The perception is that Le'Veon Bell is flying high after making his point to the Pittsburgh Steelers by sitting out the entire season because they insisted on keeping him under the franchise tag. Today he's a New York Jet under a deal worth $52.5 million for four years of service. Twenty-five million of those dollars are guaranteed. Pundits and critics can't help but think he left a ton of money on the table. The money he's getting isn't too far off from what Steelers were offering him under the tag especially when he was also offered a five year $70 million contract as well. His salary still isn't better than what the top running back (Todd Gurley) is currently earning.
Ben Maller makes a similar case as Bell's critics and talks about how despite Le'Veon Bell saying the following quote on a conference call:
"I don't regret anything that happened," Bell said. "Obviously, everything happened for a reason. Who can say if I played last year if I do go out there and play on a one-year (deal) or franchise tag that I do get hurt, do I end up sitting here today being with the New York Jets? On the other side of it, if I go out there and do play on the franchise tag and I get another 400 carries, who's to say that a team would pay me after 400 carries?"
Maller thinks there's no way you can believe anything Bell said on that call especially when you look at the financial ramifications of Bell's decisions.
Listen Below.
,quality(10),blur(50))