Super Bowl Domination

Chapter 564 The undercurrent is surging
This offseason, in addition to Cousins' fully guaranteed contract, Smith's transfer to the Washington Redskins, and the contract renewal negotiations between the Green Bay Packers and Rodgers, the industry insiders are most concerned about Bell's contract.

The reason is——

Running back.

Since proving himself as a starting player in his rookie season, Bell has been the league's most dominant running back, averaging more than four yards per carry for four consecutive seasons. In the 2013 season, he carried 860 yards in 2015 games, and in the 556 season, he only played six games due to injuries but still carried yards. In the other three seasons, his ground carry all exceeded yards.

There is no doubt that Bell is the best and most consistent running back since Peterson.

It's not just the statistics. Only the players who actually face Bell on the field can feel the dominance shown by this young running back.

and.

In the 2017 season, Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams and Levy of the Kansas City Chiefs both showed top-level dominance, and the role played by running backs was highlighted. In particular, the Kansas City Chiefs, whose main quarterback was not the core, won the Super Bowl championship, which brought a new possibility.

Perhaps, the role played by running back has more possibilities than imagined.

So, can the running back earn a maximum salary?
As of the 2018 offseason, the annual salary of quarterbacks is about to exceed million US dollars. Even Cousins, who is not one of the top quarterbacks in the league, can get an annual salary of million US dollars. What about running backs?
This offseason, the two top running backs were both negotiating contract extensions.

One is Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams, who finally signed a four-year, $60 million contract, of which $45 million was guaranteed. His annual salary of $15 million made him the highest-paid running back in history.

What kind of historical significance does Gurley's contract have?

First, he surpassed the seven-year, $96 million contract that Peterson signed with the Minnesota Vikings, raising his annual salary by a lot.

Secondly, the guaranteed money of $45 million also surpasses Peterson's $36 million that year, which is a new start for the veteran running back.

Finally, the second highest paid running back in the league this year is Devonta Freeman of the Atlanta Falcons, whose annual salary is only $8.8 million. In other words, Gurley became the only running back with an annual salary of over 10 million.

Despite this, in the current contract, Gurley's annual salary ranks only 43rd in the NFL, which is a significant gap compared to the fourth place.

However, Gurley still fought his way through and secured a big contract for the running back.

One is Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The league is watching and expecting. Even Gurley has received such treatment. Does this mean that Bell can continue to break the ceiling?

however.

not at all.

The Pittsburgh Steelers placed an exclusive franchise tag on Bell for the second consecutive year as free agency opened.

The entire league was shocked.

what does this mean?
Exclusivity means that Bale is not allowed to negotiate with other teams, eliminating the possibility of Bale seeking a higher contract through other teams.

But at the same time, they refused to offer Bale a higher contract.

According to the rules, the salary for an exclusive franchise tag contract must not be less than the average of the five highest annual salaries for the same position next season, or 120% of the player's salary in the previous year, whichever is higher.

So, this means that the annual salary figure for the franchise tag contract given to Bell by the Pittsburgh Steelers is $14.5 million.

Lower than Gurley.

Of course, negotiations are still ongoing, Bell refused to sign the exclusive franchise tag contract, and his tug-of-war with the Pittsburgh Steelers continues.

Until the voluntary training camp began.

Bell is undoubtedly absent. Pittsburgh Steelers officials said: Don't worry, negotiations are still going on, Bell is still a Steeler, and believe that things can be properly resolved.

However, is this really the case?
There were constant rumors within the alliance.

Even Donald Yu called Levi to discuss this issue with him.

Donald supports Bell because he also hopes to win a record-breaking contract with Levi. All running backs, especially those at the top of the pyramid, are all allies. The prejudices and constraints of the entire league cannot be broken by one person's strength alone. They are all partners who help each other.

But at the same time, Donald needs to protect Levi. Levi is only in the second year and his foundation is too shallow. If he is involved in the storm at this time and labeled as a thorn by the team owners and managers, then the subsequent operations will face more difficulties. He cannot let Levi fall into the vortex of controversy.

So there's a fine line here. Even though Donald believes in Levi's intelligence and ability, they still need to reach a consensus.

Similarly, Hunter, a running back, is also ready to move.

However, Hunter always disliked Levi, so it was difficult for him to lower his head and start talking.

To be honest, Levi wanted to make a joke and continue looking at Hunter's dark face, but this topic was really inappropriate, so he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

"Of course I support him." Levi didn't beat around the bush.

Hunter glanced at Levi, slightly surprised, but after thinking about it, he looked away, "Are you willing to publicly support him?"

Regardless of whether Hunter likes Levi or not, as the new Super Bowl MVP and the best running back in the league last season, Levi's words naturally carry different weight, so he suppressed his irritability and dissatisfaction and continued to ask.

Levi nodded, "Of course."

At this time, Levi had no choice but to step forward.

But that's not all. "At the same time, we also need to focus on training. You should know that we are only sophomores and we don't have enough say in the league."

Not to mention the sophomore running back, the same goes for the sophomore quarterback.

"The best support and cheering is to prove your worth on the field. If there are more and more excellent running backs who play the role of changing the game and more and more attention is focused on running backs, our words will be heard."

"Instead of hoping that the team owners will give up their interests and bow down first, we should focus on ourselves and believe in ourselves, and rely on our own strength to change the game..."

Then, use public opinion to create momentum.

Indeed, this is a professional league, and profits come first; but at the same time, this is also competitive sports, and there is nothing that cannot be solved by a championship trophy.

If not? Then two.

As long as there are enough victories, fans, media, professionals and the league will be able to see it and form a voice to completely change the difficult situation for running backs.

but.

Hunter didn't have the patience to wait for Levi to continue, and interrupted rudely, "Naive."

"Do you think it's that simple? Just change the outcome of the game? Even if we change the outcome, the media will say it's the quarterback's credit, and the team owner won't see our efforts."

"We still need a leader. Gurley has taken a step forward, and the next step is Bale."

"As long as Bell can take this step, our voices can be heard."

(End of this chapter)