Why the & # 39; Veon Bell was right to refuse & # 39; contract offer Steelers

The way we speak and report the contracts in the NFL is zero. It n & # 39; there is no smarter way to say it. If you want proof, look no further than the situation between the Steelers and the & # 39; Veon Bell, who just refused an offer by 70 million over five years … an offer that NOTHING n & # 39 ; had the & # 39; air & # 39; to be, and that & # 39; it was wise to refuse.

Establish the story

We must start with how the cycle of & # 39; information is held on it, for it & # 39; is a fairly common format for big-name players who attempt a deal with the teams.

Before Monday's deadline, rumors of & # 39; a possible hold-up in the season have spread, through the comments of & # 39; Adam Schefter.

The 16 pm The deadline for players and teams with a franchise tag to enter into a contract without long-term agreement for Bell. Later that day, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network s & # 39; grabs the & # 39; offer Bell received the Steelers, and it sounds like a doozy.

You can guess which side has put there, with nothing more than the details of the contract are juxtaposed details of the & # 39; s offer & # 39; last year. This information gives the & # 39; impression that the Steelers attach great importance to Bell and & # 39; imagine the cornerstone of & # 39; alignment during the first part of his career (Bell 26).

The next morning, Schefter sends a tweet on the annual average that & # 39; offers Steelers would have paid.

Armed with this information, the narrative takes place against Bell. It is reported after the & # 39; deadline Monday afternoon that Bell will not take the shot during the regular season . He can jump the camp as it & # 39; s made & # 39; last year, but no match for the season.

Nearly 24 hours later, we get a clearer picture of the & # 39; offers Steelers.

Aha. And with that, the decision of Bell is much more logical.

Bell Why he made the right decision

L & # 39; franchise tag will pay a fully guaranteed salary of 14.5 million this year. Would you rather have this or an agreement that guarantees that 10 million? Even with the opportunity to earn up & # 39; 70 million over five years, the wise move is to & # 39; go with the & # 39; bird in the hand here, in a sport where careers are already short.

If Bell had accepted this agreement, the Steelers could release him after this season. L & # 39; team would be left with an undetermined amount of & # 39; s death cap space for 2019, and Bell s & # 39; go in with less & # 39; money that & # 39; he was supposed to do with & # 39; franchise tag and away from the possibility of 70 million.

Take & # 39; money guaranteed this year and add it to the transaction that & # 39; it will get as a free agent the & # 39; next year, giving it more & # 39; guaranteed money than l & # 39; offers Steelers give him.

"Is it safe to say that & # 39; he would get a more traditional collateral for the contracts in the NFL … the answer to that is a resounding yes," said Adisa Bakari, the & # 39; agent Bell in an interview with NFL network Tuesday. .

"It n & # 39; there are only two teams in the league that do not guarantee beyond the first year, the Steelers are the & # 39; s a d & # 39; them," said Bakari. The highest paid in the league runner LeSean McCoy, got more than 18 million dollars for signature in 2015. Devonta Freeman got more than 17 million dollars for signature Falcons l & # 39; last year and the 49ers gave $ 11.7 million to Jerick McKinnon this year.

Arguably, if Bell stays healthy, he will get the & # 39; guaranteed money similar to Freeman or McCoy … just to have signed an agreement as a free agent next spring. And even though the Steelers & # 39; scored for the third straight season, he should receive more than 17.4 million l & # 39; next year, fully guaranteed.

L & # 39; offers Steelers, with the potential of 1945, 33 million over the first two years of the & # 39; year n & # 39; was that d & # 39; about one million dollars more than that & # 39; s win it & # 39; it was labeled this year and next.

The insidious nature of the way we speak of contracts in the NFL

If Bell had signed this agreement five years of 70 million with the Steelers, it n & # 39; probably would not have seen its natural terminus . It is rare that & # 39; an NFL player actually playing his entire contract, even the superstars.

Among all the contracts in the NFL signed this year, n & # 39; there are that & # 39; one where the player will see the full value of the realized contract: the three-year contract for 84 million dollars Kirk Cousins ​​with the Vikings. (He chose to negotiate & # 39; offer shorter too).

So whenever you see a report on a player who has offered or accepted a contract of X years, know that c & # 39; is bullshit, and in some cases c & # 39; is a report that was used as a negotiating tactic.

The average annual value has become a popular way of speaking transaction. It is convenient for managing directors chair and types of US media compare financial data & # 39; a player to another. But as the picture of & # 39; together, c & # 39; is a bullshit for the same reasons.

Unfortunately n & # 39; there is no easy way to talk about the real value of these deals, at least not without a lot of words. Even reports that contain this another essential piece of the declaration of NFL contracts, guaranteed dollars, need & # 39; an asterisk. The situation Bell s & # 39; strongly supported on & # 39; guaranteed money upon signing. Then there are injury guarantees, a guaranteed salary if the player is on the list by a certain date, and & # 39; other mechanisms that allow most teams decide the & # 39; actually guaranteed money for a player .

I do not know if we ever get to a point where the contracts in the NFL are fully guaranteed. Adam Stites has a deeper dive on this problem with a player agent after the tweet storm that Russell Okung worth.

The way the contract offers are reported will never change until & # 39; that the & # 39; ABC to do it in 2021, then it is our responsibility to take all that we receive with a huge dose of skepticism.

Despite all the tricks about the situation with Bell, he and his agent have finally made the right decision. Although & # 39; it may be difficult for fans to take sometimes it n & # 39; there is nothing wrong with a player trying to get the most out of & # 39; a career that, in the best case, flows in their thirties, let alone one that can be harmful. long-term health problems.

For this you have to give credit to the type.