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Signing the tender and playing another year as the PIT RB (100's of carries) is/was the largest risk/threat to getting his next contract.
Thanks. I was just wondering if the NFL had issued a press release on this -- I've read most of this thread but not all of it.
So you're envisioning a scene where an attorney for Bell is standing before a judge quoting some random NFL Network talking head, and the judge being like, "yeah ok, I guess it must be true, since the league didn't correct him."
I don't know why you'd assume that didn't happen.
It was my understanding that the reports noted that Bell just learned about the chance that the QB tag would apply. That would also seem to make sense given the fact that Bell has avoided discussing when he'll come back. To me, that's the biggest issue. If you're staying out all year, let your teammates know, go to an island and chill, and end the drama. The fact that there wasn't a public announcement makes me wonder if he was still trying to figure out everything up until this Tuesday.
And NFL Network's Aditi Kinkhabwala reported that the NFL and Steeler don't currently "plan" to argue that the QB tag does not apply:
That is fine but taking that option costs $14.5 million right now.matuski said:
I mentioned in a few posts that I think Bell (or his agent) did get clarification. I think that is why he came back to Pittsburgh before the deadline.wakelawyer said:
True but he isnt worried about that. He is worried about one more contract with the most guaranteed money he can get which he believes with be a lot more than 14.5 million.Bronco Billy said:
Correct. He is skipping on 14.5 to remain healthy to cash in on multiples of that next year.
Anyone who thinks he's getting "multiples" of that is dreaming.
He skipped on 20ish guaranteed and more on day 1 2019 so he could then skip on 14.5 so he could then sign for a team that gives him 28 guaranteed and keeps him at 15ish touches with no injury risk. Looks good to me.
If your nitpicking is about the "multiples" - I can see that possibility. The rest of your post is full of misinformation.
Yes, Bell made the decision to not sign the tender, and at that point, the Steelers gave it no more thought and made it known that if/when he'd report, he'd go another 2 weeks with a roster exemption. Maybe Bell wasn't initially intending for the holdout to last this long, things changed, whatever. It worked out great for the Steelers, because they haven't missed a beat and they have an extra $14.5M to play with next year.
False. A roster bonus can absolutely be guaranteed. Making it a roster bonus is just a legal semantic, nothing more. The cap rules treat signing bonuses and roster bonuses very differently, if the team was breaking it out that way it's 100% due to how they want to handle the accounting. They can make it a signing bonus, a roster bonus that activates the same day the contract is signed, a deferred signing bonus that's still a signing bonus but paid later, a roster bonus paid at a later date. If the contract guarantees it, it's guaranteed.
Bell has a lot more leverage than Gurley did though. Gurley still had years 4 and 5 of his deal to play out with maybe $12M total between them. He also wasn't allowed to go find any team in the league to beat that deal, and $21M in the pocket now was obviously worth taking the other team-friendly terms. Bell has no such constraints now. Teams have only one way to guarantee Bell's services, and that's to pony up. Gurley and DJ had no such threat of walking away from the table.
Except if they try to “guarantee a roster bonus next year on the day the contract is signed” it becomes a signing bonus for cap purposes. They can push roster bonuses onto future years’ cap precisely because they don’t become a financial commitment to the team until the player is “on the roster” at that point,
Only in the narrow case where the roster bonus activates on the day the contract is signed would it belong in the guaranteed category.
That's not the case, see Aaron Rodgers' contract vs. Gurleys's as an example. There is a provision somewhere regarding roster bonuses as they relate to the signin bonus, maybe you are thinking of that? Something to the tune of if get exceed x% of the signing bonus then they are treated as a signing bonus. The details escape me and I am on the road so limited ability to look it up right now.
No not trolling intentionally sorry. I'll bait a bit and post with a buzz a times but that is all.
I think that was another poster, though -fish- might have very well called it.
Thank you.
What Twitter show?
No... In that case, the $10M signing bonus and the $10M roster bonus both wouldve been guaranteed for 2018 immediately. Unless, of course, you think the Steelers would've given him that contract in July, handed him $10M, and then cut him before the roster bonus would kick in for the season started a month later. The total guarantees in year one in that offer would've been just under $21M according to Florio's report.
Bell’s agent already knows what money he is getting. There is an absolute guaranty he has received bare minimum numbers from the teams that are interested.
Remember, the Steelers have $14.5M of extra cap space to play with next year because Bell didn't sign this year. They'll do whatever they can do to maximize the return they get assuming he leaves.
Haven't hear the term "tampering" in a while but this sounds like it qualifies...
No one has any way of knowing this. This isn't fantasy football, this is the elite of the elite making decisions with winning football games coming first. If signing/matching an offer accomplishes that, that's what they'll do. A possible future 3rd doesn't even move the needle with these types of decisions.
As has already been discussed; using the transition tag & not matching could very well minimize the return they get (accords to overthecap.com link posted earlier, not matching an offer sheet for a transition player gets the Steelers nothing).
What I can say is this: the report this morning said the final push to get Bell in last Tuesday ended when the Steelers wouldn't agree to not use the transition tag in the off-season. Bell doesn't want the Steelers to use it and the Steelers could've agreed to that easily if they didnt plan to. They have an additional $14.5M in 2019 to help them match any front loaded contract offered to him by any other team.
It happens with every FA player. You think those contracts that magically get announced at 12:01 on FA day just happened in 60 seconds? They changed the freaking rules there is so much tampering.
Agents and Gms have relationships built on trust. You’re living in another world if you don’t think bell’s agent doesn’t know the bare minimum he’s going to get.
Then Bell should have taken the $$$$ and ran with it. Played in the slot to save the "wear and tear" on his body.
Good point.
The other guy is right. Any communications between bell's agent and other NFL teams would be textbook tampering.
