NFL 2018 Season

lee32uk said:
Yeah the Steelers are a bit Jekyll and Hyde. Never know which one is going to turn up :D One week great defence and poor offence, the next week vice versa. Not enough consistency. Shame about Bell not signing as Bell and Conner together would have been great to watch.
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Was Bell on the sidelines in the Steelers game? They kept cutting to someone clapping away on the sidelines and I was assuming that was him.

lee32uk said:
I have always had a soft spot for the Bears. They were actually my Team back in the 80's when they had that awesome Defence. It will certainly be an interesting game in Chicago in Dec, especially if there is Snow on the ground. Just not sure they have the same firepower like the Saints and Rams. They have two great backs in Howard and Cohen though.
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I think in general this could be one the best off seasons in a long while. You've got Rams/Saints and Chiefs at the elite level. Pat's/Steelers/Bears/Chargers a step down then you have Colts/Texans/Panthers and arguably the Seahawks a step behind. I'm really looking forward to hitting the off season and I'm fascinated by the Colts who have a pretty easy run now until the end of the season.
 
No1newts said:
Was Bell on the sidelines in the Steelers game? They kept cutting to someone clapping away on the sidelines and I was assuming that was him.


I think in general this could be one the best off seasons in a long while. You've got Rams/Saints and Chiefs at the elite level. Pat's/Steelers/Bears/Chargers a step down then you have Colts/Texans/Panthers and arguably the Seahawks a step behind. I'm really looking forward to hitting the off season and I'm fascinated by the Colts who have a pretty easy run now until the end of the season.
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I doubt it would have been Bell. As far as I know he hasn't been anywhere near the Steelers facility since returning from Miami so highly unlikely he would be at a game. Only other person I can think of would be Ryan Shazier as he is at a lot of games.

I would put the Pats in the same elite bracket even though they haven't been themselves recently. A fully healthy New England is a dangerous team. With Tom Brady under centre they always have a chance. If they get Gronk healthy and a few other missing pieces I wouldn't put it past them winning the Superbowl in Feb.

Yeah the Colts are quietly putting together a good run, as are the Texans. I can't see either getting past New England or KC though.
 
ThestigGT999 said:
I would have signed bell back if I was the Steelers
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I am a bit on the fence. It would have been nice to see what he and Conner could have done in the same lineup, but on the other hand he has missed lots of time through injury and drugs bans etc so I can understand it from the Steelers point of view. Also giving in to one player is risking the locker room, as you do it for one then someone else will want more money etc. I am stil amazed that he walked away from $14m though. Going to be hard to claw that back even with a good contract next year.
 
lee32uk said:
I am a bit on the fence. It would have been nice to see what he and Conner could have done in the same lineup, but on the other hand he has missed lots of time through injury and drugs bans etc so I can understand it from the Steelers point of view. Also giving in to one player is risking the locker room, as you do it for one then someone else will want more money etc. I am stil amazed that he walked away from $14m though. Going to be hard to claw that back even with a good contract next year.
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He's been played I to a worse hole by the likes of Conner, Lindsay and other low round, high performing backs. Why risk 15mill+ on an injury prone position when you can spend half or less and not lose huge amounts.
 
No1newts said:
He's been played I to a worse hole by the likes of Conner, Lindsay and other low round, high performing backs. Why risk 15mill+ on an injury prone position when you can spend half or less and not lose huge amounts.
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I think his agent has to shoulder some of the blame. Maybe giving him bad advice etc. Kudos to the Steelers for not giving in to his demands though. He probably assumed that the Steelers would need him before he needed them. Kind of backfired on him.
 
