IMO, part of Bell's decision was sticking it to the Steelers organization. I don't believe it was purely financial. He would never admit it.
he isn't really sticking it to them. they're not exactly missing him and they didnt have to shell out the money he was looking for
Yup. Betting that the Steelers are pretty happy with how things turned out. They're saving a $hitload of money with Conner. I usually side with teams in these situations but will say Bell probably did the smart thing by just sitting out the rest of the season. Yes he won't recoup the total $14M lost but since $7M of it was gone already, not sure the remaining $6.8M was worth risking injury. Someone will pay him this off season, the only thing that would impede that is injury.
Well the Steelers could have just paid him. I don't under why fans always take the teams side. These are the guys putting their bodies on the line.
Before I was all for signing bell but now I just get a feel that when he signs with a team for a big contract watch him tear his acl I seriously hope not but.....
What I think is that when it comes playoff time, the Steelers are going to wish they had that little extra Bell would have provided. When things intensify, that experience and that extra step are significant.
I think the franchise tag is Unamerican. It's essentially forcing someone to play for you even if they don't want to.
No it's not. No one is required to sign the franchise tag, as we saw with LeVeon Bell. It's no more forcing someone to play for you than drafting them forces you to play for that team (and that's for 3-5 years depending on the sport, or even up to 10 years in MLB). Beyond that, it was an mutually agreed to idea negotiated between business owners and union members, which is about as American as it gets.