Anyone that wants to bring bell on this team is a moron. It is that simple.

Sherck are you positive about this? I’m not an expert by any means but I thought the deadline for him to negotiate a new contract this season had passed. I believe whether or not he signed his tender does not matter as far as that goes. However, because he hasn’t signed his tender he technically isn’t under contract and can not currently be traded. He’ll have to sign the tender to be traded. I’ve been wrong before though.

I agree, he is a great player, but could be a selfish cancer, not worth the risk. Let the Patriots take him.

You pay it once, you have to pay it again. That alone makes it a bad idea.

That’s a little harsh. There is an argument that a multiple year all-pro running back might possibly help this offense. I don’t know the guy myself, but if he were to check out attitude wise, if you can protect the team if he does performance enhancing drugs, get him for a third and not hamstring yourself financially then I’d be that moron who thinks it’s worth a chance. We need playmakers

I’ve been researching it and I stand by my statement - Bell can’t be signed to a long term contract by anyone this year. If a team trades for him they will have no guarantee they will keep him past this year. Teams had until July 16th to reach a long term contract with franchise tagged players. After that teams can’t negotiate with them until after the last game of this season. It is true that Bell didn’t sign his tender, but that means he has no contract and can’t be traded. Only players under contract can be traded. The only contract he can sign is the franchise tender. Pittsburgh could theoretically rescind the franchise tag, but he would then become a free agent.

Bell’s talent is obvious, but he makes absolutely no sense for this Colts team. If Ballard wants him then simply sign him in the off season. The only way he won’t be a free agent is if Pittsburgh tags him again which will not happen. But the Colts don’t need to spend a high draft pick for the right to rent Bell for the remainder of the season. They aren’t in a win now mode. It would be stupid. I have confidence it isn’t in Ballard’s plans to trade for him.

If you can't sign him long term it truly makes very little sense to trade for him

Le'Veon Bell appears to want two things: money, and a certain average annual value to his contract. If the Colts are interested in trading for him, this is an idea they could approach him with before the trade is consummated. If he's uninterested, drop out. I don't think he's worth the money he wants, but the Colts are positioned uniquely with cap space to not care about that. A creative contract allows him to satisfy his ego and get most of his money upfront and the Colts to get an all-pro caliber RB for well under market value for 3 years (I wouldn't sign him past his age 30 season).

No, you don't. That's silly. Each contract negotiation is different. It would be a unique circumstance that the Colts would even be able to offer that.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

You can sign him long term, it just has to wait until January. Trading for him does give you an exclusive negotiating window, however. That said, I wouldn't trade for him or sign him long term unless he was willing to take an extremely frontloaded deal.

Do I really need to explain it to you?

I thought you were a free market type of person? Just because the Colts do a thing once doesn't mean they would have to do it again. Sure, players could ask, but a simple "no" ends it. It's not some sort of Pandora's Box.

It re-sets the market for RBs. Your explanation is lunacy, as usual

I would argue it doesn't, especially since on the Colts end it would be an obvious ploy to get some use out of the cap dollars that they'd otherwise just have to send to the union, but the market for RBs is going to go up anyway. The cap in the very near future will exceed $200 million. Some RB in the next few years is going to get a contract that's not gimmicky and has a $15 million AAV.

Let’s see

He wants more money than any rb in history. A good deal more

We can’t negotiate a new deal this year.

He is one strike away from being suspended a year for drugs

He is a malcontent and is holding out.

It isn’t harsh at all. Nobody should want this idiot on a young team like this.

Honestly any objection I have is less about his attitude and more about just waiting a season and getting him without using a draft pick in the offseason.

If you don't care about the exclusive negotiating window, this is the best idea.

You would basically be giving up a 2nd for the opportunity to fully meet Bell’s ridiculous contract demands. Anything less than that and I don’t see him signing until he hits the market and see’s what his value will be. He seems to believe he will get it and has proven he’s committed to making sure he gets the opportunity. I don’t believe anyone will fully meet his demands so the Colts should have an opportunity to get him if they really want him. Personally I’m happy with the trio the Colts have and think there are plenty of better places to spend the money.

The fact that we can't negotiate a new deal makes me agree we should not give up a draft pick for him. The drug thing bothers me but not the malcontent crap. Nobody here knows the guy, opinions are generated by news that either the club or the players rep give. Neither is without suspicion. He has a limited time to make money and wants to maximize it. So he holds out. Never saw that coming from a professional athlete. I do know he would immediately be the best runner on the team, the best pass protecting back on the team and not only the best pass catching running back but one of the best pass catchers period on the team. He would improve the team immensely on the field. Ballard would be a fool not to look into this. Having said all of that, I come down on not giving up a draft pick for him.

This guy, in the most polite terms is a knucklehead.

And its' doubtful that will EVER change. Yeah, he can play football, when he's not neck deep in BS.

And how old is he? Investing in an old RB is like buying meat when it's 3 days past the expiration date. Oh, a knucklehead RB

There is video of him recording his coach talking to the team. He's a twitter idiot. He's a dumbass. While I understand his talent, he is the reason he misses games.

Of course you would

I like to compare this to when BP traded Marshall Faulk to the Rams.

I don't believe that Bell has Faulk type talent. Faulk was the type of RB that could transform a franchise. Bell is not that.

Bell absolutely has Faulk level talent.

IMO, for the Colts, it just comes down to: what's the 2018 free agency plan? If they think the class is weak and they don't want to run into a bunch of Gosder Cherilus situations, maybe it's worth front-loading a Bell contract with a significant signing bonus on money that otherwise would just be sitting there. If they think the class has some answers (particularly at OT, WR, and long term plans for TE/RB/CB/LB/etc.), then no way in hell they should pull the trigger.

FA OTs in 2019 are garbage so toss that out.

I respectfully disagree.... he broke 2000 yards in 2014, and nearly in 2016 and 2017. Those are roughly the same as Faulk's numbers from 1998 to 2001.

Faulk was never one drug infraction away from a long suspension though.

heh... maybe that's why Bell is holding out, ala Ricky Williams in 2004.