Dez Bryant signed by the Saints

[Mondio]

I think it’s fine like it is. I will preface all of it with saying I like the salary cap. I think it’s good for the game overall. Forces tough decisions and keeps the competition from year to year pretty good.

It forces teams to decide if they have a 30 million dollar a year man or not. If a player tilts a field so much when he’s on the field, it should tilt it the other way if he’s not.

 

[mongoosev]

guess they don't need him. LOL

 

[longtimefan]

k...have at it..

 

[AmishMafia]

At least he gets a ring for his trouble. Or can they cut him with an injury settlement? That would be quite the discussion, never played a down but the team goes all the way and he gets a ring.

Feels good for one of my threads to get resurrected, I never get any love here!

Teams choice who gets a ring. If Dez gets one, there are 50 other guy the team cut this year would qualify. He didnt help, he shouldnt get or want one.

BTW it seems that Bell won't report to the Steelers by Wednesday's deadline and therefore won't play this season.

Players raided Bell's locker and took his stuff on camera. This was completely rude and shows how little his teammates respect him. I think it hurts his value going forward.

Totally agree and kind of shaking my head at Bell's decision.

Hard to make up the $14.54 M he gave up over the life of his next contract. I mean I get him not wanting to get hurt playing under the franchise tag, but if you look at Gurley's new deal, it is really going to be hard for Bell to ever make that lost money up.

Gurley signed a 4 year, $57,500,000 contract with the Los Angeles Rams, including a $21,000,000 signing bonus, $45,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $14,375,000

I think Bell made one of the worst decisions I have ever seen by a player. If he was so worried about an injury he could have spent $2-3M on a $60M policy on injury.

I think he is not getting much more than what Gurley got - which is in the ballpark of what the Steelers offered him.

Here's the funny thing, the Steelers may slap a tag on him again. This will also reduce his value.

Maybe some team will be foolish to pay him what he wants, but I'm thinking not. Look for him to get a tag. Sign with the Jets for Gurley money, slightly less than what Steelers offered him. Steelers get a draft pick compensation. Bell basically lost $15M in lifetime earnings and a few million off his next contract.

He also lost whatever he had in marketability. Fans are not with him on this one.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Here's the funny thing, the Steelers may slap a tag on him again. This will also reduce his value.

They won't slap a franchise tag on him, that would cost $25-26M. Now they might use their one allowed Transition Tag, but that doesn't do much but give them the option (like the Bears had with Fuller) to beat another teams offer. I doubt the Steelers even want him back and will just take the Compensatory pick and move forward with James Connor.

 

[AmishMafia]

They won't slap a franchise tag on him, that would cost $25-26M. Now they might use their one allowed Transition Tag, but that doesn't do much but give them the option (like the Bears had with Fuller) to beat another teams offer. I doubt the Steelers even want him back and will just take the Compensatory pick and move forward with James Connor.

Im sure they dont want him.

I was thinking that because he never signed his tender, there would not be no escalation in the salary. He would be looking at an identical 1 year $15M deal. Not sure if that's how it works.

Anyway, like I said, I think he will get less per year elsewhere. He will come out and say it wasnt about the money and he just wanted out of pittsburgh. A feeble attempt to shield his ego. He has already tried to say he is fighting this "injustice" for the sake of others. Horse squat! He is realizing now just how much he screwed up. Not sure if its greed or stupidity, probably a combination with a distinct lean towards the latter.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Im sure they dont want him.

I was thinking that because he never signed his tender, there would not be no escalation in the salary. He would be looking at an identical 1 year $15M deal. Not sure if that's how it works.

Anyway, like I said, I think he will get less per year elsewhere. He will come out and say it wasnt about the money and he just wanted out of pittsburgh. A feeble attempt to shield his ego. He has already tried to say he is fighting this "injustice" for the sake of others. Horse squat! He is realizing now just how much he screwed up. Not sure if its greed or stupidity, probably a combination with a distinct lean towards the latter.

