Le'Veon Bell got off to a slow start last season after his holdout but still finished as overall RB2.

It’s another season and another holdout for Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back Le’Veon Bell, who wants to be paid just as much as his wide receiver buddy, Antonio Brown.

Nothing new here.

Bell wants to back up the Brinks truck because he believes he’s the best running back in the league and his team’s second-best receiver (JuJu Smith-Schuster might argue the second point). He also obviously doesn’t like practice or training camp. Who does?

And yet past holdouts certainly haven’t impacted Bell’s season-long totals (though for DFS players it should be noted that he started slowly in 2017 for three games after the holdout).

What of the rest of the NFL, where “mere mortals” may try to emulate Bell and sit out training camp (either for a better contract or like the Steelers RB they just don’t like hot, sweaty two-a-days where coaches constantly yell at them).

Who might be holdout candidates in 2018?

It was recently reported (by SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano) that the Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr. might hold out in New York. Who knows what the mercurial OBJ will do? He and the team have been in some preliminary talks, but they don’t seem to be close to the extension the player is seeking.

Atlanta wide receiver Julio Jones didn’t go to the Falcons offseason program. A list of wideouts who make more than Jones includes Jarvis Landry, Davante Adams and Sammy Watkins. None of those players have cracked 1,400 receiving yards in a season — Jones has done it in four consecutive seasons. He signed a big deal in 2015 which made him the second-highest paid wideout behind only Calvin Johnson, but now seven receivers average more than Jones. I’d be surprised if the team and Jones don’t come to an agreement before the season begins.

Arizona running back David Johnson led the NFL with 2,118 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns in 2016. But when a wrist injury sidelined him for 15 games, the Cardinals ranked 28th in the NFL in rushing touchdowns and 31st in yards-per-carry. I’m sure I’m not the only one who understands those results and can interpret them as a favorable time to ask for more “Benjamins.” Arizona and Johnson both seem to be on the same page at this time so a deal should be worked out before Week 1.

Should we blame them for holding out? Absolutely not!

The average lifespan of an NFL player is very short. Likely shorter than your college experience. According to the NFLPA the average career length is about 3.3 years, which is less than the NBA (4.8) or MLB (5.6), although the average length for a rookie who makes his Opening Day roster is six years and a first-round draft choice is 9.3 years.

While holding out may, or may not, work out for the player’s financial future, or be the best thing for his long-term outlook, we fantasy owners only need to know how it will impact his upcoming year’s production.

Below is a chart of 15 famous running backs and wide receivers who held out in the past and the impact the delay in joining their team had on their next year’s game statistics.

* - Riggins didn’t play at all in 1980.

What did we learn from this analysis besides the fact that more running backs hold out than wideouts?

1) Wide receiver scrimmage yards were down 35%.
2) Wide receiver touchdowns were down 25%.
3) Running back scrimmage yards were down 36%.
4) Running back touchdowns were down 43%.

Anybody detecting a pattern here?

In the final analysis, none of these 2018 superstars may hold out in the end, and that would be good for fantasy owners. However, the numbers seems to indicate that for most players, being in training camp matters. Therefore, if a wideout or running back ends up missing a big portion of training camp, it’s “caveat emptor” (let the buyer beware). You have been warned!