PITTSBURGH — Free-agent running back Le’Veon Bell’s negotiation with the Pittsburgh Steelers could get complicated, but at the core it’s quite simple.
Just follow the snow tracks to Minneapolis, the birthplace of Adrian Peterson’s milestone $100-million contract in 2011.
No running back has touched Peterson’s average earnings of $14 million per year since that deal. The next-closest currently under contract is LeSean McCoy at around $8 million. When it comes to Bell’s future, the sound of McCoy’s number is much sweeter to the Steelers than Peterson’s.
But Peterson is still the market’s standard-bearer, at least for now. And Bell, arguably the best tailback to enter free agency since Peterson’s prime, will hope to spike that market with one swift open-field cut.
That means Bell, ever confident, will set his eyes north.
Can both sides find a sweet spot?
The franchise tag is a good first step in earnest. The Steelers can apply the tag starting today, slating Bell to make around $12.4 million for one year and serving as a placeholder in case both sides can’t agree on a longer deal.
Peterson can still deepen the intrigue. The Vikings’ looming decision on Peterson should be closely watched at Steelers headquarters. The Vikings are widely expected to pass on the 31-year-old Peterson’s $6 million roster bonus in the final year of his deal. That leaves Minnesota with two options: Cut him or ask him to take a reduced salary, a reality a prideful Peterson might not accept.
If Peterson is released, that $14-million-a-year clip is off the books, leaving McCoy the game’s highest-paid back. The Steelers easily could give Bell more than McCoy without jeopardizing the salary cap.
But consider that Bell — who’s coming off an explosive year in which he averaged 157 yards from scrimmage per game — has long admired Peterson’s career, and he basically admitted in a rap lyric last offseason that he’ll want Peterson money. Bell, also known as the rapper Juice, wrote this in his song “Focus”: “I’m at the top and if not I’m the closest, I’ma need 15 a year and they know this.”
Bell later backed off those comments, saying he’s not a greedy person. But the seed has been planted: He’s a confident player and plans to be paid as such. Despite two drug-related suspensions and two knee injuries, Bell’s been too good to accept a modest deal. After all, his own suspension aside, Peterson was slated to earn $85 million over the last six years, which dwarfs the recent deals signed by McCoy (five years, $40 million) and DeMarco Murray (five years, $42 million).
No one will understand that discrepancy more than Bell’s reps, even if Peterson’s numbers are ultimately far-fetched for any running back in 2017.
The Steelers stuck by Bell through the suspensions, then proceeded to pound the rock nearly 30 times per game with their team MVP late in the season. Bell capitalized on that opportunity and proved he’s the game’s most unique back.
Those factors suggest the two sides need each other. Things could get heated over the next six months before they realize this.
It’s becoming all too predictable for Arsenal.
Mired in an erratic league campaign that has seen yet another title chase shift from a realistic goal to a pipe dream, the Gunners and embattled manager Arsene Wenger headed to Bavaria and got their asses kicked.
The eye test says Arsenal is a side lacking a spine and the courage to see out a result, while the numbers support just how one-sided Bayern Munich’s 5-1 bludgeoning of Wenger’s docile bunch was.
Here’s a look at a collection of statistics that describe how brilliant Bayern was, and how insipid Arsenal was as it heads back to north London embarrassed and with more questions than answers:
6: For the sixth consecutive season, Arsenal has lost the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tilt.
16: Bayern Munich becomes the first club in Champions League history to win 16 consecutive home matches.
200: Arsenal is the first English side to concede 200 Champions League goals. Congrats.
9: Nine of Bayern’s 11 players were involved in Robben’s opener.
(Courtesy: @OptaJoe)
3+: Arsenal has conceded three or more goals in four of its last six first-leg matches in the Champions League last-16.
21.2 percent: Arsenal’s possession in the opening half.
18-4: The Bundesliga behemoth created 18 chances to Arsenal’s four.
0: In 77 minutes played, Francis Coquelin failed to win a single tackle.
1: The number of Arsenal players (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) to applaud the away fans for making the trip to Germany.
12: The number of passes completed by Alex Iwobi to go with zero shots on target, zero chances created, zero crosses, zero take-ons, zero tackles, and zero aerial duels.
24: Bayern took 24 shots, eight of which landed on target.
5-1: Bayern’s last two home fixtures against Arsenal ended in 5-1 victories for the Bavarians.
10: Minutes it took to send Arsenal packing from the group stage for a seventh season on the bounce after a Thiago Alcantara brace and Robert Lewandowski’s header made a mockery of Wenger’s side.
Former NFL quarterback Vince Young has hired agent Leigh Steinberg in an apparent attempt to reboot his football career.
Steinberg announced that he signed Young, 33, in a Twitter post on Wednesday, declaring Young has a “dream of playing more football.”
Young, the former star at Texas, has not played in an NFL regular-season game since 2011 and retired from football in 2014.
#VinceYoung Welcome new client @VinceYoung10 who has dream of playing more football,being role model @Longhorn_FB @LonghornNetwork
— Leigh Steinberg (@leighsteinberg) February 15, 2017
WELCOME NEW CLIENT QB @VINCEYOUNG10 @Longhorn_FB @LonghornNetwork @UTAustin #HookEm #Texas pic.twitter.com/GDIoN0c2TG
— Leigh Steinberg (@leighsteinberg) February 15, 2017
The Spring League, an independent four-team football league made up of free agents that debuts in April, has publicly expressed interest in adding Young, the former No. 3 overall pick who earned Rookie of the Year honors and made the Pro Bowl in 2006 and 2009 during his six years in the NFL.
Young last attempted a comeback in 2014, a brief offseason stint with the Cleveland Browns. He signed following a minicamp tryout but was cut days after the Browns drafted Johnny Manziel. Before that, Young was cut by the Green Bay Packers in the preseason in 2013.
Young works for the University of Texas as a development officer in its division of diversity and community engagement.
He returned to his alma mater, where he led the Longhorns to a national championship in 2005, following his retirement and took a position specifically created for him that pays $100,000 annually.
Young was sentenced to 18 months probation in January after pleading no contest to a DWI charge. He was fined $300 and ordered to complete 60 hours of community service to resolve his case after a January 2016 arrest in Austin.