Bell, Steelers spat makes great theater

Now, the Steelers gave that money to Antonio Brown, so they did OK. They usually do. They’re very smart. And Wallace eventually screwed up and didn’t see all the cash in his contract, but he’s made more than $50 million in the league, so he’s doing OK, too.

You get the point. Wallace held his ground and was proven correct: Somebody valued him more than the Steelers did. It’s not an unwinnable battle. And both sides can have justifiable positions. That’s just business.

So why are so many people demonizing Le’Veon Bell for sticking to his guns? He’s like anybody else. The great Martavis Bryant spoke for all of us when he said: “I want mines, period.”

Everybody seems to want to put Bell’s demands in the context of the “running back market” when it seems quite obvious he is not comparing himself to other backs but rather placing himself into his team’s salary structure and asking himself this question: Where do I belong?

Ben Roethlisberger clearly didn’t settle for anything less than what he wanted. Brown certainly didn’t. Why should Bell? He apparently wants A.B.type money because he believes he is every bit as valuable as Brown in this offense — and he’s right.

Brown’s extension was worth $17 million annually over four years. Bell’s offer last season reportedly was worth $13.3 million over multiple years without the kinds of guarantees Bell seeks.

The money quote in Bell’s interview the other day with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler was this: “It’s yearto-year with the Steelers. Essentially if I sign a fouror five-year deal, I’m playing [on] four or five franchise tags.”

I think we could all agree that Bell absorbs way more punishment than Brown and maybe more punishment than any player in the NFL. What is so wrong about him focusing on long-term security, which is to say, guaranteed money? And do we even know what the guaranteed money is in the Steelers’ latest offer?

To my knowledge, we don’t. Yet people want to crucify the guy.

All in all — and in spite of his ill-conceived social media campaign of sympathy — Bell does not deserve to be shredded for sticking to his price. I defend his right, just as I defend the Steelers’ right to play this their way and use the franchise tag.

They are incredibly good at appraising talent and they don’t want to pay a player significantly more than what they think he is worth. Nor should they have to.

One key question for the Steelers moving forward is this: Do they believe Bell is serious about skipping multiple games before he shows up to gain an accredited a season and head for the open market? What if he sat out six or eight games?

I think he’s headstrong enough to do it, in the name of preserving his body for his next team. If the Steelers believe the same, they would have to act accordingly. They would have to secure his replacement(s), and eventually rescind the tag.

They might have to do a lot of things they didn’t expect, because Le’Veon Bell is not going to back down.

It’s great theater, is it not?