NFL contracts are terribly one-sided for the owners, especially considering NFL players are putting their brains at risk every time they step out on the field.
The problem is the players only have themselves to blame. They agreed to this, and now players like Le’Veon Bell are dealing with the consequences.
The Pittsburgh Steelers running back told ESPN that he’s prepared to sit out a season, or even retire if franchise tagged for the second consecutive year.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I would consider it,” he said before Thursday’s practice
Asked what the Steelers should do this offseason, Bell said simply: “Value me.”
“Just get the numbers straight, exactly where we want them. I’m not going to settle for anything,” Bell said. “I know what I do and what I bring to the table. I’m not going out here getting the ball 400 times if I’m not getting what I feel I’m valued at.”
Bell said he would “probably be done” with football if he did sit out 2018.
“It will eventually come down to me playing on the tag or not,” Bell said. “They tag me again, it will be me [saying], ‘OK, do I want to play on the tag or do I not want to play on the tag?’ That’s what it comes down to. If I was a free agent and they let me go, be a free agent, then yeah, I’m going to go explore free agency, test the market.”
“I don’t necessarily care about the money aspect of it. I just want to be valued where I’m at. If I am playing this game, I want to set standards for all the other running backs behind me, like Todd Gurley and Ezekiel Elliott, Melvin Gordon, guys like that. I’m a guy they can kind of look at. I feel I can do that. I’m in a position where I can do that, and I’m going to do it.”
When Steelers fans called him out on talking about this instead of focusing on the playoff game this weekend, Bell went on Twitter to clarify his remarks.
Flip the page to check out what he said…