{"id":27742,"date":"2017-08-18T21:32:46","date_gmt":"2017-08-19T01:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=27742"},"modified":"2017-08-18T21:32:46","modified_gmt":"2017-08-19T01:32:46","slug":"agent-leveon-bell-denies-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2017\/08\/18\/agent-leveon-bell-denies-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Agent for Le&#8217;Veon Bell Denies Pre-Deadline Agreement on New Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BellLe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Le&#8217;Veon Bell<\/a><\/strong> continues to hold out over inability between him and the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/steelers\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> to come to an agreement over a long-term contract. Meanwhile, his agent <strong>Adisa Bakari<\/strong> came out on Friday disputing a report saying the two sides had a deal on the table ahead of the July 17th franchise tag deadline.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Le&#39;Veon Bell&#39;s agent Adisa Bakari said he and client never had any agreement with Steelers. &quot;All stories to contrary are false,&quot; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/898623450931232769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 18, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h1>Agent for Le&#8217;Veon Bell Denies Pre-Deadline Agreement on New Contract<\/h1>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EdBouchette\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Ed Bouchette<\/strong><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.post-gazette.com\/sports\/steelers\/2017\/08\/18\/LeVeon-Bell-contract-agreement-rejection-agent-five-years-12-million-franchise-tag-post-gazette-exclusive\/stories\/201708180164\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">of the Pittsubrgh Post-Gazette<\/a>, the Steelers assumed they had an agreement in place before the 4 PM deadline on July 17th. It was set to pay Bell over $30 million over the first two years of the contract. But the Steelers running back apparently rejected it, even though Bakari is refuting he actually did so.<\/p>\n<p>The team placed the exclusive franchise tag on Bell in late February. That locked him into a one-year guaranteed contract paying him $12.12 million this coming season. Bell has yet to sign the deal which would make him the highest paid running back in the league. He&#8217;ll make almost $4 million more annually in 2017 than <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FreeDe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devonta Freeman<\/a><\/strong>, who recently <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2017\/08\/09\/devonta-freeman-signs-five-year-extension\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">signed an extension with the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Bell&#8217;s reticence to sign a long-term deal stems from the fact he&#8217;s seeking annual compensation in the range of $15 million. He feels that&#8217;s his value as a player in the league, considering his ability both as a runner and a pass-catcher out of the backfield.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I feel I should be valued as a player, not so much my position,&#8221; the 25-year-old told <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JFowlerESPN\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jeremy Fowler<\/strong><\/a> of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/20107892\/leveon-bell-pittsburgh-steelers-value-goes-rushing-production\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ESPN immediately after the deadline<\/a>. &#8220;Hopefully down the line I can get valued at, not as much a guy who gets the ball 30 carries and that&#8217;s it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bell is one of three players set to play under the franchise tag in 2017. Washington Redskins quarterback <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/C\/CousKi00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kirk Cousins<\/a><\/strong> and Los Angeles Rams <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=JohnTr05,JohnTr02&amp;search=Trumaine+Johnson&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trumaine Johnson<\/a><\/strong> will also do so. Both have already signed their franchise tenders, with Cousins playing under the tag for the second consecutive year.<\/p>\n<p>For now, the Steelers must go through the preseason with players vying to be Bell&#8217;s backup when he eventually rejoins the team. It includes <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/D\/DaviKn00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Knile Davis<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/T\/TousFi00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fitzgerald Toussaint<\/a><\/strong>, and rookie <strong>James Conner<\/strong>. Conner didn&#8217;t play in Pittsburgh&#8217;s preseason opener, a 20-12 win over the New York Giants. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pennlive.com\/steelers\/index.ssf\/2017\/08\/steelers_james_conner_play.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">But he&#8217;s expected to make his debut<\/a> with the team on Sunday when the team takes on the Atlanta Falcons.<\/p>\n<p>Though it appeared Bell was on the verge of putting pen to paper on an extension in mid-July, his agent categorically denied this was the case. But when he eventually signs his franchise tender, he&#8217;ll have a lot of catching up to do in getting back up to speed within the Steelers offense.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"JVC8YT6kQYxa7tqp7dHKgA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/631230546\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'JVC8YT6kQYxa7tqp7dHKgA',sig:'P4PdWyiFbVL74JRQXAYUWqyVFECVv3L2PmS96AeFq68=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'631230546',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Le&#8217;Veon Bell&#8217;s agent, Adisa Bakari, disputed a report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers running back&#8217;s contract situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":742,"featured_media":27746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,36],"tags":[3026,61,98,40,81],"class_list":["post-27742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-steelers","category-nfl-news","tag-adisa-bakari","tag-football","tag-leveon-bell","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh-steelers"],"modified_by":"John Bava","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/742"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}