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Keeping our enemies close 2018


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A little perspective from the other side of the fence....

 

Stealers were rumored to have offered Bell a 5 year deal worth around $15M per season, with $30M of that guaranteed this past offseason.  
 

Bell turned that down, initially saying he deserved to be paid like a RB and WR.  Stealers broke off negotations, content to slap the franchise tag on him again and let him walk after this season.

 

Then Gurley signed his deal, and Bell seemed to think that justified him even more, even though Gurley is 2.5 years younger, has 600+ fewer carries/receptions on the odomotor, has never been suspended for drug use, isn't coming off his worst statistical year since being a starter, and hasn't spent the past two seasons proving he couldn't care less about the rest of the team.  Despite all of that, Bell seems to think he should still get Gurley's contract.  

 

So everyone assumed he'd just repeat the process of last year when he sat out camp, then showed up the week before the first regular season game.  

 

Except he hasn't.  

 

He still hasn't shown up or told anyone associated with the team what his intentions are.  The only statements we have are in an interview his agent did, who said that Bell plans to eliminate as much wear and tear on his body as possible this season, and cited his 400-touch workload last season as evidence that Tomlin intends to run the wheels off of him this season before letting him walk this offseason....which is probably valid and Tomlin has a long history of doing just that (see Willy Parker).  

 

Contractually, Bell doesn't have to show up until Week 10 for this to count as an accrued season and have it still burn a year and satisfy the requirements of the franchise tag.  So the extreme, but suddenly looking more plausible, option is for him to sit out until week 10, then show up.  The downside for him being that he doesn't get paid for those weeks, either, and would lose out on $855k per game missed.  

 

The more likely option is that he'll sit out a few weeks to the wear and tear that he seems afraid of, then realize he's losing way too much money and show up to sign his franchise tag offer sheet and play.  

 

His teammates, and about 95% of Pittsburgh, are pissed at him mostly because he had a perfectly fair contract on the table, one that most fans here thought was already too high to begin with, and turned it down so he could try and milk a few more guaranteed millions from the team, all while the rest of his teammates have Super Bowl for which they've been working their butts off in 95 degree heat in training camp.   

 

So the likely outcome of this, by my guess, is that he shows up somewhere between weeks 2-6, plays the rest of the season at a mediocre (for him) level, then becomes a free agent after the season where he'll likely get signed to a deal for some crappy team for less than what Pittsburgh offered him in the first place.  

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Pittsburgh is playing this well, IMO.  They couldn't let Bell walk for nothing and they have the pieces in place to pay him franchise tag money for another season.  His risk for injury/suspension is real but he opted not to take a long term deal.  His option is to play on the franchise tag and most likely hit free agency next year.  His refusal to do so is making it easier to let him go and the team seems unified that they don't support him holding out.  As the saying goes, sometimes the good deal is the one you don't make.

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The reality is nobody would blame him if he were doing this in Detroit or Cleveland.  Pittspuke has a legit shot at a Super Bowl run and players go there to win Championships.  It was a fair deal and everyone knows it.  It isnt baseball, every game is important.

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47 minutes ago, SF2 said:

The reality is nobody would blame him if he were doing this in Detroit or Cleveland.  Pittspuke has a legit shot at a Super Bowl run and players go there to win Championships.  It was a fair deal and everyone knows it.  It isnt baseball, every game is important.

 

I mean, it's a business decision.  He's got to do what he thinks is best for himself & his own career.  We don't have to agree with it, but it's his choice to make.  Teams cut veteran players all the time for purely monetary reasons without so much as a "thanks for the memories."   Maybe it was a dumb move on his part or whatever & yeah, there's a sick comedy in a pack of sewer rats eating their own, but everyone's acting like he's worse than Vontaze Burfict.  :ninja:

 

Seriously though these yinzers need to put down the torches & pitchforks, it's not like he raped someone (or multiple someones). No ninja there. 

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17 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

 

I mean, it's a business decision.  He's got to do what he thinks is best for himself & his own career.  We don't have to agree with it, but it's his choice to make.  Teams cut veteran players all the time for purely monetary reasons without so much as a "thanks for the memories."   Maybe it was a dumb move on his part or whatever & yeah, there's a sick comedy in a pack of sewer rats eating their own, but everyone's acting like he's worse than Vontaze Burfict.  :ninja:

 

Seriously though these yinzers need to put down the torches & pitchforks, it's not like he raped someone (or multiple someones). No ninja there. 

You know what? There is no I in team. He's a prima donna who's more worried about money than helping his team win for the fans who pay his salary. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on . I'm not a hypocrite trust me. I don't worry about the almighty dollar except to have enough to pay for necessary bills. I give things away rather than sell them.

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8 hours ago, SF2 said:

And that is why his team mates are pissed.  They most likely know what was offered to him.  It was generational money as long as he did go all MC Hammer.   You add what was being offered to the $16 mil he has already made and we are talking around $60 mil by the time he hits 31??

The deadline for a multi-year deal for Bell was in mid July. The Stealers offer was pretty weak, less than he was making on the tag. 

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2 hours ago, schotzee said:

You know what? There is no I in team. He's a prima donna who's more worried about money than helping his team win for the fans who pay his salary. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on . I'm not a hypocrite trust me. I don't worry about the almighty dollar except to have enough to pay for necessary bills. I give things away rather than sell them.

