Think Le’Veon Bell is having second thoughts about sitting out last season, leaving the Steelers and signing with the Jets?
The 27-year-old running back is too much of an egomaniac to admit it, but I’ve got to believe Bell has a case of seller’s remorse after his first season in New York/New Jersey, where his numbers have dropped significantly under a coach who reportedly didn’t want him signed.
Now Bell is dealing with the repercussions of missing last week's Miami game due to the flu when, rather than resting at home as coach Adam Gase preferred, Bell went bowling Saturday night. Not that he cares what Gase or anyone thinks since he bragged to the media that he "bowled a 251 off the flu…career-high." He also says the doctors “advised me to get out of the house and move a little bit.” Did they tell him to hit the lanes until 1 a.m.?
Gase called it a bad look, and if I’m first-year Jets general manager Joe Douglas, I’m not happy with my $13 million-per-year running back who continues to make bad decisions on and off the field.
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Douglas reportedly tested the trade waters earlier this season on Bell, who was signed by former GM Mike Maccagnan to the four-year, $52.5 million deal with $27 million in guarantees. Douglas probably did this to appease his coach, as a Bell trade this year was virtually impossible due to the dead money hit on the Jets salary cap.
Douglas surely found out that no other team wants to take on Bell’s contract or his diva personality. The Jets also would have $17 million of dead money if they release Bell in 2020. So this shaky marriage appears to have one more season to run before the dead money is manageable at $4 million in 2021.
It's hard to see the situation improving for Bell or the Jets. Bell is engaging in a lot of double talk — complaining about how Gase is under-utilizing him while saying he is being patient with his new team, system and offensive line. Meanwhile, I’m sure he is telling his agent to get him to a new destination ASAP.
The truth of the matter is he never should have left Pittsburgh, where he played in a perfect system for his dual-threat skill set of rushing and receiving. He had one of the league’s best offensive lines blocking for him and a dynamic quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger to keep teams from loading up in the box to stop him.
I don’t believe Bell left because the Steelers wouldn’t pay him. They reportedly had a five-year, $70 million offer on the table with $33 million in guarantees (better than his Jets contract), and Pittsburgh has a lower cost of living. It was more about Bell’s irritation with the Steelers’ use of the franchise tag on him. But he and his agent needed to look at the big picture of what was best for his career, which was to stay in Pittsburgh.
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Bell’s stats tell the story of his mistake in leaving one of the most well-run organizations in all sports for the instability of the Jets franchise. In his last two seasons with the Steelers, both Pro Bowl years for Bell, he gained 3,830 combined yards in 27 games for 142 yards per game. He averaged 4.4 yards per carry and scored 20 touchdowns over those two seasons as the Steelers won 24 regular season games and two AFC North titles.
Talk about feast to near famine football-wise. In 12 games this season, Bell has 992 yards from scrimmage, which equates to 83 yards per game, a 42 percent drop in productivity from his last years in Steeltown. He has scored four TDs and is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry. His Jets have won four of the last five against a bunch of lousy teams after a 1-7 start, but at 5-8, they’re not sniffing the playoffs.
Things are unlikely to improve the rest of the season for Bell, who says he’ll be ready to play Thursday night in Baltimore against one of the league’s top defenses. Then the season wraps up against two teams who, like the Ravens, have a top-six defense — the grudge match against his former Steelers team and the finale in Buffalo.
For Bell to return to stardom, he needs the Jets offensive line to improve while Gase tweaks his system to help the running back. Quarterback Sam Darnold also must make a big leap in his third season after a lackluster start to his career (80.6 passer rating among the league’s worst with 32 TD passes against 26 interceptions over his first two seasons).
If Darnold and the Jets passing game improve, Bell’s productivity should rise. But if Gase doesn’t think Bell is a good fit for the system, how long will the coach stick with him? And what is Bell’s level of motivation now that he has been paid and if he believes Gase is not in his corner?
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I think Douglas is in a bad spot with a player who is headed toward the label of “free agent bust.” He can’t trade Bell without the acquiring team seeking a contract adjustment that Bell would surely refuse. At 27, Bell is perceived as having a lot of mileage from a heavy work load at Michigan State and in his five seasons in Pittsburgh. He has an injury history and, after skipping last season, the reputation of a bad teammate who is now underproductive and overpaid.
Douglas and the Jets are most likely stuck with Bell for another year due to the salary cap ramifications of jettisoning him. After the 2020 season, I see Bell being released by the Jets and looking for his next team with the offers not to his liking. I guarantee Steelers owner Art Rooney and GM Kevin Colbert are not surprised at Bell’s latest turn of events. And along with Mike Tomlin, they’re happy he is now the Jets’ headache.
I’m on record as calling Bell’s sitting out the 2018 season rather than playing under the $14.5 million franchise tag as the most ridiculous holdout in NFL history. He never was going to recoup that lost money.
Yet it was all about the money when Bell signed with the Jets as the highest bidder, and he obviously didn’t care about the system he would play in or the team’s potential to win. Now he could be on a path like his former teammate Antonio Brown, which would take him out of the league in a couple years.
Jeff Diamond is a former president of the Titans and former vice president/general manager of the Vikings. He was selected NFL Executive of the Year in 1998. Diamond is currently a business and sports consultant who also does broadcast and online media work. He makes speaking appearances to corporate/civic groups and college classes on negotiation and sports business/sports management. He is the former chairman and CEO of The Ingram Group. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffdiamondNFL.
