http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...oodson-mike-merriweather/stories/201811010141
NOV 2, 2018
10:37 AM
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It’s something how Le’Veon Bell keeps moving up in the Steelers record books without playing a snap this season.
Just over the past few days, he rose to No. 2. Bell now is the second-longest holdout in Steelers history, at least back to the start of the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
Bell and his agent often proclaimed he is a unique player, and he has shown that by staying away from the Steelers the past nine weeks.
Linebacker Mike Merriweather was the longest holdout in Steelers history when he boycotted the entire 1988 season because he was unhappy with his contract. After that season, the Steelers traded him to Minnesota for a first-round draft pick.
We won’t count Keith Gary, their first-round draft pick in 1981 because he opted to play in the CFL for two years before joining the Steelers in 1983. There also are later draft picks who never signed with the Steelers at all, but those are mere footnotes who are not included in the holdout record book.
It is now past Halloween and Bell has yet to show up. Many figured he was waiting until after the trade deadline, which was Tuesday. But then, many figured he would be there for the first week of the season, and when that didn’t happen, there were reports he’d turn up during the off week.
Instead, it’s been bye-bye, Bell, for the first nine weeks of the season. The next important date on the Le’Veon Watch is Nov. 13. If he does not report and sign his franchise tag by 4 p.m. that day, he cannot play at all this season for anyone, and the Steelers will recoup the entire $14.544 million they had to count under their salary cap for him this year.
As it is, they’ve saved plenty of his salary and cap space for 2018 they can use in 2019. With every week since the start of the regular season, Bell’s weekly salary of $855,529 (rounding the cents) goes back to the Steelers under their cap, and that can roll over into next season.
To date, counting this week, that comes to $7,699,764 the Steelers have gotten back under their cap. If Bell waits until after 10 weeks, it will have cost him $8,555,294 and he would be paid $5,988,806 for the rest of the season.
He would be paid that, provided the Steelers don’t use a two-week roster exemption on him and pay him a smaller sum — or nothing for those two weeks. If that happened, Bell would have passed on $10,266,353 in salary.
Most likely, they will wash their hands of Bell after this season.
If he returns Nov. 13, having missed the first 10 weeks of the regular season, his pay of nearly $6 million would still be the second highest among running backs in the NFL under the salary cap.
Kissing away more than $8.5 million by missing the first 10 weeks seems like folly if he still intends to play later this season — and still risk the kind of injury he obviously wanted to avoid.
Those lost millions may never be recouped in his next contract somewhere else and they can buy plenty of stuff. Here, for example, is what the website TrendingTopMost.com, says can be purchased for just $1 million: a yacht (better to facilitate that jet-skiing); early retirement (if he’s not already there); a seat on the first commercial flight to Mars (hold the jokes, please); and something he apparently really wants — a new start, which comes with this description:
“You can let go of the places you know here, the people you’ve met, and just start fresh where you can make your story anything at all that you would like it to be.”
Perfect!
Many, like Mike Tomlin, are tired of answering questions about Bell, but not all of them in the organization.
“No, not really,” said tackle Alejandro Villanueva. “I understand that it is a story. Everybody’s intrigued, everybody wants to know how it will unfold. So nobody is really annoyed by it. You’re annoyed if you … ask the type of question, ‘Is he going to show up?’ I don’t know. Nobody knows.”
Villanueva said the players will probably take their cue from Tomlin, to see how he reacts if Bell returns to the team.
“It’s his own personal battle,” the Pro Bowl tackle said. “None of the players can really understand what he’s going through. But at the same time, the one thing that is happening is we’re playing football, we’re trying to win, we have a chance this year to be a really good team. Anything counterproductive to that to the players seems a little bit of a waste of time.”
It has been one big waste of time for the Steelers and Bell. The time for a final decision on 2018, though, is nearing an end.
Le'Veon Bell has lost $7.7 million — and counting
ED BOUCHETTE[FONT=icomoon !important]
NOV 2, 2018
10:37 AM
It’s something how Le’Veon Bell keeps moving up in the Steelers record books without playing a snap this season.
