The Leveon Bell situation

So recently I’ve been seeing bullshit tweets from bells twitter like 4-6 years ago saying shit like “if you love the game you don’t sit out” or “it’s not about the money”. Do people not change? Do situations not change? Like what’s that bullshit?

Swill - where do you stand? I’m team Bell all the way. Fuck the owners get your $ while you are healthy. It’s actually genius. Leveon do Leveon fuck the haters.

I remember wbh was likes shocked that fans side with organizations. I mean i guess over time the hardcore ones are franchise or die as players come and go. But someone with half a brain? Players!

100% on bells side otpt. The nfl has the most fucked situation given the risks the players expose themselves to. You’re damn right more players should sit out when they’re at the top of the game and are offered some bullshit 1 year deal take it or leave it garbage.

Team weed. Go Bell!

With LBell all the way. It’s going to be weird seeing him in a pro jersey that isn’t Pittsburgh’s.

At the same time we are bias swill. But it could be Braylon Edwards and I’m agreeing with it.

NFL contracts are trash.  Always with the players.  Never hear anyone say anything when the team voids a contract and cuts a player.

Never fault a player for trying to get his money especially in the NFL. But Bell got some bad advice by sitting a year. He will never recoup the money he lost in 2018.

He turned down what was basically a 3 year deal for $45 million. I get it he feels he's worth more than that or the $14.5 he would have gotten tagged this year.

To get even for sitting he has to pull $60 over the next 3 years and I don't see how he does it as someone who has only played 2 full seasons of six and is a failed drug test away from being suspended for a year

If anyone has ever been in a car accident while buckled up you know the jarring your body takes. Image 30 to 35 of those for 16 Sunday’s. Some guys are just quitting after two years or so now. CTE stuff whatever. None of us has made 25-30 million like he has already.

Never spend another mans money or balance his books. We know nothing of his life or investments. If he succeeds or fails he’s done it on his terms.

He's made $16 million so far but I get your point

Team Bell all the way.

Dr. Strangelove wrote:Never fault a player for trying to get his money especially in the NFL. But Bell got some bad advice by sitting a year. He will never recoup the money he lost in 2018.

He turned down what was basically a 3 year deal for $45 million. I get it he feels he's worth more than that or the $14.5 he would have gotten tagged this year.

To get even for sitting he has to pull $60 over the next 3 years and I don't see how he does it as someone who has only played 2 full seasons of six and is a failed drug test away from being suspended for a year

I'm with Bell 100%.

- He played an entire year under the franchise tag with an understanding that they would work out a huge deal with guaranteed money.
- They offered him a 3 year deal made up of essentially 3 one year deals where he only gets a portion of guaranteed money at the start of each season. So if he gets injured or released he doesn't get the remaining money.
- If he agreed to play under the franchise tag this season Pittsburgh was going to drive him into the ground because they knew they wouldn't be able to afford to franchise him the following season and he would end up a free agent.

So he will get the money he seemingly lost this season because he just removed a year of tremendous wear an tear, and should end up replacing it with a year of normal wear an tear.

Izzo Court wrote:

Dr. Strangelove wrote:Never fault a player for trying to get his money especially in the NFL. But Bell got some bad advice by sitting a year. He will never recoup the money he lost in 2018.

He turned down what was basically a 3 year deal for $45 million. I get it he feels he's worth more than that or the $14.5 he would have gotten tagged this year.

To get even for sitting he has to pull $60 over the next 3 years and I don't see how he does it as someone who has only played 2 full seasons of six and is a failed drug test away from being suspended for a year

I'm with Bell 100%.

- He played an entire year under the franchise tag with an understanding that they would work out a huge deal with guaranteed money.
- They offered him a 3 year deal made up of essentially 3 one year deals where he only gets a portion of guaranteed money at the start of each season. So if he gets injured or released he doesn't get the remaining money.
- If he agreed to play under the franchise tag this season Pittsburgh was going to drive him into the ground because they knew they wouldn't be able to afford to franchise him the following season and he would end up a free agent.

So he will get the money he seemingly lost this season because he just removed a year of tremendous wear an tear, and should end up replacing it with a year of normal wear an tear.

He got zero dollars this year out of $14.5 million. He is looking at probably a $15 million a year offer. So to make this holdout worth it the pay has to be north of 15.

Dr. Strangelove wrote:

Izzo Court wrote:

I'm with Bell 100%.

