11-24-2021, 09:18 AM
(11-22-2021, 01:52 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: According to Sports Illustrated here is what the Steelers offered Bell:
https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/03/20/leveon-bell-i-was-so-close-signing-steelers-final-contract-offer
5 years, 70 million, 14 million per year, with 10 million guaranteed as a signing bonus, and 33 million of the contract being paid out the first 2 years. I have seen other articles that say the guarantee was 20 million (10 million signing bonus and 10 million roster bonus) so the exact details are a little murky.
According to SpoTrac:
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore-ravens/leveon-bell-12329/
The Jets gave him a 4 years, 52.5 million with 27 million guaranteed.
Then of course he only played for the Jets for a year and few months then signed small contracts with the Chiefs and Ravens. According to Spotrac he was paid 15 million by the Jets for 2019 and 13 million for 2020 they owed him when they cut him in October of 2020.
So he didn't get paid for one year while he sat out then with the Jets made 28 million. Since being cut by the Jets he has earned about another 1 million with other teams. Now if he had taken the Steelers offer it makes one wonder if he would have made more money. He had less guaranteed, 10 million, but if the above is true would have made 33 million had he been able to stay on the Steelers roster for 2 seasons. Plus he would not have had that year with no pay. Had he stunk it up or been injured and the Steelers cut him after one year it looks like he would have made less than he did with the Jets.
From what I understand he went for the guaranteed money and that was his big issue for not taking the Steelers offer. Given that he has not been playing well at all maybe taking that larger guarantee worked out for him in the long run. There are some what-ifs for sure. Maybe if he had taken the Steelers offer he would have played better there or maybe they would have held on to him for more than one season thus paying out at least that 33 million. Also how much did he lose in investments for that year he sat out when he could have made 10's of millions had he taken the Steelers offer? Lastly a quick search shows that Pennsylvania state tax is significantly lower than New Jersey. So he probably lost a fair bit to taxes compared to PA.
From the above my opinion is that he probably ended up making less than he would have had he taken the Steelers offer. I don't think they would have cut him after one season unless he was absolutely horrible or hurt. He probably ended up paying a lot more in state taxes and also lost a year of earnings that could have been invested.
Disclaimer: I don't understand all the ins and outs of NFL contracts which often seem complex. This is just a post made on what I looked up based on the information I could find and my thoughts on it.
Thanks. I've often wondered how many professional athletes regret leaving their original team that drafted them just to try to get a little more money. I believe Housh had some regrets after he left for Seattle.
