Call it one running back looking out for another, or a former teammate sticking up for Le’Veon Bell, but DeAngelo Williams took to Twitter to defend Bell and his contract asks. Williams had a long conversation with fans, believing it’s fair for Bell to ask what he’s asking for, reportedly up to $17 million per season.
That conversation actually sorta started when Williams responded to one of Dave Bryan’s tweets.
And it took off from there. Williams pointed out, fairly, if I can interject, that just because the running back market is underpaid right now (and it is), doesn’t mean Bell should have to continue that trend.
A couple more tweets from D-Will.
He thinks Bell will get paid, either by Pittsburgh or someone else, and the Steelers are waiting out a reason to not pay him at such a high level.
And as Bell did in a Q&A a month ago, pointed to the contracts of Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson before the market crashed.
Obviously, Bell has taken plenty of just criticism here and all over the Inter-webz the past few days. Some of that is self-imposed, especially after his lame “I’m the villain” tweet that opened old wounds all over.
But it’s fair to show the other side, from another NFL player, who can empathize with Bell’s position. Yes, Bell is asking for a lot of money but had the running back scale gone the way of every other position, his current demands wouldn’t seem outlandish. He has the right to ask for whatever he wants (and of course, the Steelers have the right to reject it) and he’s playing a position that essentially gets only one shot at a long-term deal.
It’s important to at least present the opposing point of view and to hear it from a former NFL player, who also went through contract negotiations and had to pay some serious taxes (Williams estimated it between 32 and 47%, depending on the year). It’s fine to be upset with Bell but this is a conversation to keep in mind.
