Here we go again. With a couple weeks to go before the trade deadline, the Jets are shopping running back Le’Veon Bell, sources tell Manish Mehta of the Daily News (on Twitter). 
[RELATED: Could Jets Trade Sam Darnold?]
The Jets signed Bell to a four-year, $52.5MM free agent deal in 2019. Months later, they considered moving him. Bell claims the Packers, Chiefs, Texans, and Steelers (yes, the Steelers) all expressed interest in acquiring him before last year’s deadline but, ultimately, there were no takers.
It’s hard to imagine teams chomping at the bit for Bell. Last year, he averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per carry. So far this year, he’s played in just two of the Jets’ five games. For what it’s worth, he managed 4.62 yards per carry this past Sunday, but he’s come nowhere near matching his performance in Pittsburgh since joining Gang Green.
Between his two disappointing Jets campaigns and his 2018 holdout, Bell is three seasons removed from his best work. Meanwhile, he continues to clash with team brass. This week, he dished out social media likes to a number of followers who were criticizing Adam Gase for his limited usage of Bell.
“I know he’s frustrated that we haven’t won,” the head coach told reporters on Monday. “It wasn’t necessarily the plan of not targeting him in the past 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..I hate that’s the route that we go with all this. Instead of just talking to me about it but seems the way that guys want to do it nowadays.”
Bell will earn a guaranteed $8.5MM base salary for 2020. In the past, he’s rebuffed the Jets’ attempts to restructure his deal. But, if he truly wants a trade, he may have to reconsider his position.
Great job jets. And great job everyone getting in the Steelers for not extending him
Of course the Steelers were right not to extend him after they worked him like a rented mule. They gave him 406 touches in a 15 game season knowing they didn’t plan on paying him again. 431 if you add the playoff game. If he’d actually played the next year, he probably would have gotten hurt.
And letting AB go as well. There’s a reason, they are successful organization.
Oddly enough because they’re patient, too. They cut ties with Bell & AB quick enough, but keep a top HC like Tomlin forever.
Funny, I remember when Mike Tomlin was a “terrible coach” who “couldn’t handle” AB or Bell.
Turns out…
He got released, nothing to worry about with a trade.
They were 2 players on HOF paths, and all they had to do was pay them. It’s not like without them they are going to the SB. They barely survived 3 mediocre teams. They have an extremely easy schedule, so yes playoff bound but they may have to play a real team eventually. They won as far as salary cap goes.
Bill O’Brien would have given Watson and 2 #1 picks for him
Yep
Mike Maccagnan was also looking to keep his job. This isn’t going to happen any more than that did.
Gase is a cancer to the Jets. First he deals Jamal Adams, then he wants to deal his best offensive player. Gase is a joke. Why is he not the one that the team is getting rid of? The players may not be the problem, maybe it’s the POS head coach!
Do you actually think it would be bad to trade Bell if they could do it? Gase is terrible for the Jets, but the terrible can still be correct sometimes.
I’d keep Bell over Gase anyway of the week. One wants to work, the other wants to tick off everyone.
Well yeah, but neither should or will be with the team next year.
Oooof Bell seems like a class act and has been pretty professional throughout the latest chapter of the Jets circus. I’m not saying I think he’ll ever be elite again, but i do expect him to rebound once he’s on a real team again with a HC who will use him correctly.
Gase doesn’t develop or get the most out of what talent he has, he ruins it or drives it out of town.
Again, no arguing the Gase point. He’s bad and needs to go. But for Bell, I think he’s perfectly fine at this point in his career, but when basically no running back is worth paying $11 million, paying him that next year is a no-go.
I disagree about positional value. I’m sure darn near every team would be happy to pay Kamara, McCaffery, Jacobs, or other top tier backs top dollar.
We just watched the most protected position, QB, lose one to a horrific ankle break and saw A Smith play for DC after 2 years in reocovery. Point being the league chews up all players and positions.
Not like it chews up RBs. Name an RB whose big money second contract has worked out as good value in recent years. You’ll mostly find ones that went poorly. Kamara just got extended and Jacobs is only in his second year. McCaffrey is great, but he barely made it into his second contract without a season ending injury. And the best running offenses tend to be able to get that production out of guys who don’t cost top dollars or draft picks.
Isn’t McCaffrey 2 weeks away from returning? I don’t think it’s supposed to be season ending.
He’s eligible, but it’s not happening yet. And they’ll have to be much more careful with him when they do get him back. Running backs who get the ball as much as he did and play as many snaps as he did don’t stay great very long.
They won’t be careful w/ McCaffery. He’ll be running and catching like before. When jobs are on the line, give it to the best player. They might go ‘lightly’ for a week or 2, but then it’ll be 20+ touches again. They certainly didn’t take it lightly on him in either of the last 2 losing years, why now?
Not arguing, but all players are going to play, especially the best on the team.
Rhule is in the first year of a 7-year deal. Jobs are not on the line. They’ve committed money and years to McCaffrey. If anything, they should dial him back so that the deal isn’t a disaster and so that he still has something left in the tank when the Panthers can potentially contend.
The HC has a 7 year deal. How about the rest of the offensive staff? They churn assistances and coordinators out regularly. And those coaches will press for CmC to run & catch.