- He played an entire year under the franchise tag with an understanding that they would work out a huge deal with guaranteed money.
- They offered him a 3 year deal made up of essentially 3 one year deals where he only gets a portion of guaranteed money at the start of each season. So if he gets injured or released he doesn't get the remaining money.
- If he agreed to play under the franchise tag this season Pittsburgh was going to drive him into the ground because they knew they wouldn't be able to afford to franchise him the following season and he would end up a free agent.

So he will get the money he seemingly lost this season because he just removed a year of tremendous wear an tear, and should end up replacing it with a year of normal wear an tear.

He got zero dollars this year out of $14.5 million. He is looking at probably a $15 million a year offer. So to make this holdout worth it the pay has to be north of 15.

Meh, he's getting paid to play a game. If he's got any brains at all, which I'm pretty sure he does, he's got the money he's made so far well invested. Maybe he thinks he's got enough money now to retire and never play again and one year without pay doesn't mean squat to him.

Any guaranteed signing bonus north of what he would have made this year on his new deal is a win. Theres no guarantee he would have had a career after this year playing on a franchise tag.

He'll get something like 60-65 million for 4 years 50% guaranteed. He could take 45-50 million 100% guaranteed.

As a side note Adrian Peterson is on a 1 year deal with Wash making a million dollars and is the 5th leading rusher in the NFL (672yds).

Players side, 100% of the time. Disagree that sitting out was a bad decision. He basically took out a $15m insurance policy on himself to lock in 30-45m guaranteed money. And the contract the Steelers offered before the season was not what you read in the headlines. A former agent broke it down somewhere (too lazy to look) and they could have cut him after 1 year, paying him $14m. So if he tears his Achilles this season after 400 touches, sayonara and he's probably looking at $15-16m earnings for the rest of his career.

His agent probably SHOULD be fired though for not knowing the finer points of the "new" (i.e. 7 year old) CBA. It was news to Bell and his agent that the only tag the org could hit him with if he sat out the entire year was the transition tag. The media and everyone else's common thoughts were that if he didn't report by Week 10 and accrue another league season they could hit him with the franchise tag again - same thing they did to him this year. The transition tag is like $25m/year and still allows him to negotiate with other teams, but gives Steelers a right to match. They would never tag a RB and risk paying him $25m for a single year so basically he walks.

Yeah the agent and Bell didn't know that until a couple of weeks ago. It's a pretty reasonable guess that he left Miami to report a week + ago until they figured this out.

BTW, to answer the questions in OTPT's first paragraph in the OP, no, people can not change and situations can not change. You are bound for life to comments you made 5, 10, 15 years ago. If you dare attempt to change your mind, evolve your thinking, etc., you will be ridiculed and forever lose credibility.

It is absurd, but this is where we are in 2018. And we wonder why people dig their heels on certain issues even when the evidence mounts against it.

You know that Bell's agent has been paying expenses this year and will be looking to recoup.

NFL contracts are shitty and it's all about the guaranteed money. I'm just saying I don't think the market for a 27 year old RB with Bell's history is as strong as Team Bell thinks it is.

Hope I'm wrong I like him

MiamiSpartan wrote:BTW, to answer the questions in OTPT's first paragraph in the OP, no, people can not change and situations can not change. You are bound for life to comments you made 5, 10, 15 years ago. If you dare attempt to change your mind, evolve your thinking, etc., you will be ridiculed and forever lose credibility.

It is absurd, but this is where we are in 2018. And we wonder why people dig their heels on certain issues even when the evidence mounts against it.

Exactly. It's a little different when you're a rookie trying to make a name for yourself and busting your ass. Then you're in the NFL system and you see how its rigged against you. You're opinion WILL change.

Can we be critical of Cousins for signing a franchise tag for two straight years instead of sticking up for players rights? IMO no player should ever sign a franchise tag. (They could get together and think this one out in their absolute trash union.) it’s the most ludicrously unfair concept in sports finance.

Dr. Strangelove wrote:You know that Bell's agent has been paying expenses this year and will be looking to recoup.

NFL contracts are shitty and it's all about the guaranteed money. I'm just saying I don't think the market for a 27 year old RB with Bell's history is as strong as Team Bell thinks it is.

Hope I'm wrong I like him

Pospsibly. But I think someone will pay him.

It is also 1 less year of year of wear and tear on his body. Say he's only got 3 prime years (or whatever that number is) left, it doesn't really matter if he's 27/28/29 or 28/29/30. An injury can happen at any time during either scenario. Sitting a year for guaranteed money is smart.

