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NEW YORK JETS
The Jets don’t need RB Le’VEON BELL. But does any other team either, especially with his ample contract? Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News says he has sources:
The Jets and Le’Veon Bell appear to be headed for a divorce.
The Daily News has learned that Gang Green is trying to trade the perennial Pro Bowl running back amid this nightmarish season. Sources told the News that Gang Green is shopping Bell with the hope of trading him sooner rather than later. The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 3.
“I know he’s frustrated that we haven’t won,” Adam Gase said Monday after Bell had one target in a 30-10 loss to the Cardinals. “It wasn’t necessarily the plan of not targeting him in the pass game. It just kind of ended up being that way with how they were they were playing us. So that’s what it is. I mean, just try to find ways to move the football. That’s all we’re trying to do, and it doesn’t always go exactly as planned.”
Bell, who missed three games with a hamstring injury, took to social media to “like” tweets about his poor deployment in his first game back from injured reserve.
“I hate that’s the route that we go with all this,” said Gase, whose 0-5 club is circling the drain in virtually every offensive category. “Instead of just talking to me about it but seems the way that guys want to do it nowadays.”
Gase, who has repeatedly disparaged Bell behind the scenes after attempting to persuade decision makers not to sign him in free agency last year, claimed that he would better utilize the best weapon at his disposal after his failures last season.
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Would Bell will be willing to take pay cut now just to get away from Adam Gase?
The Jets are looking for a late-round pick and perhaps a middling player, according to sources.
The News reported earlier Tuesday that Bell told friends after last season that he would likely request a trade if things continued to go south this season. He also expressed uneasiness about Gase’s weekly game plans last year without complaining.
Now, it looks like things have been pushed to the brink.
Gase’s poor deployment of Bell last season set the stage for this crash. The former Steelers star finished with 789 rushing yards on a career-low 3.2 yards per carry in his first season with the mercurial coach. Bell’s total production dipped by 21% from his final season in Pittsburgh. His usage dropped by 24%.
And so this happened overnight. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:
A year and a half after signing a four-year, $52.5 million contract, Le’Veon Bell is done with the Jets.
Jets General Manager Joe Douglas said in a statement that the team has decided to cut Bell after not finding a trading partner.
“After having conversations with Le’Veon and his agent and exploring potential trade options over the past couple of days, we have made the decision to release Le’Veon,” Douglas said. “The Jets organization appreciates Le’Veon’s efforts during his time here and we know he worked hard to make significant contributions to this team. We believe this decision is in the best interests of both parties and wish him future success.”
Although the Jets were interested in trading Bell, the idea that any team would want to trade for his contract never made a lot of sense. The Jets overpaid Bell, and there’s no reason for any other team to give up a draft pick for the right to overpay Bell.
Bell, who has 19 carries for 74 yards this season, will now hit free agency.
Jenny Vrentas of SI.com on the money for nothing aspect of Bell’s time with the Jets:
The Jets were bidding against themselves when they signed Le’Veon Bell to a four-year, $52.5 million contract in March of 2019. Just two months after that transaction, the GM who signed Bell to that contract—Mike Maccagnan—was fired.
That was the first indication that the marriage between Bell and the Jets might not be for the long haul. It was followed by other escalating strains, like the training-camp disagreement between Bell and Adam Gase about the health of Bell’s hamstrings, and ultimately Bell’s liking tweets criticizing Gase’s usage of him after Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals. Tuesday night, absent a trading partner for the contract that only the Jets were willing to give 19 short months ago, the team announced it had made the decision to release Bell. He ends his Jets career with just 863 rushing yards and four total TDs in 17 games.
It was a forgettable chapter—one all parties involved no doubt wish had gone differently.
As for the Jets, these are the decisions that keep the franchise in a perpetual state of underachieving, borne out of errors like misreading the market, overpaying for a big-name splash player and allowing a GM who is soon to be fired and not entirely on the same page as the new head coach to lead free agency.
As for Bell, he left one of the league’s most stable organizations, an annual playoff contender, for a team that is pretty much the opposite, and he did little to change its fortunes. Bell set out for what he billed as a fresh start—one that ultimately backfired. But what he wanted more than that, leading up to and following his 2018 season holdout, was to make a point about the value of running backs, whose market cratered to the point that the franchise-tag number for his position actually dropped between 2017 and ’18.
To do so, he made some bold moves, many of which did not pay off personally. After playing on the franchise tag in ’17, and being tagged again by the Steelers in ’18, he told his agent to ask for $17 million per year from the team—hoping to land at $15M. He rejected what he said was the Steelers’ final offer of a five year, $70 million deal ($14 million per year) that summer. He never signed the $14.5 million franchise tender and instead sat out the entire ’18 season.
