Le’Veon Bell is now available but makes no sense for Washington originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The New York Jets released running back Le’Veon Bell just 18 games into a four-year, $52 million contract. New York will eat more than $15 million this year alone by cutting Bell.
That should explain it all.
In 17 starts with the Jets the last two years, Bell averaged 3.6 yards-per-carry and scored four touchdowns.
He made no significant impact on a bad team, and eventually, his off-field act got to be too much even for the Jets, the worst team in the NFL.
Let’s be clear that whatever happened between Bell and New York, the organization has plenty to do with it. The Jets might be the worst franchise in the league and have a coach that seems wildly under-qualified in Adam Gase.
But Washington fans don’t care about the Jets, they care about Washington. And Washington fans should not be expecting Bell to come to town.
It just doesn’t make any sense.
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Washington is in a rebuild and Bell is 28 and in his eighth NFL season. Ron Rivera’s offense seems intent on developing rookie Antonio Gibson as the hybrid running back of the future, and Bell would just stunt that growth.
Rivera cut Adrian Peterson coming out of training camp to commit to youth in the backfield. Signing Bell would totally contradict that decision.
Besides, Bell basically now gets to pick where he plays. Why would he want to play in Washington? The team is 1-4 and one of the worst offenses in the NFL.
Bell coming to Washington makes no sense. And for everyone screaming about his talent, remember that he’s four seasons removed from that All-Pro performance in 2017 in Pittsburgh. He was undoubtedly great then, but that was a long time ago.
