Le'Veon Bell

[seanbrock 1,684]

Is he worth the money he's going to get? Let me just say that the guy is the best RB in the league when he's on the field. That's the thing though, durability is a major concern. Imo the Steelers cannot hand cuff themselves to this guy. Let's not forget that if he fails another piss test he gets what? 10 game suspension? There will be a lot of quality RB's to take that probably don't replace what Bell gives the Steelers but would provide consistency production and durability.

[BC 331]

Durability can be a concern with almost anyone at RB. But when he has done was he's done over the past few years and been the anchor he has, you are pretty much reliant on paying him and it panning out. Especially for Ben, balance of the offense, and to keep the confidence and sanity of the rest of the team/organization, you gotta retain him. Not retaining him would be as bad as when Philly decided not to retain LeSean McCoy. Draft a mid-round RB to hang in wings.

Edited February 21, 2017 by BC

[seanbrock 1,684]

At the same point in time, Bell has played like 1 series of one playoff game his entire career.

[Sarge+ 3,436]

He's not worth keeping. He rarely plays, and we have a good enough OL to get production out of a draft pick.

[RazorStar 4,025]

At the same point in time, Bell has played like 1 series of one playoff game his entire career.

 

Bell has the most rushing yards in his first two playoff games (Dolphins, Chiefs) of any RB in league history.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Honestly , I'd still take him in a heartbeat. Ya, the durability and off field issues are scary but... he's the very best. Packers probably wouldn't use him enough to make the contract worth it, but man would t be tempting.

[.AirMcNair. 1,232]

No, with Mike Munchak coaching the o-line and getting it to be as good as it is, Bell is an unnecessary cost. Could look at it with the thought of Ben doesn't have much left and wanna build as good of a team as possible for one last shot at a SB though, cap space be damned.

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

I'm as low on RBs as anyone, but I say keep him. Bell has done nothing but wreck historical numbers. Last year we saw Haley play around with him all season. First he was mainly used as a WR and we weren't committed too much to the run. We kept going 5-wide and he was always on the field making plays. Then around Week 9 our offense began to sputter and we committed to the run and he carried us to the playoffs.

 

With Bryant back and Coates healthy (he had a fucked up hand and also groin surgery), there's a LOT of potential for this offense to return to 2014 form where Ben threw for 6 TDs in back-to-back games and lead the league in passing. Removing Bell does a lot to hurt that potential.

 

Without Bell we lose to KC in the playoffs. Ben isn't long for this league and I want more fuckin' rings.

 

 

 

The real question should be whether we keep Timmons or not. Timmons is one of my favorite Steelers of this era, but he's noticeably slower and we will have to upgrade in the near future. He's always taken pay cuts for the Steelers, but last year his cap hit was $15.1M. If Adrian Peterson gets cut, the Tag for RBs is a paltry $8M.

 

No way the Steelers let him walk and whether we have an awesome OL or not, no RB is going to replace his production and ability.

Edited February 21, 2017 by Zack_of_Steel

[Omerta+ 1,206]

I would not hang on to the guy but it has absolutely nothing to do with his talent. He is one of the 2 best backs in the league, so talent is not the usual. The reason I say no at least from a team perspective is that if I am Tomlin I dont want big money invested in my backfield, when both are a long shot to play a full game. You are really playing the odds in season that if they both go down at the same time or overlapping times now you are sitting there with 30 million dollars on the bench.

 

With Ben on the back 9 I would get their defense back to 06 or 07 form because their offense s already good enough to win a superbowl with Martavis Bryant back.

[Zack_of_Steel+ 3,014]

You make a fair point, but I think the injury issues are overblown a bit. In 2014 and 2015 his seasons were ended on freak plays (both against the dirty Bengals ).

 

2014, he went down on what was pretty much the same result as a horsecollar tackle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uehFeg8zlgY

 

2015, he was fuckin' blasted in the knee by Nelson over the middle:

https://youtu.be/iqr-3s1uAZw?t=2m17s

 

Outside of that he had his groin injury at the end of this season and a small foot problem in the 2014 preseason.

[FartWaffles 1,857]

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/8390/leveon-bell

 

Steelers assigned the exclusive-rights franchise tag to RB Le'Veon Bell.

 

He joins Panthers DT Kawann Short and Cardinals OLB Chandler Jones as 2017's first three franchise-tag wearers. The "exclusive" tag locks Bell into a top-five running back salary ($12 million-plus) and prohibits other teams from negotiating with him. The Steelers plan to lock up Antonio Brown to a long-term deal and let Bell sport the tag, potentially for the entirety of the forthcoming season. Extending Bell isn't a priority after he battled foot and knee injuries his first three years in the league, and served two short suspensions. Still only 25 years old, Bell has averaged 4.88 yards per carry and 143.1 yards from scrimmage per game over the past two seasons. He's neck and neck with David Johnson as the top running back in football, and we'd give the slight edge to Bell.

[seanbrock 1,684]

Man if there was ever a year to find a new starting RB, this is it. I think tagging him this year and seeing what happens was a smart move. If he gets hurt again you can either get him for less or let somebody else roll out the brinks trucks for a guy who is hurt every year. Steelers might be wise to take a back if the opportunity presents itself in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th rounds.