And it's Le'veon Bell's fault.
For two straight seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers put a franchise tag on the best running back in football. One could argue about Bell being the best, but when he plays with the Steelers:
He averages 128.9 yards per game
He's a premier pass blocker
He's a No. 2 Receiver
And the Steelers are undefeated when he carries the ball 25 times or more.
He's that good. So, when the Steelers and Bell couldn't negotiate a long term contract acceptable to Bell, the Steelers put a franchise tag on him. An Exclusive Franchise Tag.
Le'Veon Bell was drafted in the second round in 2013. Rookie contracts are 4 years long. Bell has never played under a contract outside of his rookie contract, as both years that was possible he ended up tagged.
There are three different types of Franchise Tags in the NFL.
Exclusive: 1 year, player is paid the average of the top 5 salaries at his position or 120% of his previous salary, whichever is higher. For Bell, that was 14.5 million dollars. Player may not negotiate with with any other team.
Non-Exclusive - same terms as an Exclusive, but the player can negotiate with other teams, the team with the tag can match the offer, and if the player chooses to go to another team, the tagging team gets two compensatory picks.
Transition - Pretty much a Non-Exclusive, but it's the average of the top 10 salaries, and you lose the compensatory picks.
Pittsburgh knew what they had in Le'veon Bell, and the first year he played under that tag. When negotiations on a long term deal failed the second time, they gave him a second tag, a second exclusive tag. And then Bell did what no player has dared to do. He sat. For the entire season. He literally gave away 14.5 million dollars to make a point.
Maybe Bell is just greedy. I don't know. (Although greed would say he would take his 14.5 mill, and then force them to tag him again. That third tag? It's worth the average of the top 5 quarterback salaries...north of 25 million dollars.) That money eats into the salary cap. He knew he was going to get to walk at the end of the season if Pittsburgh failed to meet his contract demands. So greed seems less likely to me. More, it seems, Bell was fighting against the idea that he couldn't negotiate his contract with someone willing to pay him what he felt he deserved.
Running backs, for the most part, have a short shelf life in the NFL. They get beat up pretty bad. These long term deals serve to give them financial security from concussions, torn ligaments and broken bones. Just look at Todd Gurley. He has arthritis in his knee, and he got a 20 million dollar signing bonus and 45 million dollars guaranteed. That contract extension is his bread and butter, even if the Rams end up regretting it. (Note: he got that extension BEFORE the diagnosis of arthritis in his knee.)
The Exclusive Franchise tag is one of the worst things the NFLPA could have agreed to. Imagine if you get offered a job somewhere, doing exactly what you are doing now, and making way more money. And your boss could just rewrite your contract to say "Nope... you can't go. You're tagged." They don't have to declare that they plan to do this when they sign you to a contract. They can just do it. This isn't a non-compete clause. You sign those when you take a job. This is just a flat out anvil hanging over the head of every really good player in the NFL. And since a team can only give one a season, you have no idea when or if it might be you.
Bell open a huge can of worms for the NFL and its owners when he chose to throw away 14.5 million dollars and refused to play football. No one had done it before. But since? Well just ask Seattle's Frank Clark, who is currently refusing to attend camps and play until he gets his long term deal. Yeah, Seattle tagged him. And Clark won't be the only playing follow the leader. Bell proved you can stick it to the man, so to speak. Others will be all too willing to play that same game until 2020.
2020 marks the end of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the players. The Exclusive Franchise tag will be chopped. It's not cost effective anymore. It was a crap move on the part of the NFL owners to even want it. The NFL makes more money than any other sport. It's players play less time than any other sport (Tom Brady not included). The Exclusive Franchise tag takes away their ability to negotiate for the best deal they can get. Imagine if you had to work that way.
Both the Non-Exclusive and Transition versions could stay put. They both still allow the player the power to determine his future. But what Pittsburgh did to Bell? Well, I would have sat my butt down for the season too.