The contract Bell signed with the Jets fell short of the average-per-year of Pittsburgh’s best offer. But as per the Steelers’ policy of not offering future guarantees in veteran deals, the only fully guaranteed money in that proposal was a $10 million signing bonus. The Jets’ deal included $27 million fully guaranteed, a record at the position. (And, not to belabor the point, that was money no one but the Jets was offering).
“Receivers make [roughly] $19 million per year—why can’t I make 17?” Bell said a few days after signing with the Jets. “The fact that I put that number out there, that opened it up for Todd [Gurley]. … I [took] the bullet. [We] can’t sit here just taking what y’all [offer]. It’s gonna go: 15, then 16. . . . Then at some point it’s gonna stop and 10, 12 years from now there’s going to have to be another Le’Veon Bell who’s gonna take a stand.”
Gurley signed for $15 million per year with the Rams in the summer of ’18, not long after Bell had been hoping for that number (he’s since been released from that contract). Now, three running backs are playing on contracts at or above that threshold: Christian McCaffrey ($16M/year), Alvin Kamara ($15M/year) and Ezekiel Elliott ($15M/year). And McCaffrey also topped out the running back market with about $30 million fully guaranteed in his April 2020 extension. In September, when NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport tweeted “suddenly, there is a real RB market,” Bell quote-tweeted the message with a wink emoji.
Bell hoped to revitalize the running back market. You can second-guess the decisions he made, but he played a role in that happening. And after 17 largely forgettable games with the Jets, and the $27 million that was fully guaranteed to him, he’s now moving on.
Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com thinks that there will be a market for Bell.
After reportedly trying to trade Le’Veon Bell, the New York Jets gave up on their expensively acquired running back and released him Tuesday night. The Jets are still on the hook to pay Bell a $2.5 million bonus Thursday and the prorated remainder of his base salary, which amounts to $6 million. Any team acquiring him can do so for the league minimum.
Frankly, whichever team signs Bell won’t be getting a significant bargain on paper. The last time he was an effective player was 2017, when he approached 2,000 yards from scrimmage. He sat out all of 2018 in a contract dispute and then did nothing in his time with the Jets after signing in 2019. Since the start of last season, Bell has averaged 3.3 yards per carry, which ranks 48th out of 49 backs. As a receiver, he has averaged just under 7 yards per reception, which is 125th out of 132 players. He has been worse than a replacement-level back.
Of course, any team acquiring Bell is going to hope that he finds new life away from the Jets and coach Adam Gase. By NFL Next Gen Stats, though, Bell’s problems weren’t strictly a product of a middling offensive line. Since the start of last season, he has produced 110 rushing yards below expectation given his blocking, the fourth-worst mark in the league behind Devonta Freeman, Peyton Barber and Todd Gurley. Freeman, Gurley and Bell all signed lucrative contract extensions, and each was cut after they disappointed while on those deals.
Bell will find interest somewhere, both as a reclamation project and because of his versatility. Which teams might be interested? Let’s run through the possible candidates, starting with the most plausible suitors:
Possible destinations for Le’Veon Bell
Chicago Bears
I’ll start with the Bears, who are the most obvious fit to me. Matt Nagy’s team is 4-1, and while you can poke holes in Chicago’s résumé, ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Bears a 55.8% chance of making it to the postseason. They also have approximately $10 million in cap space, so adding a small salary to their roster won’t be an issue.
Bell would be a replacement for Tarik Cohen, who went down with a torn ACL at the end of September. David Montgomery is on the roster and would still be the featured back, but the 2019 third-rounder hasn’t looked good as the primary back, failing to top 30 yards rushing or receiving in each of the past two games. Chicago has used Cordarrelle Patterson as a change of pace, but Bell would immediately step in and take Cohen’s role in the offense, which should be something in the ballpark of eight to 10 touches per game.
Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are another team with a young back that might want Bell as a second option. Rookie first-round pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire has had impressive moments during his first five weeks, but he has struggled in the red zone, failing to score once on seven touches inside the 5-yard line. I’m willing to chalk that up to a small sample, but the backs behind Edwards-Helaire are underwhelming. Darrel Williams has averaged 3.2 yards per carry and less than 6 yards per reception, and Darwin Thompson lost a fumble on one of his six touches. Coach Andy Reid is the screen whisperer, and I suspect the Chiefs could find a way to integrate Bell into their offense alongside Edwards-Helaire.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
No team seems more interested in compiling veteran running backs than the Bucs, who still haven’t really found an effective receiver for Tom Brady. Ronald Jones has been solid as a runner, but he has had serious problems with drops in the passing game. Leonard Fournette isn’t healthy. LeSean McCoy hasn’t been effective in any facet of the game and has an ankle injury; Bell would likely take McCoy’s spot on the roster.
