I won't leave it to networks or players because they always come down on side of the player, and have for Bell the last year repeatedly, so consider: After all the BS.........all the talk of "RESETTING the RB market" and demanding what he's worth, Bell ends up signing for about $1.5 million LESS per year than he was offered by Pitt last summer. Will have to wait and see what the breakdown is, but they are reporting it right now as $35 million guaranteed, which is of course BS and not a true comparison when they use the $19 million figure for Pitt paid at signing last summer, or the $14.5 mil tag number he had to play under after declining Pitts final long term offer of 5 years, $72 million (including $19 mil at signing, $33 mil total payments first two years, $47 mil in total first 3 years). For some reason the networks and commentators always fail to include the REPORTED roster bonuses that Pitt had in years 2 and 3 for $10 mil and $5 mil respectively. Personally in this situation I think its intentional to try and invoke sympathy for the player or make Pitt look stingy. Last summer they reported Gurley and David Johnson's "guaranteed" money at $45 mil and $30 mil respectively, but that was garbage as BOTH players have their contracts structured in such a way that their teams can actually cut either after this coming (2019) season and begin saving money overall. Their fully guaranteed signing bonuses were $20 million and $13 million each. Could Pitt have cut Bell hypothetically after this season to avoid paying him what would likely have been a $10 mil roster bonus to be converted to signing bonus and spread out the remaining four years??..........sure. Would they have?.......almost ZERO consideration of that unless he got busted for drugs again and suspended. Bell was set to earn a reported $47 million in total payments the first three years, and he was going to see every penny of that. And if Pitt decided to cut him after three years and opt for Conner or someone else going forward, he would have been a free agent again before the 2021 season at age 29 and likely cashed in one more time for a final 2-3 year contract. The two things to take away from this are 1) he and his agent overvalued his market, and 2) Pitt MADE A FAIR OFFER that he declined. Now another thing..........granted it FEELS right now like Pitt has taken a big step back with recent developments and Cleveland positioning themselves well for coming years, but consider this: Bell turned down $14.5 mil per year to sign with the Jets for $13 mil/year. He didn't play football for one year to make over $1 mil LESS per year, AND ALSO pay about $500k more in state/local income taxes per year then he would have playing in PA (one of lowest flat state income taxes in nation at 3.07%). Yes that factors in 8 home games in NY/NJ, several road games in which state/local tax rate will be in excess of 10% such as games at Buffalo (NY), New England (MA), Oakland (CA), Washington (DC), Baltimore (MD), and lower rates at Cincy (OH), Philly (PA), and Miami (FL - no state income tax). But yeah it adds up quite a bit over multiple years. You have to look at it as $2 million less in your pocket over the life of the contract. So ignore the haters saying that Pitt is cheap and didn't offer him a fair contract. They don't lowball the guys they want to keep. They are fair, but the trade off in renewing guys typically a year early is usually not having to pay absolute top dollar, and using stability/contention as a factor. It may work out for him as the Jets appear to be trying to quickly improve via free agency, but they still have the Pats in their division last I checked, and I don't see the Jets suddenly competing for playoff positioning in the next year or two, even with what they've added this week. Whoever doesn't win the AFC West division the next couple years between the Chiefs/Chargers will likely lock up one of two wildcard spots, and teams in the rest of the divisions will vie for the other one. In the end he sat out a year to sign for LESS money on average, and to go play for a worse team, with a much worse OL to block for him, a worse QB handing him and throwing him the ball, and worse receivers (even with Bell now in Oakland) to take focus off of him from opposing defenses then he would have in Pitt. You're an asshat LeVeon..........we'll see how it works out for him.
Said it last year, repeating this year. Bell did us a favor turning down that contract. Thanks Leveon!
I don't have the numbers to crunch in front of me but when you have a QB, RB, and WR, two of which are considered to be arguably the best at their position and, one who is most likely top five, you eat up alot of salary cap. How often do we see a team with so much money invested in one or two players win it all. Not too often I'd venture. Being able top spread the wealth means alot and after this coming year there's no dead money for Brown. I'm hoping the Steelers will embrace more of a defensive philosophy and get blue chip defenders instead of filling in on the cheap.
Bell absolutely screwed up. After watching the crazy money being handed out over the first 24 hours of legal tampering I thought Bell would cash in. Glad the book is closed on this chapter of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bell and Brown both made history this year for the wrong reasons.
I did too initially, but when he remained out there for as long as he did and beyond the initial frenzy, I figured he wasn't getting what he wanted. Otherwise he would have simply signed for $17+ mil and been done with it. Its clear both he and his agent overvalued his supposed market. And I guarantee you had they KNOWN last summer that this is what they were holding out for, he would still be a Steeler and the conversation we'd be having would be how much of a DUAL ROLE Conner should get this season and next.
Me too. When the Jets gave C.J. Mosley 5yrs, 85M I thought, "Wow, I really underestimated how stupid some NFL teams can be." And yet, even in that climate Bell couldn't do better than 13M per.
Well a lot of people said he'd make less than his last offer from Pittsburgh. I have to agree with Beach and say thanks for not signing that deal.
Bell got what he wanted - more fully guaranteed money than any RB ever according to the depot. However, at what cost? He lost an entire year of his career.
And an entire year of salary. This was all about money, but he'll never recoup that money...Unless he KNEW he would have a career ending injury if he played in 2018..in which case, he just got himself an extra $11M. Maybe he has an aunt that can tell the future.
He’d have a hell of a lot more money if he took the Steelers offer last season. He would be getting more money this season than he is now. Plus he would be playing behind a good oline in Pittsburgh, who knows what the Jets line will do?