Just over the past few days, he rose to No. 2. Bell now is the second-longest holdout in Steelers history, at least back to the start of the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
Bell and his agent often proclaimed he is a unique player, and he has shown that by staying away from the Steelers the past nine weeks.
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Linebacker Mike Merriweather was the longest holdout in Steelers history when he boycotted the entire 1988 season because he was unhappy with his contract. After that season, the Steelers traded him to Minnesota for a first-round draft pick.
Although draft picks should really not count because they weren’t Steelers until they signed their first contract, we’ll count Rod Woodson as previously the second-longest holdout for them when he stayed away for 95 days (counting training camp) in his rookie season of 1987. He did not sign his rookie contract until three days before Halloween (getting $1.8 million over four years). He played in his first game Nov. 8.We won’t count Keith Gary, their first-round draft pick in 1981 because he opted to play in the CFL for two years before joining the Steelers in 1983. There also are later draft picks who never signed with the Steelers at all, but those are mere footnotes who are not included in the holdout record book.
It is now past Halloween and Bell has yet to show up. Many figured he was waiting until after the trade deadline, which was Tuesday. But then, many figured he would be there for the first week of the season, and when that didn’t happen, there were reports he’d turn up during the off week.
Instead, it’s been bye-bye, Bell, for the first nine weeks of the season. The next important date on the Le’Veon Watch is Nov. 13. If he does not report and sign his franchise tag by 4 p.m. that day, he cannot play at all this season for anyone, and the Steelers will recoup the entire $14.544 million they had to count under their salary cap for him this year.
As it is, they’ve saved plenty of his salary and cap space for 2018 they can use in 2019. With every week since the start of the regular season, Bell’s weekly salary of $855,529 (rounding the cents) goes back to the Steelers under their cap, and that can roll over into next season.
To date, counting this week, that comes to $7,699,764 the Steelers have gotten back under their cap. If Bell waits until after 10 weeks, it will have cost him $8,555,294 and he would be paid $5,988,806 for the rest of the season.
He would be paid that, provided the Steelers don’t use a two-week roster exemption on him and pay him a smaller sum — or nothing for those two weeks. If that happened, Bell would have passed on $10,266,353 in salary.
Bell could stay away the entire season, giving up all of the $14.544 million, and still would become an unrestricted free agent in 2019. The Steelers could put the transition or franchise tag on him again, but why would they? They would have to account for the money under the cap right away as they have the past two years, and who is to say Bell would not stay away again?Most likely, they will wash their hands of Bell after this season.
If he returns Nov. 13, having missed the first 10 weeks of the regular season, his pay of nearly $6 million would still be the second highest among running backs in the NFL under the salary cap.
Kissing away more than $8.5 million by missing the first 10 weeks seems like folly if he still intends to play later this season — and still risk the kind of injury he obviously wanted to avoid.
Those lost millions may never be recouped in his next contract somewhere else and they can buy plenty of stuff. Here, for example, is what the website TrendingTopMost.com, says can be purchased for just $1 million: a yacht (better to facilitate that jet-skiing); early retirement (if he’s not already there); a seat on the first commercial flight to Mars (hold the jokes, please); and something he apparently really wants — a new start, which comes with this description:
“You can let go of the places you know here, the people you’ve met, and just start fresh where you can make your story anything at all that you would like it to be.”
Perfect!
Many, like Mike Tomlin, are tired of answering questions about Bell, but not all of them in the organization.
“No, not really,” said tackle Alejandro Villanueva. “I understand that it is a story. Everybody’s intrigued, everybody wants to know how it will unfold. So nobody is really annoyed by it. You’re annoyed if you … ask the type of question, ‘Is he going to show up?’ I don’t know. Nobody knows.”
Villanueva said the players will probably take their cue from Tomlin, to see how he reacts if Bell returns to the team.
“It’s his own personal battle,” the Pro Bowl tackle said. “None of the players can really understand what he’s going through. But at the same time, the one thing that is happening is we’re playing football, we’re trying to win, we have a chance this year to be a really good team. Anything counterproductive to that to the players seems a little bit of a waste of time.”
It has been one big waste of time for the Steelers and Bell. The time for a final decision on 2018, though, is nearing an end.
