers did tag Bell and Bell is talking about sitting out half the season.

[joeday]

So the Steelers did tag Bell and Bell is talking about sitting out half the season.

there is a new thread started about this but just some thoughts ...so he will only make $7m next year then? At the end of the day he is going to sign the tag, make $14m then move on and be a FA and get hit with the hard truth that no one is going to pay an RB $14m a year in a long term contract except when the Steelers offered it to him last off season.

[Phaded]

Steelers seemingly have very strong interest in Guice, interviewing him at the combine and Colbert & Tomlin even took him to a private dinner before his pro day.

It seems like the Steelers are preparing for life beyond Bell at this point, cannot say that I am too surprised though.

[nathanq42]

Yeah I doubt bell is a Steeler for 2019, they have jerked each other around so much for 3 years it feels like. I wonder what his sweepstakes will be, especially if obj really does hit the market that year too.... Jets could buy an offense for 40 million a year with a QB from this draft on a rookie deal plus it is the big Apple, I think bell and obj would love the huge market... Interesting. who else would have that kind of cap space available?

[FantasyFreak]

Steelers seemingly have very strong interest in Guice, interviewing him at the combine and Colbert & Tomlin even took him to a private dinner before his pro day.

It seems like the Steelers are preparing for life beyond Bell at this point, cannot say that I am too surprised though.

So how would this affect rookie drafts? Let's say Pittsburgh drafts Guice. Bell'd situation, at least for this year could still be up in the air in regards to whether they tag him or not. Would you take Guice at 1.02 if the threat of Bell playing 2018 in Pittsburgh was there? Not sure if they would cut him loose if they drafted Guice, or keep Bell for a year. They are in a championship window now, so it's difficult to see them trusting a rookie RB with everything.

[Phaded]

Interesting. who else would have that kind of cap space available?

The top 10 as it stands for 2019 cap space:

Jets (82m)
Rams (76m)
Seahawks (67m)
Colts (64m)
Bengals (63m)
Bills (62m)
Texans (58m)
Cards (56m)
Browns (53m)
Falcons (51m)

So how would this affect rookie drafts?

I would assume Guice would slide as there are a lot of short-term thinking owners, owners who can afford BPA might get a steal.

[DrNoish]

Steelers seemingly have very strong interest in Guice, interviewing him at the combine and Colbert & Tomlin even took him to a private dinner before his pro day.

It seems like the Steelers are preparing for life beyond Bell at this point, cannot say that I am too surprised though.

Makes it really interesting with James Conner. He was a really late 3rd round pick last year, but that's also still a pretty high pick for a guy to give up on after one year of sitting behind Bell. If they don't believe Bell will play and operate on a short Roth window I could see prioritizing RB, but seems pretty short sighted for a team with no plan past Roth. The fact I don't see a plan could also show why I play fantasy football and never made it past holding a clipboard in high school...