09-07-2018, 07:27 AM
Also, all of the negotiations between Bell and the Steelers took place before the Todd Gurley contract. That's kind of been lost in all of this and tends to retrospectively put things in a different light.
The Steelers weren't just dicking him around with low ball offers, they legitimately thought that they were making him a really good offer at 5 years $70M since....at the time.... it was more that one and a half times the next highest paid running back. And I agree, it was, and still is a really good offer. From Bell's perspective though, it wasn't enough guaranteed (IIRC it was 30 some million). Fair point, but if you've been following this for the last two years like we do in Pittsburgh, you'd know that Bell has been all over the map with what he wants. Between his agent, tweets, and rap songs, his demands have gone from 12 to 14 to 15 million, always just out of reach of what the Steelers have been offering. He's been moving the goalposts for 2 years.
So yeah, in hindsight maybe the Steelers should have put the non exclusive tag on him and let him negotiate and possibly get two first rounders. Given the Gurley contract, that seems like it maybe would have worked (although I doubt it, because TWO first rounders is steep for any player).
As far as giving him what he wants, then trying to trade him, that's not an option. There are cap issues you'd have to deal with, including accelerating any signing bonuses into the current years cap when you trade someone. If they gave him a $10M bonus over 5 years, that counts $2M/year against the cap. Trading him immediately after means that all 5 years bonus money, $10M, is accelerated into this years cap. The dead money on the books would be crippling.
The Steelers weren't just dicking him around with low ball offers, they legitimately thought that they were making him a really good offer at 5 years $70M since....at the time.... it was more that one and a half times the next highest paid running back. And I agree, it was, and still is a really good offer. From Bell's perspective though, it wasn't enough guaranteed (IIRC it was 30 some million). Fair point, but if you've been following this for the last two years like we do in Pittsburgh, you'd know that Bell has been all over the map with what he wants. Between his agent, tweets, and rap songs, his demands have gone from 12 to 14 to 15 million, always just out of reach of what the Steelers have been offering. He's been moving the goalposts for 2 years.
So yeah, in hindsight maybe the Steelers should have put the non exclusive tag on him and let him negotiate and possibly get two first rounders. Given the Gurley contract, that seems like it maybe would have worked (although I doubt it, because TWO first rounders is steep for any player).
As far as giving him what he wants, then trying to trade him, that's not an option. There are cap issues you'd have to deal with, including accelerating any signing bonuses into the current years cap when you trade someone. If they gave him a $10M bonus over 5 years, that counts $2M/year against the cap. Trading him immediately after means that all 5 years bonus money, $10M, is accelerated into this years cap. The dead money on the books would be crippling.
