LeVeon Bell is back in Pittsburgh, and he has signed the franchise tender that was waiting for him. He once refused to sign this deal, and he finally showed up to sign it. We can speculate all day about why he finally decided to sign his tender, but I think that someone who wants to get paid should at least have their voice heard. The problem for Bell is the problem for all Running Backs. They are a dime a dozen in the NFL.
This is why they franchised him
Running backs in the NFL can be very good for your team, but we are seeing that many teams prefer to pick someone off the street who is cheap and easy to deal with.
They can control these players for less money over the course of several years, and they let them go when it is time to pay them. The running back tends to fall apart when hitting age 30, and it is hard to find someone like Curtis Martin who was so solid for such a long time. It is more likely that a running back does not see the end of that second contract because they have already started to drop in performance. They have to be cut because the team does not want to pay them, and they go to running back purgatory.
This is the purpose of the tag
The franchise tag will help certain players get paid a load of money for one season so that they can work out a deal with their current team. Bell has not seen the writing on the wall, and he must think that he can bet on himself by testing free agency.
I have no clue where he could, and no one else does. It would make more sense for him to sign a deal with the Steelers to get the guarantees and security. He could be a very rich man, and he could stay with a franchise that will ultimately best good to him even if it does not pay the most.
Where could he go?
The Lions, Bears, Jets, Colts, and Seahawks would all be good stops for this guy.
He could turn up at these teams and immediately impact their offense. He could come to San Francisco where they need as much talent as they can get, and he could make more money. However, the Rams and 49ers are run by young crews, and they may not want any kind of high priced running back. The Colts are focused on Andrew Luck, and the Seahawks might fix their fairly large running back.
In short, there is no reason to believe that Bell can find a better place to go in the future.
LeVeon Bell may need to take what he can get while it is still hot. He will walk away with a ton of money, and it may be the best he can do without going to a bad franchise that simply has the most money to spend.