Don't get me wrong, I think he's an idiot, but I think his logic is, don't risk everything for a one time payout of £15m, when next year he could sign $60m+ in guaranteed. I can only think that's what he's thinking.
 
lee32uk said:
I think his agent has to shoulder some of the blame. Maybe giving him bad advice etc. Kudos to the Steelers for not giving in to his demands though. He probably assumed that the Steelers would need him before he needed them. Kind of backfired on him.
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Yeah I would agree the agent (and Bell himself) mishandled this, I believe he's 27 so even a big contract will probably be 4 years max or at least heavily front loaded. So I don't see him grabbing the coin he hopes for. I may be wrong though as teams like the Jets and 1 or 2 others may well go all in
 
No1newts said:
Yeah I would agree the agent (and Bell himself) mishandled this, I believe he's 27 so even a big contract will probably be 4 years max or at least heavily front loaded. So I don't see him grabbing the coin he hopes for. I may be wrong though as teams like the Jets and 1 or 2 others may well go all in
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Yeah it will no doubt be one of the weaker teams as most of the superbowl calibre teams have good running backs. Of course that can always change with injuries etc so you never know. One good thing for the Steelers is they get $14m back in cap space. Hoping they can get a Cornerback as Artie Burns couldn't cover Me :D
 
Bell was offered $70mill over 5 years in the summer, but he turned it down. Apparently because of the amount of guaranteed money on offer. Bell claims only $17m was guaranteed, Steelers say $33m*.

Either way I think Bell wants something more like Gurley's guaranteed $45m. I don't think at his age he will get much more total money than the Steelers offered, but I think someone will give him the big chunk of guaranteed money.

*When I say Bell said or Steelers said, none have actually publically said. It is always sources 'close to'. So could all be crap.
 
lee32uk said:
Yeah it will no doubt be one of the weaker teams as most of the superbowl calibre teams have good running backs. Of course that can always change with injuries etc so you never know. One good thing for the Steelers is they get $14m back in cap space. Hoping they can get a Cornerback as Artie Burns couldn't cover Me :D
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The point you make on injuries is why I think he will struggle to pull more than the 15 Steelers were reportedly offering. It's a position with high attrition and dropping even more on that position seems crazy to me. Not many backs produce to a higher standard pushing 30s than they do when younger. I think he's just wasted a year of earnings because of a strop.
 
Yeah I think he will struggle to make the money back that he has lost. He must be making $$$ off other sponsor deals though I guess, as losing $14m is hardly peanuts. I guess they will draft a Running back in next years draft at some point as they only have Ridley who is 29 and Jaylen Samuels who is a 22 year old rookie as backups.
 
lee32uk said:
Yeah I think he will struggle to make the money back that he has lost. He must be making $$$ off other sponsor deals though I guess, as losing $14m is hardly peanuts.
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from what i've seen he was willing to give up the money as he was more concerned an injury would have lost him out on a new contract, my concern if i was a team signing him would be what shape he's in after missing a season.
 
AndyCr15 said:
This backs up my point. He's looking for that guaranteed, which I kinda get. He could have played this year and blown a knee out. No more big bucks from anyone next year then.

Still think he was wrong, but I think someone will pay him. He is one of the best backs in the league.
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all down to player power, with all those not doing pre season to negotiate contracts, so you lose them for pre season and 3-4 games as they get up to speed/fitness
 
I'd be surprised if Smith didn't play again. Although, tbf, I'm not sure how these things heal these days, but we paid a LOT of money, a LOT guaranteed for a 4 year contract.

Also, I wasn't all that confident on us making the playoffs with Smith, let alone without him! I still think the Eagles will give us problems and the Cowboys tomorrow evening will be very tough. Their D is playing great and our O is really struggling with the line injuries. (Again, wasn't great before. Tbf, McCoy could spark us something and we do better on O)
 
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mp260767 said:
from what i've seen he was willing to give up the money as he was more concerned an injury would have lost him out on a new contract, my concern if i was a team signing him would be what shape he's in after missing a season.
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It took him a good 4 games or more last season to get back up to speed when he missed all of training camp. He has supposedly been keeping in shape and training etc in Miami but obviously that isn't the same as training with the team. So yeah it will be a bit of a risk for any team I guess.
 
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