Le’Veon Bell says “Free at last” as Steelers don’t tag him

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 20, 2019, 4:30 PM EST
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The Steelers announced today that they will not tag running back Le'Veon Bell this year, and Bell is celebrating.

Bell took to Twitter shortly after General Manager Kevin Colbert confirmed that the Steelers have no intention of tagging Bell again this year and will let him test unrestricted free agency.

“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty I am free at last,” Bell wrote.

Bell sat out the entire 2018 season after the Steelers put the franchise tag on him last year. On March 13, he’ll finally be able to do what he’s been wanting to do: Shop himself to the highest bidder.

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96 responses to “Le’Veon Bell says “Free at last” as Steelers don’t tag him”

  2. Too bad that he would behave like that. He let the Steelers down this last season.
    I am sure some of his ex team mates have something to say.

  4. It won’t happen, but teams should offer him a 1 year, $1M prove-it type deal before they even consider putting out a huge payday for him.

  6. You just know he’s going to get called out for equating those words with the ability to earn tens of millions of dollars.

    It’s be funny if he winds up in the AAF (won’t happen-just funny)

  7. Good luck Lev.
    You got suspended twice, couldn’t stay healthy, sat out a season and got replaced in short order by a 3rd round pick.
    Here’s to a massive payday so we can get that 3rd round comp.

  8. Bell is exercising his collectively bargained rights, but unless the Jets decide to break the bank, he’ll never make back the money he lost by sitting out this year.

  9. I understand wanting to get paid, but L bell and AB won a lot of games in Pittsburgh. it’s weird they are trying to run away form Pitt like it’s a house on fire.

  13. I can’t wait to see how Bell will respond to the best offer. My guess is that he’ll peak at $11 million per season, 4 years, last year not guaranteed.

    Gurley will serve as the cautionary tale.

  15. Good luck finding a team dumb enough to give him a big contract. An aging running back who sits out when he doesn’t get his way, when you can get 2 running backs in the draft or undrafted free agents for less money and will play their butts off.

  16. He lost over 14 millions by holding out last season. Not sure he will make them back after signing with another team even in the long run. The only thing he gained was not getting injured.

  17. Why does everyone assume that Bell would’ve gotten through last season without an injury? Pro football is dangerous and you’re one play away from your career ending. Bell basically bought insurance for a $30 million guaranteed payday this spring.

    Yes, the tag was $14 million last season he won’t get back. But had he torn his ACL, there’s another $14 million he’d never see again. It’s not complicated.

  22. “Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty I am free at last,” Bell wrote.

    ——————————————-

    Yes, I certainly equate being freed from playing a game and making millions of dollars with the struggles of generations of people, who endured extreme suffering, and some which gave their lives.

  24. I pretty much hate the guy, but he’s never had a chance to shop himself around and he’s frickin’ 27 years old in a career in which 30 is old.

  25. He’ll never recoup that $14M he lost be sitting out last year. Teams will be even less inclined to sign him for that kind of $$$$. Of course, clown franchises like the NJJ and Buffalo like to make colossal blunders…

  28. Walking away from millions while others are starving? Childish and entitled.
    Something tells me MLK would be offended at the use of his words coming out of Bells pie hole.

  29. Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty I am free at last

    ————————————-

    I wonder if he has any idea who spoke those words, or the context they spoke in.

    Guessing not. Very sad for him.

  31. Hope he never earns back the 14.5 million he passed on last year. The stench coming from Bell is overwhelming. Acts like he was in jail because he was only going to make 14.5 mil. Screw him.

  32. Everyone crying cuz Bell sat out. If anything Earl Thomas proved that Bell did the correct. Why risk injury before a big pay day? Earl Thomas isn’t going to make half as much as he would have if he had sat out all last season. But fans don’t care they just see these players make more money than them and think they should play no matter what.

  33. Really? Quoting MLK and acting like he was being oppressed because the steelers wanted to give him millions of dollars? Priorities….

  34. Pittsburgh reportedly offered him $33 million guaranteed over 2 years ($45 million over 3 years) in a long term deal. He then had the chance for a guaranteed $14.4 million on the franchise tag. Will he feel his turning those down was worth it if he gets lower guarantee offers than that this spring? Will he sit out another year gambling that he’ll get a better offer in 2020 if this doesn’t match what he wants?