For two straight seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers put a franchise tag on the best running back in football. One could argue about Bell being the best, but when he plays with the Steelers:
He averages 128.9 yards per game
He's a premier pass blocker
He's a No. 2 Receiver
And the Steelers are undefeated when he carries the ball 25 times or more.
He's that good. So, when the Steelers and Bell couldn't negotiate a long term contract acceptable to Bell, the Steelers put a franchise tag on him. An Exclusive Franchise Tag.
Le'Veon Bell was drafted in the second round in 2013. Rookie contracts are 4 years long. Bell has never played under a contract outside of his rookie contract, as both years that was possible he ended up tagged.
There are three different types of Franchise Tags in the NFL.
Exclusive: 1 year, player is paid the average of the top 5 salaries at his position or 120% of his previous salary, whichever is higher. For Bell, that was 14.5 million dollars. Player may not negotiate with with any other team.
Non-Exclusive - same terms as an Exclusive, but the player can negotiate with other teams, the team with the tag can match the offer, and if the player chooses to go to another team, the tagging team gets two compensatory picks.
Transition - Pretty much a Non-Exclusive, but it's the average of the top 10 salaries, and you lose the compensatory picks.
Pittsburgh knew what they had in Le'veon Bell, and the first year he played under that tag. When negotiations on a long term deal failed the second time, they gave him a second tag, a second exclusive tag. And then Bell did what no player has dared to do. He sat. For the entire season. He literally gave away 14.5 million dollars to make a point.
Maybe Bell is just greedy. I don't know. (Although greed would say he would take his 14.5 mill, and then force them to tag him again. That third tag? It's worth the average of the top 5 quarterback salaries...north of 25 million dollars.) That money eats into the salary cap. He knew he was going to get to walk at the end of the season if Pittsburgh failed to meet his contract demands. So greed seems less likely to me. More, it seems, Bell was fighting against the idea that he couldn't negotiate his contract with someone willing to pay him what he felt he deserved.
Running backs, for the most part, have a short shelf life in the NFL. They get beat up pretty bad. These long term deals serve to give them financial security from concussions, torn ligaments and broken bones. Just look at Todd Gurley. He has arthritis in his knee, and he got a 20 million dollar signing bonus and 45 million dollars guaranteed. That contract extension is his bread and butter, even if the Rams end up regretting it. (Note: he got that extension BEFORE the diagnosis of arthritis in his knee.)
The Exclusive Franchise tag is one of the worst things the NFLPA could have agreed to. Imagine if you get offered a job somewhere, doing exactly what you are doing now, and making way more money. And your boss could just rewrite your contract to say "Nope... you can't go. You're tagged." They don't have to declare that they plan to do this when they sign you to a contract. They can just do it. This isn't a non-compete clause. You sign those when you take a job. This is just a flat out anvil hanging over the head of every really good player in the NFL. And since a team can only give one a season, you have no idea when or if it might be you.
Bell open a huge can of worms for the NFL and its owners when he chose to throw away 14.5 million dollars and refused to play football. No one had done it before. But since? Well just ask Seattle's Frank Clark, who is currently refusing to attend camps and play until he gets his long term deal. Yeah, Seattle tagged him. And Clark won't be the only playing follow the leader. Bell proved you can stick it to the man, so to speak. Others will be all too willing to play that same game until 2020.
2020 marks the end of the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the players. The Exclusive Franchise tag will be chopped. It's not cost effective anymore. It was a crap move on the part of the NFL owners to even want it. The NFL makes more money than any other sport. It's players play less time than any other sport (Tom Brady not included). The Exclusive Franchise tag takes away their ability to negotiate for the best deal they can get. Imagine if you had to work that way.
Both the Non-Exclusive and Transition versions could stay put. They both still allow the player the power to determine his future. But what Pittsburgh did to Bell? Well, I would have sat my butt down for the season too.
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