It appears Le’Veon Bell is available for trade. The only question is, will any team take the bait?
Bell still has yet to report to the Steelers as he continues his contract holdout. As such, Pittsburgh reportedly has been listening to trade offers for the star running back, who is set to become a free agent at season’s end.
Given Bell’s expiring contract, the price tag for the three-time Pro Bowl selection might not be as steep as you’d think. Regardless, NBC Sports’ Peter King thinks Pats head coach Bill Belichick would be able to pull off a deal for Bell, who King believes would be a fine fit in New England.
“This is a guy who, 13 games from now, first of all, if you trade for him, you’re going to have to pay him a massive amount of money,” King said on WEEI’s “Dale & Keefe,” as transcribed by WEEI. “He’s not going to play under the current terms of his deal. Could he play for the rest of the year with that incorporated in his contract? Yes, but I think he’ll only come back to football if he gets a long-term contract. So you’ve got a lot of teams out there that I’m sure will be very interested in Le’Veon Bell as a free agent next month. But when it comes to giving up a 2 or even a 3, I think teams are going to chafe at that. I do believe, though, at the end of the day he’s going to get traded. If I were a team like New England, and Bill Belichick has always had a very contrarian view about draft choices –– what I mean by contrarian view, is he uses them as currency the way Jimmy Johnson used to. If he needs something, he’ll figure out a way to do it. That’s why I think New England makes sense, although I’m not suggesting in any way it will happen. But I think it makes a lot of sense for the Patriots.”
The Patriots have proven in the past that they aren’t afraid to make waves with a mid-season trade. And given the team’s severe lack of offensive playmakers, Bell could be just what the doctor ordered for New England to reach a third straight Super Bowl.