Brady has always had that player in New England in a role that was alternately filled by Kevin Faulk, Shane Vereen and most recently James White. It’s difficult to imagine the Buccaneers signing another back, but strictly as a pass-protector and receiver, Bell would give the Bucs something they don’t have.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The best story of the bunch would see Bell return to the Steelers, but I’m skeptical there’s a great fit. James Conner is averaging nearly 5 yards per carry as the Pittsburgh starter, and while he has his injury issues, Benny Snell Jr. was effective in what amounted to a spot start against the Giants when Conner was unavailable. The Steelers also have Anthony McFarland Jr. in reserve and Jaylen Samuels in a third-down role.
Bell would likely be an upgrade on Samuels and a viable back behind an effective Pittsburgh offensive line, but I’m not sure he would get the sort of touches he would want in his bid to reemerge as an option ahead of free agency in 2021. Furthermore, things didn’t exactly end well between the two parties, given that Bell held out for a season before leaving Pittsburgh in free agency. Familiarity means something, which is why the Steelers are where they are on this list, but Bell makes more sense elsewhere.
Cleveland Browns
The Browns are off to a 4-1 start and have one of the best rushing attacks in football. Coach Bill Callahan’s line has been clearing holes for Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb, but Chubb is out indefinitely with a sprained MCL. Bell is much more similar to Hunt than he is to the former Georgia star, but Bell was an effective runner between the tackles in Pittsburgh, and there’s nothing wrong with having two backs who can catch the ball.
Bell would step in for D’Ernest Johnson, who has averaged 6 yards a pop on his 22 carries filling in for Chubb. I’m not sure Bell would be thrilled about a situation in which he might be phased out of the offense once Chubb returns, but his best chance of looking good in a small sample might be playing in this run-heavy offense.
San Francisco 49ers
One team that was linked to Bell when he was approaching free agency was the 49ers, who can never have enough weapons for coach Kyle Shanahan. San Francisco is beat up around its roster, and although it got Raheem Mostert back for Sunday’s blowout loss to the Dolphins, virtually every one of its backs has a recent and/or significant injury history.
I wonder whether the 49ers might get particularly creative with Bell and use him less like a pure running back and more like the sort of hybrid back Gase pretended to suggest Bell might become in New York. Shanahan loves nothing more than having offensive weapons who are threats as both runners and receivers with the ball in their hands. Bell would be another one of those pieces.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans went to 4-0 with Tuesday’s victory over the Bills, and they have a star back in Derrick Henry, but there’s little behind the 2019 rushing leader. Henry has racked up plenty of volume over his first four games, but he’s averaging just 3.9 yards per carry and has never been a great receiver. Bell would take some of the workload off of Henry and give the Titans a third-down option. Jeremy McNichols is currently in that role for Ryan Tannehill & Co.
Seattle Seahawks
Few teams are throwing the ball more frequently this season than the Seahawks, who have hit their bye at 5-0. Seattle would probably prefer to make some additions to a struggling defense, and it has Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde in its rotation, but Carson has never completed a full 16-game season, and Hyde has been out of action with a shoulder injury.
Travis Homer took more than 40% of the offensive snaps during Sunday night’s win over the Vikings. While the Seahawks have both Homer and fourth-round pick DeeJay Dallas as possible options, Bell would be the best receiving back on the Seattle roster if he signed there.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins’ backfield hasn’t performed as expected this season. Miami guaranteed Jordan Howard nearly $5 million, but the former Chicago starter produced just 14 rushing yards on 18 carries before being scratched for the win over the 49ers. Matt Breida’s 27 carries have produced a total of 100 yards, but the primary back has been 2019 seventh-rounder Myles Gaskin, who has 87 touches through five games while taking 66% of the offensive snaps.
Gaskin’s versatility is a plus, and he ranks ninth in success rate, but a lack of explosiveness has left him below average in both rushing and receiving DVOA. I’m not sure the Dolphins are ready to give up on their starter or either of their offseason additions, but Bell could be an upgrade if they are.
Arizona Cardinals
Finally, the Cardinals have to be frustrated with what they’ve seen from Kenyan Drake. The transition-tagged back scored his first touchdown last week, but he is averaging just 3.7 yards per touch, both as a runner and receiver. Chase Edmonds has looked like the more dynamic player in the Arizona backfield, and while Drake was a borderline first-round pick in most fantasy drafts, the former Dolphins standout might be in danger of losing his grip on the starting job.