Pretty sure that because the Steelers slapped the tag on him 2 straight years, 2019 would be considered the 3rd year, regardless of him signing or not. If a team wants to franchise a player in three straight years, in that third year it then jumps to the tag price of the highest paid position, in this case he would be in QB salaries and that is around $25-26M.

I agree with you, I think he was an idiot for not taking the money, buying insurance if he was that worried about future earnings, looking like a team player and hit the free agent market looking like one of the best and hardest working RB's in the game. Now he just looks like a guy who only cares about himself and the money in a market where fewer teams are willing to spend that kind of money on a RB.

Not saying he should have, but he could have signed, started the first game and pulled up lame with some kind of leg injury and still sat out most of the year.

In July, the Steelers offered him $70 M over five years ($14 M/season), with $33M guaranteed. Not really sure how he expects to make up what he lost by not playing, especially since he was asking $17M/season.

 

[PackAttack12]

Pretty sure that because the Steelers slapped the tag on him 2 straight years, 2019 would be considered the 3rd year, regardless of him signing or not. If a team wants to franchise a player in three straight years, in that third year it then jumps to the tag price of the highest paid position, in this case he would be in QB salaries and that is around $25-26M.

I agree with you, I think he was an idiot for not taking the money, buying insurance if he was that worried about future earnings, looking like a team player and hit the free agent market looking like one of the best and hardest working RB's in the game. Now he just looks like a guy who only cares about himself and the money in a market where fewer teams are willing to spend that kind of money on a RB.

Not saying he should have, but he could have signed, started the first game and pulled up lame with some kind of leg injury and still sat out most of the year.

In July, the Steelers offered him $70 M over five years ($14 M/season), with $33M guaranteed. Not really sure how he expects to make up what he lost by not playing, especially since he was asking $17M/season.

I'm not going to pretend to know the finer points of NFL contracts, but according to Ian Rapoport, the guaranteed dollars you're alluding to isn't entirely accurate.

This is the first source I saw about the actual final offer, but here it is:

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2018/7...t-steelers-offer-guaranteed-money-free-agency

It says that a tweet from Rapoport states that Bell was offered 5 years 70 million, but that the full guaranteed part was his signing bonus of just over 10 million. He would've made 33 million over the 1st two years - in a rolling guaranteed structure.

So the way I'm interpreting it, if he tears his Achilles or something along those lines the 1st game of the season, the actual guaranteed payout would be whatever he earned to that point (his week 1 game check), along with the 10 million and nothing else.

I could be incorrect in that assumption though.

 

[Mondio]

That's what I had read too, they didn't guarantee much. Numbers sound nice, but they're just numbers. Bell could have won, he could have lost. Doesn't matter. if he would have gotten injured he would have lost. He could have bought insurance, but maybe he just didn't want to play for the Steelers anymore.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

If I was a Steeler fan, I would have hated what Bell did. Imagine if Rodgers said "Pay me or I sit". Packer fans would have gone berserk.

Funny thing about the whole "fear of injury", sure it happens, but the guy has only 1 season out of 5 where he played all 16 games anyway, so it isn't like teams, including the Steelers, think this guy is bulletproof and will pay him as such. So sure, he may have gotten injured, but unless it was a devastating career ending one, teams are still going to pay him. Maybe he saw what happened to teammate Ryan Shazier and a very uncommon terrible incident made him shy away?

Just read that article PackAttack12 linked, it was written in July and the authors assumption was that Bell was better off taking the Franchise Tag money, playing one year and then hitting the FA market. That I agree with, if the guarantees were structured in the way it stated. However, I still think he was a fool to sit out the year.

 

[PackAttack12]

If I was a Steeler fan, I would have hated what Bell did. Imagine if Rodgers said "Pay me or I sit". Packer fans would have gone berserk.

Funny thing about the whole "fear of injury", sure it happens, but the guy has only 1 season out of 5 where he played all 16 games anyway, so it isn't like teams, including the Steelers, think this guy is bulletproof and will pay him as such. So sure, he may have gotten injured, but unless it was a devastating career ending one, teams are still going to pay him. Maybe he saw what happened to teammate Ryan Shazier and a very uncommon terrible incident made him shy away?