    9 of the top 11 RBs last season were players on their rookie contracts. James Conner did fairly well in Bell’s absence. I’m not sure teams are going to shell out massive money for a player that just sat out for a year when he plays a position where you can draft a guy and get great value from them immediately.

  37. Funny how fast the turned. The Steelers stuck by him when he got a year suspension for marijuana. He stuck by them when…oh, he didn’t.

  39. How did Bell do in the biggest game of his career…..the only AFCCG in which he played?

    Teams should take a good look at those stats before signing Bell

  42. I respect players who act like MEN and who HONOR their word.

    I don’t respect this jerk.

    I hope he finds someplace to land (like a fly) and then suffers a career-ending injury that forces him to live like the rest of us.

    I feel nothing but contempt for him and his putrid wide receiver teammate.

  44. Hey he made a business decision. It’ll fascinating to see if the huge risk he took pays off.

  46. Amazing the amount of hate out their people have above. He used his negotiated rights to sit out and getting blasted for it. When NFL teams cut someone it’s “business” yet when he does it people root for him to be injured?? How’d that work for Earl Thomas? And everyone calling him a “spoiled millionaire” do realize he’s negotiating with a Billionaire owner right? NFL players die ~30 years younger than the average person, let them do what they want.

  47. When you boil it all down, Brown and Bell have a lot in common. Incredibly gifted physical talents with well below average intelligence who don’t understand how the world works. We’ve seen this movie before. Highly unlikely they’ll come out ahead in the end. They’re leaving a storied franchise where they were both fixtures in a high powered offense to go rot somewhere on a 6-10 team in a market that cares about football a lot less. What they’ve lost in terms of marketability cannot be understated. Their agents’ strategy is at best curious, at worst irresponsible.

  48. For this absolute tool to use the words of Martin Luther King to push his agenda is abhorent

    And to think this guy supposedly attended and passed several levels of education and was admitted to a college is even more stupefying.

    What a complete lack of understanding of how lucky he is to have a job that has already paid him millions of dollars and undoubtedly will pay him millions more.

    Just take your money and shut the hell up Leveon, and while your at it, grab a history book and read up on one of the great men of our time, who you have no right to plagiarize.

  49. Kiss that $14.5 mil goodbye (not to be recovered). Free at last from his BS (and actually very well replaced) the Steelers say.

  51. zonkerharris213 says:
    February 20, 2019 at 4:40 pm
    I can’t wait to see how Bell will respond to the best offer. My guess is that he’ll peak at $11 million per season, 4 years, last year not guaranteed.

    Gurley will serve as the cautionary tale.
    —————————-

    So you’re predicting he’s gonna get over $30 mill plus for 3-4 years??? With less wear and tear in his body? That’s a W for Bell no matter how you look at it!

  53. Question, Did the Steelers make the playoffs without Bell? I hope they fix that terrible defense because without Bell and AB they won’t score many points. Good luck Juju now that you’ll have to face the best DB week to week and see coverage rolled your way instead of towards AB. Steelers fans are in for a rude awakening.

  54. A lot of guys have running back talent. So, you want to give this guy, pay him enormous money, to destroy your team? Really? Is there not enough evidence to NOT allow this guy near your team????

  55. Look, unlike AB, Bell made a business decision to sit out. Yeah, it sucks for the team and the fans, but that’s his right. AB flat out quit on his team and disrespected his teammates, coaches, and front-office continuously, so equating Bell to AB isn’t really fair.

    That said, we’ll find out soon enough if sitting out the season was a smart move. I’m guessing it wasn’t. MAYBE he’ll get enough additional guaranteed money over the Steelers’ final offer to make up for the lost year, but he’s not going to have a Top-3 line blocking for him, he’s probably going to have a worse QB and passing attack, and things are gonna get mighty hot for him if he gets off to a slow start or gets hurt. In Pittsburgh he was worshipped, and things won’t be nearly as sweet for a new FA with one of the richest RB contracts in history.

  56. As a steelers fan i am simply relieved to get rid of this headache. Bell is awesome on the field, no question about it. No offense to Conner, we probably would have made the playoffs with bell and made some noise this year with him(if he wasnt hurt or suspended for some reason which is always possible with him). Lets collect the comp pick for bell, get what we can for AB and max out Ben’s last couple years

  57. Good riddance. He would have made more with the tag. And yes I know that a long term deal is usually preferable but a lost year is a lost year. And lost income. Sorry he ain’t making that up.