The Cards could move forward with some combination of Drake and Edmonds, but remember that they traded for Drake a year ago while they had Edmonds and David Johnson on their roster. Both Edmonds and Johnson were injured at the time, so while it would likely take an injury to at least one Cardinals back to get Bell on the roster, coach Kliff Kingsbury could find a role for Bell if that happens.
Tyler Sullivan and Jeff Kerr of CBSSports.com offer a 5-team list of destinations for Bell. Pittsburgh, Chicago and Arizona appear on both their list and Barnwell’s.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The great Matthew McConaughey once said, “Sometimes you’ve got to go back to actually move forward.”
With Le’Veon Bell likely to become a free agent, a return to the Steelers shouldn’t be out of the question. When the Jets put Bell on the block last year around the trade deadline, Pittsburgh was reportedly one of the teams kicking the tires on acquiring him, possibly setting up a reunion in the Steel City. While that ultimately didn’t happen, it wouldn’t come as a shock to see the Steelers re-enter the Bell sweepstakes now that he’s on the market once again.
Of course, Bell’s exit from the Steelers was certainly a messy one, but there’s no denying the success he had while on the field in Pittsburgh. In his five years with the Steelers, he averaged 1,337 yards from scrimmage and nearly seven total touchdowns a season. Arguably his best season came in 2014 when he totaled 2,215 scrimmage yards and 11 total touchdowns. That said, Bell also logged back-to-back thousand-plus yard rushing seasons for Pittsburgh before sitting out al of 2018 due to a contract dispute.
Again, he has a history of success in their system and, if Pittsburgh was interested last year, they could be interested yet again.
Chicago Bears
Chicago has been one of the bigger surprises of the 2020 season, starting off with a 4-1 record and in the thick of playoff contention to this point. If GM Ryan Pace wants to go all-in with this team that is now spearheaded by quarterback Nick Foles, adding a weapon like Bell may not be a bad boost for an offense that did lose Tarik Cohen for the year due to a torn ACL. Cohen saw 104 targets in the passing game in 2019 and those are theoretically still up for grabs. Bell has proven to be a more than capable pass-catching back, totaling 381 receptions over the course of his career.
The Bears are also ranked 25th in the NFL in total rushing yards and dead last in the league in rushing scores. Adding Bell to this backfield to pair with David Montgomery would certainly bring those numbers to a more respectable level.
Arizona Cardinals
Do not sleep on the Arizona Cardinals in these Le’Veon Bell sweepstakes. Why? James Saxon. The currents Cards running backs coach held the same position with the Pittsburgh Steelers throughout Bell’s tenure with the organization. Saxon helped coach up Bell, a second-round pick out of Michigan State, into the first-team All-Pro back we know today. Given that history, you cannot ignore Arizona as a potential landing spot for Bell.
While the Cardinals are technically a top-five rushing team in the league, that’s largely thanks to quarterback Kyle Murray totaling 296 yards and five touchdowns on the ground through five games. Kenyan Drake, who the team acquired around the deadline last year, has been subpar in his second season with the club, rushing for 3.7 yards per carry. Drake is currently playing on just a one-year transition tag, so the Cardinals are not committed to him long-term, which opens the door to bring in the likes of Bell.
Los Angeles Chargers
With Austin Ekeler currently on injured reserve after suffering a hamstring injury in Week 4 which is likely to sideline him for a month-plus, L.A. begins looking like another appealing destination for Bell. While Justin Jackson put in a solid effort (71 yards rushing) against the Saints in Monday’s loss, the Chargers as a team were pretty inefficient on the ground, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry. Rookie Joshua Kelley was looked at as the key replacement for Ekeler, but only managed 26 rushing yards on 11 carries.
If they were to sign Bell, not only would that give rookie phenom Justin Herbert a star running back in the here and now, but it’d form one heck of a one-two punch when Ekeler returns to full strength. Now that the Chargers have found their franchise quarterback, it’s imperative that they capitalize on his rookie contract and surround him with elite talent to contend. Bringing in Bell to an offense that already has Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Hunter Henry, and Ekeler would do wonders for his development.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills could certainly use a boost in the backfield. They are currently tied for the third-worst yards per carry rate (3.7) in the NFL. They do have Devin Singletary and rookie Zack Moss as two key pieces in the running game, but adding Bell could bring an entirely new dimension to their rushing attack and lessen the pressure off Josh Allen to make plays with his feet along with his arm.
With Allen taking a significant leap as a passer this season, the Bills are primed for a deep playoff run. If they want to be buyers at the deadline and are looking to bolster one of the few areas of weakness along their offense, signing Bell could be a smart way to go.
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