Le’Veon Bell Missed His Deadline To Report To The Steelers, Officially Forfeiting $14.5 Million
ByJoey Heldon November 13, 2018inArticles›Sports News
The Le’Veon Bell saga has been one of the most talked about storylines of this NFL season. Bell, a 26-year-old running back in his prime, has sat out the first 10 weeks of the season. As an impending free agent, he wanted to save his body for a potentially massive contract this summer.
Bell had until Tuesday afternoon to report to the Steelers. Though he was spotted in Pittsburgh earlier this month, that deadline came and went without Bell reporting to the team. And now, he’ll forfeit his entire salary for the season, a total of $14.5 million.
Bell had already lost more than half that amount by missing more than half the season. But with the November 13 deadline now behind us, he’s not going to see a single cent.
The crazy thing is that this still all might be a worthwhile effort. Bell may be done in Pittsburgh, but he could still earn a lengthy, rich deal from another team.
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Bell has been a workhorse for the Steelers, racking up 742 total touches his last two seasons. In 2016, he averaged 157 yards from scrimmage per game. The team placed a franchise tag on him, worth $12.12 million. The following summer, Bell failed to show up for team activities – the first sign that he was unhappy with the franchise tag.
He then missed training camp and the preseason of the 2017 season before reporting the Monday of Week 1. In January – just a few days before the Steelers played the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round of the playoffs, he suggested that he would be willing to sit out the season or retire if the Steelers again placed the franchise tag on him.
Ten months later, Bell lived up to his word. The Steelers did in fact tag Bell, which would have paid him $14.5 million this season. But he won’t make anything this season.
On the one hand, Bell knows how dangerous football can be. He saw the Seattle Seahawks’ Earl Thomas break his leg after holding out in a similar situation. Thomas should heal, but he potentially lost millions because of his injury. Bell doesn’t want the same thing to happen to him.
Of course, Bell hasn’t been helped by his teammate James Conner. Conner is playing great as Bell’s replacement, even putting up numbers Bell never did.
It’ll be interesting to see where Bell ends up and how much he’ll ultimately make. But for the 2018 season, he made as much money playing football as you and I did.
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- If He Continues Holding Out, Le’Veon Bell Will Lose Nearly $853,000 – Per Week
- Le’Veon Bell Has Now Given Up More Money Than Any Other Running Back Will Make This Season
- The Eagles Are Letting Nick Foles Enter Free Agency – How Much Money Can He Make?
- San Diego Chargers Ready To Franchise Tag Philip Rivers The Next Two Seasons And Pay Him $55 Million
- What Exactly Are The Rams Doing With Aaron Donald?
San Diego Chargers Ready To Franchise Tag Philip Rivers The Next Two Seasons And Pay Him $55 Million
ByTravis Pulveron August 16, 2015inArticles›Sports News
Philip Rivers has been one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL for some time. He has passed for more than 4,000 yards in six of the last seven seasons, and for at least 20 touchdowns in each of the last nine seasons (30+ in four of them). During his career, he has gotten the San Diego Chargers to the AFC Championship game, but has yet to make it to the Super Bowl.
He is a little on the older side at 33, but there is no reason to believe that he is going to slow down anytime soon, especially with the Chargers restocked with young talent and ready to compete. He has already made over $119 million playing for the Chargers, and could stand to make a lot more, should he opt to resign with the team when his contract expires after this season.
Normally, a marquee player like Rivers would be offered a contract extension before he begins the final year of his current contract. Rivers, however, has been reluctant to engage in talks, choosing instead to focus on the season at hand.
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Part of the problem for Rivers has been the ongoing discussion on whether the Chargers are going to stay in San Diego or move to Los Angeles. Rivers has stated that he does not wish to uproot his family and force them to move to Los Angeles. He’s made it sound as if he might actually consider retiring rather than do so.
Would he actually retire rather than move? Only Rivers knows for sure, but when he sees the kind of money the team is willing to put on the table the next two years, he might change his mind.
Rumor has it that the team and Rivers have made progress in contract talks, but that a deal is unlikely to happen before the start of the 2015 season. Should that be the case, it appears the team has no problem putting the franchise tag on him in 2016. They will have a few months to still try and negotiate a long term deal with him before the ‘16 season, but if they don’t that will put his salary next year around $25 million.
Where it gets really interesting, is what the team is willing to do should they not come up with a contract extension prior to the 2016 season – franchise tag him again. If they do, he gets a 20 percent pay raise from his previous year, putting his salary in 2017 at $30 million.
Basically, the Chargers are willing to pay Philip Rivers $55 million over the next two seasons to stay with the team. That is nearly half of what he has made throughout his entire career.
So – will he uproot the family for $55 million? He would be insane not to. If his wife and kids miss their San Diego friends too much he can just charter a private jet every weekend to fly them over to Los Angeles.
He’ll certainly be able to afford it.
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- Ja’Marr Chase And Tee Higgins Are Now The Highest-Paid Receiving Duo In NFL History
- Von Miller Might Turn Down $70 Million–Guaranteed–Later Today
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