Running back Le’Veon Bell is set to sign a free-agent contract that will certainly make him one of the highest-paid running backs in the NFL. The Pittsburgh Steelers have washed their hands of Bell and he is free to move on after forfeiting the 2018 season. A move which cost him over $14 million. Bell is hoping to recoup the massive loss with his next contract but we’ve contended all along he will never make the money back he gave up.
This is a sentiment shared by NFL analyst Cris Carter. He said on First Things First he thought Bell should have played last season and the $14+ million he passed up will never make it back to him. And Carter is almost certainly right.
Right now the largest running back contract in the league in terms of guaranteed money is for Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams. His number sits at $45 million. If Bell assumes he is going to get the biggest contract of all time and replace his lost earnings in guarantees, some team is going to have to shell out $60 million. Would a team really be foolish enough to do this for a player who has had two suspensions for violation of the league’s substance abuse policy?
