According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Steelers offered Bell a five-year, $70 million deal. The contract reportedly would have paid out “more than $30 million over two years.”
That doesn’t reveal nearly enough. What was the signing bonus? How much was fully guaranteed at signing? How were the final three years structured? The $14 million annual average means nothing without knowing the payout in year one and the average value through two, three, and four years.
Remember, Bell already has $14.5 million on the table for 2018. The Steelers offered another $55.5 million in exchange for four more years, with no details whatsoever on how that would be paid, other than Bell getting “more than $30 million over two years.”
If the goal is to make Bell look greedy and unreasonable in the eyes of fans who believe he’d actually get $70 million, mission accomplished. But as it relates to any realistic effort to understand what was actually put on the table, it’s not nearly enough.