 

Fair enough, I just can't get that worked up about it.  If it's enough of a distraction or whatever to cost them some games, good for us, but neither the team nor Bell have any claim to a moral high ground here. It's an NFL contract dispute, they're not as common with the new CBA & draft slotting system but it happens. It's not a war crime, hell it's not any kind of crime. The emotional reaction it's causing in some quarters seems way, way overblown is all.  It's particularly funny from a team like theirs that has no problems manipulating the rules as it suits them, or deliberately breaking them whenever they think they can get away with it. 

 

tll;dr - Fuck em both, I hope they both find a way to lose out in the end.

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5 hours ago, PutWittyNameHere said:

A little perspective from the other side of the fence....

 

Stealers were rumored to have offered Bell a 5 year deal worth around $15M per season, with $30M of that guaranteed this past offseason.  
 

Bell turned that down, initially saying he deserved to be paid like a RB and WR.  Stealers broke off negotations, content to slap the franchise tag on him again and let him walk after this season.

 

Then Gurley signed his deal, and Bell seemed to think that justified him even more, even though Gurley is 2.5 years younger, has 600+ fewer carries/receptions on the odomotor, has never been suspended for drug use, isn't coming off his worst statistical year since being a starter, and hasn't spent the past two seasons proving he couldn't care less about the rest of the team.  Despite all of that, Bell seems to think he should still get Gurley's contract.  

 

So everyone assumed he'd just repeat the process of last year when he sat out camp, then showed up the week before the first regular season game.  

 

Except he hasn't.  

 

He still hasn't shown up or told anyone associated with the team what his intentions are.  The only statements we have are in an interview his agent did, who said that Bell plans to eliminate as much wear and tear on his body as possible this season, and cited his 400-touch workload last season as evidence that Tomlin intends to run the wheels off of him this season before letting him walk this offseason....which is probably valid and Tomlin has a long history of doing just that (see Willy Parker).  

 

Contractually, Bell doesn't have to show up until Week 10 for this to count as an accrued season and have it still burn a year and satisfy the requirements of the franchise tag.  So the extreme, but suddenly looking more plausible, option is for him to sit out until week 10, then show up.  The downside for him being that he doesn't get paid for those weeks, either, and would lose out on $855k per game missed.  

 

The more likely option is that he'll sit out a few weeks to the wear and tear that he seems afraid of, then realize he's losing way too much money and show up to sign his franchise tag offer sheet and play.  

 

His teammates, and about 95% of Pittsburgh, are pissed at him mostly because he had a perfectly fair contract on the table, one that most fans here thought was already too high to begin with, and turned it down so he could try and milk a few more guaranteed millions from the team, all while the rest of his teammates have Super Bowl for which they've been working their butts off in 95 degree heat in training camp.   

 

So the likely outcome of this, by my guess, is that he shows up somewhere between weeks 2-6, plays the rest of the season at a mediocre (for him) level, then becomes a free agent after the season where he'll likely get signed to a deal for some crappy team for less than what Pittsburgh offered him in the first place.  

 

 

sounds good... fuck him and fuck the stealers

 

you're pretty cool though witty

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The question, I think, as far as if the fans should be upset or actually upset at whom is based on this. If they think the stealers low-balled him, then they should be upset with the org for not offering him a fair contract. If they think he was offered a fair contract, then Labian is being greedy and they should be pissed at him. I think the offer was fair. But I'm not a stealers fan so I'm not pissed at anybody. Labian can keep being a greedy bitch and hold out.

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10 hours ago, T-Dub said:

 

Fair enough, I just can't get that worked up about it.  If it's enough of a distraction or whatever to cost them some games, good for us, but neither the team nor Bell have any claim to a moral high ground here. It's an NFL contract dispute, they're not as common with the new CBA & draft slotting system but it happens. It's not a war crime, hell it's not any kind of crime. The emotional reaction it's causing in some quarters seems way, way overblown is all.  It's particularly funny from a team like theirs that has no problems manipulating the rules as it suits them, or deliberately breaking them whenever they think they can get away with it. 

 

tll;dr - Fuck em both, I hope they both find a way to lose out in the end.

Yeah this is true and I can't really say I'm worked up about it and ditto about fuck em both!

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On 9/7/2018 at 7:49 AM, Hooky said:

Really? Do you not get how the tag works?

 

It holds a player's rights for a season, keeping him off the market. But it doesn't make him sign a contract. So for someone like Bell, who got paid last year, holding out is a viable option.  Stealers are acting surprised but they didn't offer him a deal like Gurley got.

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30 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

It holds a player's rights for a season, keeping him off the market. But it doesn't make him sign a contract. So for someone like Bell, who got paid last year, holding out is a viable option.  Stealers are acting surprised but they didn't offer him a deal like Gurley got.

Congratulations, someone understands!  I love it.  The Squealers gave him a bs offer, pissed him off, and he decided to sit out.  Now all his linemen are talking shit about him.  Dysfunction in Squealer land!  Warms the cockles of my heart!😂

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5 hours ago, kennethmw said:

Congratulations, someone understands!  I love it.  The Squealers gave him a bs offer, pissed him off, and he decided to sit out.  Now all his linemen are talking shit about him.  Dysfunction in Squealer land!  Warms the cockles of my heart!😂

I dont think it was a BS offer at the time.  Gurley just received a huge deal, some would say was too much for an RB.  

 

If Donald would have signed before Geno, it would be easy to say our offer at the time was BS.

 

I just hope he shows up 2 months from now, gets his year of credit and leaves.  F the Stealers 

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