We need to have a take about Leveon...

[CKSteeler]

I have long been of the opinion that Leveon Bell is some sort of magical idiot savant. I've met a few rare examples of this phenomenon in my life. People who are absolute geniuses in some odd area of expertise, but bafflingly stupid in others. In Bell's case, he's magic on the football field with all the natural instincts required to be a unique player at his position. He even prepares himself for his duties on the field in an admirable way for the most part. No one can question his physical conditioning or ability to keep himself in shape. Yet, he's an idiot savant because he does things like post shirtless wrap [url=http://www.steelersdepot.com/2017/08/video-leveon-bell-now-want-17-million-per-season/]videos of himself calling out Antonio Brown.[/url] Now, Antonio Brown himself is his own sort of special case for, while he is incredibly hard working and talented, he's incredibly arrogant and sort of lives in his own little world almost detached from reality. Yet, when Antonio Brown calls out Bell, he can at least say that he never held out when many players in his position would have. He was then compensated.

I don't expect Bell's video to be an issue. I laughed at it, and part of me *hopes* that he intended it to be a joke himself. Though, the part of me that has come to expect the least in people fears that he was deadly serious with this shirtless wrap. No one is ever going to pay you $17 million a year, Leveon. Frankly, the Steelers offered you about what you'd get on the open market in a bidding war because they are actually desperate to take care of. And you aren't as good as you think. You aren't going to go to a 5-11 team and elevate them to the playoffs. You aren't going to take a 10-6 team and make them a contender for a first round bye.

Bell is easier to replace than Antonio Brown. That's why Bell isn't worth any $17 million a year where as you can kind of justify it for Antonio. It's basic supply and demand.

NO one will care about this video when this moron comes back. I just don't want their to be any doubt that he is, in fact, a moron.

[Chieferific]

I'm over his antics. I just wanna use him up over the next 2 years and wave goodbye. 

[43M]

As good as Bell is, I strongly believe that a good OLine is just as vital to a successful running game as the player.    I feel like our line can produce an 1000+ yard back from even a solid RB in terms of talent.    His ability out of the backfield (catching and blocking) is what we would miss the most, but I would never pay him or any RB in this league $17 mil or however much it is that he wants.     I feel like we could retain both Tuitt and Shazier for the same price it would cost to retain just Leveon.

If LeVeon didnt have the off field history and history of getting hurt when we need him most, I might be more inclined to giving him huge money....but you cant just ignore that.     Some will argue that LeVeon has grown up, but I dont know that he has.   I dont know what he will become once get signs for $50 mil guaranteed.    And I still dont trust him from a health standpoiint....which  is a big issue I have with paying ANY  RB top dollar.   I remember some crying that RBs were getting extemely undervalued in todays game.   No....they are just being more properly valued based on where the game is heady.   Dont get me wrong....I do think RBs get a raw deal in some cases, because they are often expected to be one of the hardest working members of the team and yet no one wants to pay them.....so in that case, I guess they are undervalued.....but when you factor in the shelf life of a RB and how much impact they truly have (especially with and without a franchise QB), then its easy to understand why teams are so reluctant to pay them top money.

[warfelg]

The video was a joke from a snapchat that was floating between Vince Williams, Antonio Brown, Ramon Foster, and Bell.  It sounds like VWill made a joke about needing to borrow a few mil so Bell better sign soon, Foster joked that "yea you got the money now", and Brown said something like "Nah he ain't getting paid like me."

An interesting tidbit that I did hear:

Because of Bell's groin surgery he wouldn't have been able to play in the preseason anyways.  He would have been cleared to play in time for the regular season though.  So this guy said that they (the team) told him it was ok to wait out and not come to camp because he wouldn't be practicing and they wanted to save him and the contract situation from overshadowing other things going on at camp.

And I'll be honest I'm going to buy it.  His groin/core surgery wasn't a quick and simple.  Take about 6 weeks to be ready to rehab from his surgery with a 3 month recovery.

[CKSteeler]

I've always been in the camp is overrated...camp. But I find it hard to believe the team told him to stay away given the public comments made by Tomlin, Roethlisberger, and Colbert. It's easy to conceive of a wink-nod thing behind the scenes to the send the right message, but it's harder to see how or why Bell would take the public hit. He could have just reported and not practiced if that they were the case.