Plenty of scorn and derision were directed at the contract Le’Veon Bell signed with the New York Jets, with the overriding feeling being that he’d gambled and lost by turning down larger deals from the Pittsburgh Steelers before sitting out an entire season.
On second look, however, Bell may have done better than previously assumed. According to Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL Network, Bell’s guarantee at signing tops that of two other star running backs with big contracts.
Asked an NFL cap person to compare what two star RBs were fully guaranteed at signing, w/ protection for skill, injury and cap
Todd Gurley: $21.95M
David Johnson: $24.68MPer someone who’s seen the contract, Le’Veon Bell’s guarantee at signing, w/ protection for SIC: $28M
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) March 13, 2019
Bell definitely turned down the chance to make more money overall with the Steelers, but the guarantee from the Jets is pretty solid and perhaps higher than Pittsburgh was willing to give him, which is the key to his thinking here. Perhaps he didn’t do as badly as some suggested he did.
