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In his drive to reset the running-back market, Le’Veon Bell’s contract demands have not always been met favorably by some fans or the media, but there’s one group who will always have his back. Every running back in the league will benefit from Bell signing a ground-breaking deal and players like Los Angeles Rams star runner Todd Gurley have already vocalized their support of Bell’s decision to turn down the Pittsburgh Steelers’ latest offer.
After speaking to TMZ Sports on Saturday night, you can add New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara to the list of players who think the NFL has undervalued his position. Although, when asked why league owners appear more reluctant to pay running backs compared to other positions, Kamara had a rather unique take on the matter. As he told TMZ.
“People with a lot of money don’t want to give their money away”
In response to a follow-up question about how the position should be addressed financially, Kamara failed to offer a solution, but pointed to Bell as the man who would ultimately be the one to change the market for all running backs.
“That ain’t my job, all I know is Le’Veon is about to change something up for us.”
Some within Steelers Nation might take exception to the suggestion that Pittsburgh is unwilling to pay their players. Antonio Brown is currently the highest paid wide receiver in the league and Ben Roethlisberger was given a record-breaking deal among quarterbacks at the time of signing. Consistently short of salary cap space given their high levels of spending when compared to teams like the Cleveland Browns, it would be hard to argue the Steelers don’t want to give their money away.
That being said, Kamara isn’t wrong in his belief that Bell will be the catalyst for change at his position when it comes to getting paid. While the offensive rookie of the year for 2017 is still under contract through 2020, he might be a major beneficiary of a revised market for running backs in the years to come.