Joe Brady’s gonna be just fine, and it’s not like they have any shortage of offensive weapons. If anything, watching scrap heap Mike Davis excel in this offense should be a reminder not to pay running backs too much.
I don’t think anyone would eat that deal without sending money in return but they’re isn’t a team that truly has a clear cut RB need anyway. There won’t be a taker for Bell
Eagles clearly need a RB to pair with Miles Sanders.
Bell for Alshon Jeffery, straight up.
Why would the Jets trade for a worse player with bigger dead money hits left on his deal?
Jeffery is still productive when healthy, and he will be healthy for the 2nd half of this year.
link to spotrac.com
Jets really need to figure out if Darnold is the long term QB. No team is able to figure out their QB unless they give him someone who can catch passes. That group sucks right now.
It’s too late to give Darnold a new receiver to evaluate him this year, and even if you did, counting on Jeffery to actually be healthy and productive this year and next enough to take on that contract and consider it good value is a ludicrous bet.
Only thing the Jets got back is alot of dead cap space while giving the guy a bonus on his way out.
I only proposed the Jeffery deal because of Joe Douglass’ relationship with his former employer.
Have to agree with Oof, if Jets can get anything prior to deadline they will take it…he’ll be cut in offseason…even with most of Jefferey’s cap hit taken by Philly in your scenario, really doesn’t make sense for Jets
At this point sell everything you can then let Lawrence pick his own coaches and front office. It can’t be worse for the jet
A Jets fan knows that it can always get worse.
A 2022 4th Rounder
Only way you get a 4th is if you eat his entire salary. You are trading him based on production 4 years ago. No way he gets traded for anything of value
Asking for a 4 in 2022 is possible. A 4 in 2021? No chance without coughing up picks of their own.
Does Gase get another job after this? I can’t see him being hired by anyone as an OC, I think the best he can hope for is a quality control coach.
Maybe he belongs in college where the coach has tons of power and the players have none.
I’m sure some college team would overpay him.
I can’t imagine he does. Gase is the worst HC in football. I wouldn’t hire him to coach a flag football team.
Do you actually own a flag football team?
Well, no. I play a flag football team owner on tv, though!
So who needs a downgrade at RB ?
I see Bell and Antonio Brown as headline attractions for some future iteration of the XFL.
I could see them on episodes of intervention with loved ones trying to save them from their egos
Jets should sign Brown and keep and play Bell. Brown could give them the receiver they need and take the spotlight off Bell, who has issues, but a need for media glare is not one of them. The clubhouse is already toxic, so what’s the harm?
Thank you for making my idea to sign Sanu to play quarterback look more grounded.
Who can argue with a career passer rating of 158.3. At least use him in the wildcat. He might even catch a few balls. Whaddyagot2lose?
Exactly! And he’d at least give Jets fans a reason to watch. The dessicated remains of Joe Flacco ain’t exactly appointment television.
Just being goofy here .. but at this point what does either team have to lose. They just want out of their current builds.
Let’s see .. the Falcons might be ready to try to move on from Ryan. The Jets don’t want Bell around. There are rumors the Jets may want to move on from Darnold.
Ryan obviously is the best current player in the mix, so I wonder if the Jets might be willing to go Darnold and Bell for Ryan. Cap wise that is $25 million for Bell/Darnold and 19 for Ryan. If this were the NBA the Falcons could throw in Bailey to make the deal work.
Blank gets less in return based on current talent, but he doesn’t have to hear about the Ryan contract for the next three years. Falcons likely won’t win 4-5 useless games in the final third of the season to destroy their draft pick number like they have the last two years. It puts the Falcons fans out of the limbo misery they go through every season.
For the Jets .. maybe they make the playoffs with Ryan. Maybe they don’t. But, they at least get rid of Bell and Darnold.
I respect the goofiness, I really do. But putting 36-year old Matt Ryan on the Jets next year wouldn’t be good for anyone. And Blank is probably too loyal to send him to such a sinkhole.
Goofy it is. Besides, jets really don’t need cap room and can get a 2nd round pick for Darnold. Maybe even a late first from someone like the Steelers. And the Falcons don’t need Bell – they have another in Gurly.
Trade him to the Bears!
Let the Jets CHOKE on that contract to BELL.
Let them be stuck with BELL and the Jets $$ commitment.
Released him
zipit scooping PFR here.
To be fair, it was no longer a rumor at that point. Also, it happened after 4pm, so….
Not scooping. Wondering why other sources have confirmed it but not PFR. Little slow to the ball…….. still have this thread of trading him going on without an update. JS
Gase is the problem, not Bell. The move to release him still makes sense, though. The Jets are so far from being competitive that there’s just no real point in employing Bell. If he’d have played out the contract in NY, he’d have probably wasted most of what’s left of his career.
They should’ve traded him last year, if there were offers on the table. You can explain away a bad half-season by saying the team sucks, but Bell doesn’t. It’s a lot harder to explain 1.5 bad seasons.
How the problem is Darnold. They have a huge investment in him, but didn’t add enough WR talent to see if he is any good. Just see how much better guys like Murray and Carr are with added receivers.
So now you don’t know whether to keep him and salvage your investment, or trade him, get something in return before he goes Haskins on you, and then tank hard.
Sounds like the Bears are the front runners to sign him.