Or even like what happened with Earl Thomas. He held out until just before the season started trying to be a good teammate and a guy that was dedicated to the organization as much as possible (and he probably didn't want to forfeit game checks), but that came back to bite him when he fractured his leg early in the season.

So while I understand the perspective of the fans and the organization, I also at least understand where Bell is coming from. He just happens to play for an organization that doesn't guarantee anyone beyond year 1, besides the quarterback of course.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Or even like what happened with Earl Thomas. He held out until just before the season started trying to be a good teammate and a guy that was dedicated to the organization as much as possible (and he probably didn't want to forfeit game checks), but that came back to bite him when he fractured his leg early in the season.

So while I understand the perspective of the fans and the organization, I also at least understand where Bell is coming from. He just happens to play for an organization that doesn't guarantee anyone beyond year 1, besides the quarterback of course.

I totally get the fear of injury before a big contract, but what Bell was going to make .....was a sh*t load of money, enough for 15 people or more to retire on. Yes, there are some devastating injuries in the NFL every year and that is the chance a player takes. But Bell could also be in a car crash tomorrow and never play football again.

I will admit, I hate guaranteed contracts. I think it is one of the worst things to happen to Sports, especially at the $ amounts that they are talking about. If you want to hedge against injuries and the loss of ability to perform, buy insurance.

 

[PackAttack12]

I totally get the fear of injury before a big contract, but what Bell was going to make .....was a sh*t load of money, enough for 15 people or more to retire on. Yes, there are some devastating injuries in the NFL every year and that is the chance a player takes. But Bell could also be in a car crash tomorrow and never play football again.

I will admit, I hate guaranteed contracts. I think it is one of the worst things to happen to Sports, especially at the $ amounts that they are talking about. If you want to hedge against injuries and the loss of ability to perform, buy insurance.

I understand that mindset for most players in almost every situation, but only 10 million dollars for Le'Veon Bell??? That to me is a slap in the face. I know that to many of us, it's more money than we can fathom. But when your peers are getting significantly more security with their deals, and you're arguably the best in the world at what you do, I can understand him taking a stand if for no other reason than principle.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I understand that mindset for most players in almost every situation, but only 10 million dollars for Le'Veon Bell??? That to me is a slap in the face. I know that to many of us, it's more money than we can fathom. But when your peers are getting significantly more security with their deals, and you're arguably the best in the world at what you do, I can understand him taking a stand if for no other reason than principle.

Like I said, I understand now why he refused the Steelers offer, especially if you compare it to what Gurley got in guarantees, I can even say that with a straight face as much as I don't agree with guarantees. However, I still think he was stupid to not take the big one year payout, buy some insurance, play and hit the FA Market in 2019 richer and looking like a team player.

 

[PackAttack12]

Like I said, I understand now why he refused the Steelers offer, especially if you compare it to what Gurley got in guarantees, I can even say that with a straight face as much as I don't agree with guarantees. However, I still think he was stupid to not take the big one year payout, buy some insurance, play and hit the FA Market in 2019 richer and looking like a team player.

I get what you're saying, but again I think this has always been about more than just the money for Bell. I think he's out to prove a point. Whether or not he's succeeding in that is debatable, but that's what I believe he's attempting to do.

 

[Mondio]

Looking like a team player is what's going to hurt him, or the fact that he doesn't look like one will limit his new contract I think. I don't know if he gets it or not. But even if he only gets 20 million in guarantees, he's still ahead of the game and he didn't have to play for a team he doesn't think respected him enough to invest in him. I don't think I'd invest that much at a RB position either if I were the Steelers. But if I was Bell, I'm not sure i'd want to be ridden hard and put away wet again either for another season by a team that didn't want to pay me the going rate.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I'm not sure i'd want to be ridden hard and put away wet again either

I'm canceling our date for tomorrow night!

 

[Mondio]

I'm canceling our date for tomorrow night!

That’s in February