NFL contracts are absurd (as everyone has said). Especially when compared to baseball and basketball. Hell NHL is probably better. Remember Uwe Krupp? I will never complain about how much NFL players make. They are getting robbed for what they go through.

Maybe if a few more players do it, it will bring about some change.

Dr. Strangelove wrote:You know that Bell's agent has been paying expenses this year and will be looking to recoup.

NFL contracts are shitty and it's all about the guaranteed money. I'm just saying I don't think the market for a 27 year old RB with Bell's history is as strong as Team Bell thinks it is.

Hope I'm wrong I like him

I think you're point is accurate, Leveon has not done himself any favors with the suspensions, but I understand his side and hope he gets the guarantee he's looking for.

I will never forget this play where Leveon fumbled the ball crossing the goal line and they replayed it many times and you could see he was totally knocked out cold as his body sailed over the goal line. It's a crazy sport and I don't begrudge anyone trying to get what they can.

The non-guaranteed contracts in the NFL are ridiculous.

Cameron wrote:The non-guaranteed contracts in the NFL are ridiculous.

This is true, and Cousins set an example that should be lauded.

Florio. This is higher than I thought. I suspected $45m in guaranteed. Florio speculates 3 years and $54m. That would be a huge win. Would set a great precedent for other players, too, in terms of leverage and getting what they deserve.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/11/16/yes-odds-are-available-for-leveon-bells-next-contract/

I'm really curious how this works out. I'm not sure if the owners have been discussed. According to popular opinion, a certain QB who kneeled during the anthem should be signed somewhere in the league. Why?

Now how about a NFL middle-aged (by NFL standards) running back who just said "nope"?

SawGreen wrote:I'm really curious how this works out. I'm not sure if the owners have been discussed. According to popular opinion, a certain QB who kneeled during the anthem should be signed somewhere in the league. Why?

Now how about a NFL middle-aged (by NFL standards) running back who just said "nope"?

The biggest difference is that the RB is starter/pro bowl level .  The QB isn't .

SawGreen wrote:I'm really curious how this works out. I'm not sure if the owners have been discussed. According to popular opinion, a certain QB who kneeled during the anthem should be signed somewhere in the league. Why?

Now how about a NFL middle-aged (by NFL standards) running back who just said "nope"?

You think that no one is going to sign Leveon? That seems wrong. I’m having trouble trying to string your thoughts together.

Someone on BSPN was speculating the Packers should make a play for LeVeon this morning. I'd be cool with that.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

SawGreen wrote:I'm really curious how this works out. I'm not sure if the owners have been discussed. According to popular opinion, a certain QB who kneeled during the anthem should be signed somewhere in the league. Why?

Now how about a NFL middle-aged (by NFL standards) running back who just said "nope"?

You think that no one is going to sign Leveon? That seems wrong. I’m having trouble trying to string your thoughts together.

Thinking he hit happy hour early today.

The thing that sucks about this for him (and fans of his) is that he's probably going to have to go to a crap situation. I don't see a match made in heaven in terms of cap space like there was for KC. Pantry mentions the Packers, I don't think they have anywhere near the cap space. Most are saying the Jets are the most likely destination. Blech. Texans have some space and that would be a cool fit.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
You think that no one is going to sign Leveon? That seems wrong. I’m having trouble trying to string your thoughts together.

Thinking he hit happy hour early today.

The thing that sucks about this for him (and fans of his) is that he's probably going to have to go to a crap situation. I don't see a match made in heaven in terms of cap space like there was for KC. Pantry mentions the Packers, I don't think they have anywhere near the cap space. Most are saying the Jets are the most likely destination. Blech. Texans have some space and that would be a cool fit.

I mean since his post was at 7 it sounds more like he hit happy hour at exactly the time you’re supposed to hit happy hour.

I don't know dude. What time would you consider that to be? His post has me believing he's been drinking since 3 or so. I guess it is Friday.

WhiteBoyHatcher wrote:I don't know dude. What time would you consider that to be? His post has me believing he's been drinking since 3 or so. I guess it is Friday.

Yeah I mean I don’t want to hit a hard line on it but on a Friday 4 or so seems like happy hour is reasonable

Players side in football even in college. Think any RB that can go pro should while it's hot.

CORNER BLITZ wrote:Players side in football even in college. Think any RB that can go pro should while it's hot.

As long as they're a 3 rounder or better draft pick.