Le'Veon Bell wants to be valued, and he DESERVES to be valued.
Bell told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that he'd consider retiring or sitting out if he's slapped with the franchise tag for a second consecutive season. What's with the ultimatum, dude?
I'm on Bell's side here. I tend to always side with the employee and not the employer. This is no different. Bell's got a compelling case as he's the best running back in football, and has been for at least the last three seasons.
BUT I've got two problems with the way he's handled this. 1.) His timing sucks. The Steelers are about to play the Jacksonville Jaguars before heading to Haiti to play the "elephant in the room." 2.) He's dressing his case up with bull sh*t. Le'Veon Bell isn't going to retire...Unless he suddenly becomes a quality rapper...
...Not likely. He also said, "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." Bro, no you don't. You want yours! This isn't about helping out your fellow RB's.
If Le'Veon were privy to a hot-tub time machine, I'd tell him to wait until after the season to bring this up. Ideally, after a few more playoff games where he's averaging about 170 yards a game. I'd also tell him that the only time he should bring up Gurley, Elliot, and Gordon is when he compares their numbers to his.
He's the best. That should be all that matter. Enough of the bull sh*t.