[Jen's Herald]

well, Training Camp is just around the corner, and this one should be particularly interesting, so much drama!

will Bell show up? two straight years franchise-tagged. smh.

where is Ben? who is Ben? why is Ben? and there's a new draft qb in the house. /drama

AB is annoyed. too damn many receivers.

draft didn't do anything to fix this shoddy defense, imo. need a new DC.

problems. problems. problems.



we shoulda had Lombardi 7 already, except that stupid wallace can't catch passes in the Red Zone. he dropped two great passes in SB45 against the pack, one in the end zone, the other on the one yard line, both were surefire touchdowns. final score pack 31 Steelers 25. wallace cost us number 7. smh.

[stlavin95]

Bell and Tomlin have said they are a lot closer to an deal than they were in last training camp.

AB's drama seems more rooted in his personal life than what's going on in the team anyways and Ben can be overly dramatic at times.

I think we will have an different look on D this season and I'm interested to see how that plays out.

[Jen's Herald]

training camp drama is almost here!

[stlavin95]

Can't believe camp is nearly here

[NikNak]

I am SO READY!

[stlavin95]

Me too

[Jen's Herald]

check-in day is July 25th, and first practice open to the public is the 27th. from articles on steelers.com, it looks like a mostly drama-free start to training camp, except for the ongoing contract mess with Bell. they missed the Monday 4pm deadline, so he is now franchise-tagged for a second straight year, smh. Bell made a statement to ESPN that he would sit out the 2018 season, so don't expect him at training camp or preseason, just like last year. he may play in the regular season, but that would depend pretty much on Tomlin, as i think Bell is gonna sit it out just like he says. $14.5mil to sit out and the front office can do nothing about it, as it is guaranteed money, because of the previous franchise tag. they tried this crap with Heinz Ward, and he stayed home til they gave him his well-deserved contract. the front office has always been notoriously cheap and dragging everything out til the bitter end. these are the same people who let Rod Woodson go, citing an ankle injury (which was a minor injury comparitively) but really because they didn't want to pay the best cornerback in the league, a big contract in the post-96 SB30 loss vacuum created by the departure of Neil O'donnel and most of the defense heavyweights to first year Jax Jaguars. i am really disgusted by the Steelers front office, at times. geez.

[stlavin95]

I don't think Bell will sit out this year at all, because he knows it will affect his value for next season and he definitely doesn't want that. I don't see how the front office are being cheap in this situation, since they offered Bell an deal worth 14 million per season, which 6 million more than any other running back in the league, If he wants more than that, I doubt any playoff team will offer more than that and any team that does will have an much weaker o-line than we do, which plays an big part in Bell's success.

[Jen's Herald]

the contract negotiations fell apart because the front office was only willing to guarantee $10million of the $17.3million per year 3-year contract, and none of the three individual years included incentive bonuses, as the negotiators felt that the $17.3mil was plenty of incentive in itself. LB and his agent disagreed. drama ensues.

[stlavin95]

Where did you get that number from? All the reports said we offered him around 14/15 million per year. Considering the Steelers history for restructuring contracts, the players always end getting more guaranteed money than what is stated. Even Bell's agent admitted it was an good deal for an RB, the problem is that Bell wants to be paid like number 1 running back and number 2 wide receiver combined.

[Jen's Herald]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and ESPN are giving that $17.3mil number as what he would get on the contract, but $14.5mil is what he is tendered for one year now, that being the second straight franchise-tag year. last year's tag was $11.5mil and included incentives, but this year's tag amount does not. i'm sure that doesn't sit well with LB, no matter what his agent says. LB is young and wants the recognition, though it means absolutely nothing a couple of years from now, as every record and paycheck falls in the dust eventually. Dan Marino can attest to that.

[stlavin95]

Okay, did they say what the contract offer was? Because I heard it was 5 years/70 million

[Jen's Herald]

Originally Posted by stlavin95 (View Post) Okay, did they say what the contract offer was? Because I heard it was 5 years/70 million

there are two sources, Bleacher Report and ESPN/ABC NFL Today, and both have differing lengths to the contract, one says 3 years the other 5 years. LB's agent has yet to make an official statement, and Steelers.com basically says the contract talks are stalled at this point, and shelved for the 2019 offseason. the Steelers are historically notorious for no contracts past the tag deadlines and preseason cut-offs for rookies, the only exceptions being Hines Ward, Neil O'Donnell, and Dermotti Dawson. those three were literally last minute agreements, and the lone casualty of that rule all these years, was Rod Woodson. he ended up going to the hated Murder City Ratravens and having some great years there. i am a lifetime Steelers fan, and there are only 3 occasions that i talk mad crap about the Steelers front office and management.

1. it is unforgivable of the organization to have not done more for Mike Webster and getting him into rehab and medical bills paid for all his concussions and back injuries suffered during his great years as center for the 70s 4-SB offense. he literally died in the gutter, broke, sold his rings for pain-killers and so much other stuff to relieve the pain in his head. why has his family not participated in the CTE concussion study? it is still shameful what was not done for this Steeler great. it wouldn't happen in today's climate of injury claims and CTE awareness, but the 80s and 90s were not kind to Mike. sad. very sad only.

2. letting Rod Woodson go over an ankle injury, instead of giving him a contract and keeping this monstor-talented cb from going to the enemy. RW is the co-catalyst of that Ratravens defense along with Ray the Murderer Lewis that won that 2000 superbowl. RW still had great seasons left in him and was well worth a contract renewal after all his great-contributing seasons with the 90s Steelers Steel Curtain 2.

3. 32 teams voted in 2015, to strike down the 2001 Shady-Brady Tuck/Cheat Rule that destroyed football for 14 seasons, deprived the Raiders of a playoff win when Shady clearly fumbled the ball in that snowstorm, and enabled all the cheating of Shady, beliCHEAT, and friendly refs, to steal five Lombardis. (thank you twice NY Giants and Eagles once). 30 teams voted NO to the Tuck/Cheat Rule, 2 teams voted to keep it....can you guess the 2 teams? DEFLATEriots***** of course, and our very own Pittsburgh Steelers! disgusting!!!

[stlavin95]

I guess it depends on how much money Bell would earn in those 3 years. Will be interested to see what contracts he gets offered next offseason, since I don't really see him getting any decent offers from any playoff sides.

[Jen's Herald]

Bell's two-position threat really only works in Pittsburgh, and all because of a veteran and defense-reading qb named Ben, who sees both levels of options as he reads the defense, and gets the ball to LB. i guarantee LB won't have that same production ratio between rb and receiver on another team, that he sees with the Steeler O. 95% of major players who move on from the Steelers, never amount to much once they leave. Randle El, Lamarr Woodley, Chad Brown, James 'i can't shut my mouth' Harrison, Neil O'Donnell, the list goes on and on lol. the 5%...Rod Woodson and Mike Vrabel. no i don't count that lucky punk blunt going to the CHEATriots***** good riddance.