  60. I like Bell a helluva lot more than I like Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick is out under false pretenses. Bell is out because he was all about the money for himself and said so.

    So of the two, Bell is the stand up guy.

  62. There’s 32 teams – you can hem and haw about character and locker room fit all day long but at the end of the day, if there’s talent – someone will always pay and usually overpay.

  63. Am I missing something? I see all these posts about him missing “all that money” he left. The Steelers offer was 10 mil guaranteed…..

    So do you not think he is going to sign for more than 10 mil? Lmao

  66. 30 mil guaranteed if he was on the roster. 10 mil if he was cut. I’m sure he wasn’t getting cut.

  68. Dear Bruce Allen, please do not be an idiot and sign Antonio Brown or Leveon Bell. I say this given the assumption that you would sign one or both and in the tradition of Albert Haynesworth, Josh Norman and Alex Smith, we would continue to “win off the field…”

  71. Ray Chamberlain says:
    February 20, 2019 at 6:21 pm
    As a steelers fan i am simply relieved to get rid of this headache. Bell is awesome on the field, no question about it. No offense to Conner, we probably would have made the playoffs with bell and made some noise this year with him(if he wasnt hurt or suspended for some reason which is always possible with him). Lets collect the comp pick for bell, get what we can for AB and max out Ben’s last couple years

    _____________________________

    Conner’s stats were superior to Bell’s. There’s no evidence that Bell would’ve been a difference maker propelling the Steelers to the playoffs.

  77. When pro athletes (making millions) try to make their job an equivalency to the struggles of slavery/being oppressed/or any type of comparison to the people who currently live (or have lived) a real life struggle of poverty/slavery make me want to turn of the channel and never watch sports.

  83. The Steelers realized Bell just isn’t worth anymore time,energy, or money so they cut him lose for good poor Bell won’t be able to get so much attention playing the martyr besides Steelers have 2 young capable RB’s that have already taken his place so it’s all good

  84. The Steelers realized Bell just isn’t worth anymore time,energy, or money so they cut him lose for good poor Bell won’t be able to get so much attention playing the martyr besides Steelers have 2 young capable RB’s that have already taken his place so it’s all good

  87. Once again the NFL is changing & RB’s aren’t in as high of demand for such high salary. He may get $10 million a season but 14, don’t think so. He miscalculated.

  88. The NFL franchise tag rule is unconstitutional. He signed and completed his contract. He owed nothing to the team. The fact the team can legally block him from moving on after fulfilling his contract is ludicrous at best.

  90. annes22 says:

    February 20, 2019 at 4:35 pm

    Too bad that he would behave like that. He let the Steelers down this last season.
    I am sure some of his ex team mates have something to say.
    ———-
    Behave like what? How did he let the Steelers down? He wasn’t under contract and didn’t hold out. Why should he have signed the deal to get 1 yr guarantee and risk injury because the Steelers didn’t want to risk investing in him long term? This isn’t the same as a player signing a contract and then wanting to renegotiate a yr or 2 into his deal he had no deal.

  92. isphet71 says:
    February 20, 2019 at 4:44 pm
    Way to belittle MLK and the fight against actual slavery.

    ——

    Exactly.

    MLK said those words on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after leading a civil rights March during a time when African Americans were not allowed to use the same bathrooms as whites. He was later assassinated while in Memphis supporting African American garbage collectors that went on strike over unsafe and unfair working conditions.

    Bell said that after turning down a reported contact worth 70 million dollars to play a game.

  93. It makes no sense to make these types of statements when the stick and ball jocks are getting paid millions annually to play sports. They live in a country that treats them like royalty and protects their freedoms like no other country in the world yet they are often disrespectful, pampered ingrates. It’s disgusting.

  94. davedsone says:
    February 20, 2019 at 5:19 pm
    Funny how fast the turned. The Steelers stuck by him when he got a year suspension for marijuana. He stuck by them when…oh, he didn’t

    ________________________________________________

    In what year did he get a year suspension?

  96. Curious to see how this works out………my gut tells me in 10 years we will see him filing for bankruptcy protection……leaving $14M on the table is really incredible (Latrell Sprewell behavior).

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